Consumer complaint received 2022-01-25
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
I have asked this company several times to do a thorough investigation to report accurate and verifiable information. What I am about to disclose will prove without a shadow of a doubt that in my case they did not do their due diligence. I have NEVER opened a mortgage account EVER! Yet, it state on my credit report that I have one with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX If the company had gone through the proper channels to verify they would see that I do not have any mortgages with them that is verifiable IN FACT, this company is being sued with a class action lawsuit for FRAUD. I have included below the details that I am now going to be part of below : ( link to site https : XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  No-Consent Credit Accounts Class Action How would you feel if you attended a timeshare presentation, then found out that the presenting company had opened a credit card account in your name, without your request or permission? The complaint for this class action alleges that XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX  use consumers personal information to institute credit card accounts or lines of credit in the names of people who did not request them. 

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons in the US, its territories, and the XXXX XXXX XXXX who received a XXXX credit card or line of credit without their agreement, except for those who activated or registered the credit card or line of credit. A Missouri Class has also been defined. 

In XX/XX/2020, XXXX and XXXX XXXX sat for a sales presentation in XXXX, Missouri, on timeshares from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Credit accounts were not discussed. 

The couple decided not to buy a property, but they did agree to use an existing credit card to buy XXXX XXXXXXXX points they could use on future XXXX  XXXX vacations. A XXXX representative asked for their drivers licenses and social security numbers. When they asked what he needed them for, he said to get the best deal. 

The agreement to purchase points did permit XXXX to obtain credit information on them from a consumer reporting agency, but in the same document they also indicated that XXXX could not share the information theyd given with its affiliates. 

However, after they returned home, they received a credit alert and letters that welcomed them to a new XXXX credit account, issued by XXXX XXXX, with a {$20000.00} limit. The letters they received about Your Vacation Club Credit Account were dated the day after the presentation. 

According to the complaint, this was not a one-off incident : XXXX engaged in a nation-wide practice of using consumers personal information to open credit cards or lines of credit without those consumers knowledge or permission. 

After the XXXX protested to XXXX, the complaint says, XXXX closed the accounts in XX/XX/2020, but not before it damaged the XXXX credit. When they complained again, in XX/XX/2020, the representative they spoke to claimed that they had agreed to the account. 

The complaint reproduces other, similar complaints about XXXX, unwanted credit cards, and damaged credit, from the CFPB database and the XXXX XXXX XXXX 

A former XXXX employee tried to blow the whistle on the company, but she was fired. The complaint quotes her as saying that XXXX would tell consumers to fill out paperwork in order to get lower interest rates, but that they were actually applying for credit cards and being sold more points without their knowledge or permission. The credit card would not bill them for weeks and by then it was too late to rescind the purchase. 

Article Type : Lawsuit Topic : Fraud Most Recent Case Event

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation