Consumer complaint received 2023-02-13
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: IL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Reporting company used your report improperly

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX received on online application to open a checking account using my stolen identity ( name/SSN/date of birth/email ). In less than a minute after they received the application they allowed the account to be opened. However I had nothing to do with this request and there is no way that XXXX  XXXX XXXX should have even allowed this account to be opened because I have been a victim of identity theft and since XX/XX/XXXX my records with all credit reporting bureaus and XXXX have been flagged with security/fraud alerts and my XXXX record has been frozen since XX/XX/XXXX and Experian, XXXX, and XXXX records frozen since XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX  XXXX XXXX was contacted immediately and shut the account down, but would not provide any information on how the verification was done to allow the account to be opened ( I later confirmed that they use Experian and XXXX to verify ). I confirmed on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX online that all credit reports ( Experian, XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX ) are in fact still frozen and no inquiries from XXXX  XXXX XXXX were reported on any of them. On XX/XX/XXXX I verified with XXXX in the fraud department at Experian YES the freeze was still in place and NO there were NO inquiries done by XXXX  XXXX XXXX. 

However, on XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter in the mail from Experian stating my credit report had been updated regarding the XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX request. I called Experian and spoke to XXXX who said that the Hard Inquiry from XXXX  XXXX XXXX had been deleted from my credit report on XX/XX/XXXX and could be seen as an inquiry in the dispute center. So XXXX lied on XX/XX/XXXX that XXXX  XXXX XXXX had not made any inquiries to my credit report by request of the Fraud Department and she transferred me to the Fraud Department for further investigation. I then spoke to XXXX in the Fraud Department who said that even though my credit report is Frozen that they will still release my credit report. However their own site states that the only people that can view my credit file when frozen are : You Existing creditors or debt collectors acting on their behalf Government agencies responding to a court order, subpoena or search warrant Insurance companies accessing your report for the purpose of insurance underwriting Utility companies Debt portfolio evaluators or other forms of account review Anyone accessing your credit report for employment, tenant or background screening purposes And I do not have any relationship with XXXX  XXXX XXXX in any regard, they are not an existing creditor, nor do they fall into any of the other categories. I was then sent by XXXX to the Membership Department because he could not provide any additional information on why they would have released the credit report. I then spoke to XXXX in the Membership Department ( I am still unclear why I would have been transferred here and why the Fraud Department couldn't provide additional information on fraud but the Membership Department could ). XXXX was less than worthless in help and I requested to be transferred to a supervisor. Instead of doing that XXXX disconnected the call. I then had to call back in ( after losing XXXX min to getting no answers and continually lied to ). I then spoke to XXXX in Membership ( located in XXXX who stated I could not be connected to a supervisor and kept pressing to access my credit file ). I finally was transferred to a supervisor named XXXX who claimed to be located in XXXX, TX. He confirmed my credit file was frozen and that an active fraud alert and freeze would stop my credit file from being released, but I kept telling him that was not true because they released it to XXXX  XXXX XXXX. 

Something nefarious is going on here because XXXX  XXXX XXXX opened the bank account on XX/XX/XXXX, however the letter from Experian states that the inquiry was from XX/XX/XXXX. Experian will not provide any actual answers and they have continually lied to me, released my FROZEN credit file without my authorization to a bank that I have no current relationship with in defiance of their own statement on their website and assurances from agents in the past that the credit Freeze would not allow my credit file to be released. They lied that there were no inquiring from XXXX  XXXX XXXX at all, continually tried to pass the buck and transfer me to departments that had no information, refused to get me to someone that could provide information and assistance, continued to blame me for the release of the information or blame XXXX  XXXX XXXX. They allowed me to be once again re-victimized by those that continue to use my stolen identity and then continued to put me through additional XXXX trying to deal with their customer service. I have been told that everything I have done would stop the identity thieves from using my information, yet Experian has now shown that their credit freeze means nothing and that they care more about catering to thieves than to victims and putting safeguards in place that will protect them.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief