Consumer complaint received 2023-01-16
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: TX
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Information belongs to someone else

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, my identity was stolen and used to fraudulently open various accounts. I was alerted to this when I was mailed a XXXX  debit card for an account I never opened. After quickly reporting the fraud on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and alerting the credit bureaus and filing an FTC report, I began pulling my credit history to check on other possible fraud attempts. 

Another fraud account with XXXX appeared ; the thief attempted to acquire a loan in my name, which resulted in a hard inquiry with Equifax after the thief failed to acquire a business loan. XXXX other inquires ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - these appear as soft inquiries ) also appear on my credit history with Equifax. This is after submitting XXXX disputes with Equifax as well as submitting to them a detailed report of widespread attempts at fraud in my name, and an FTC ID theft report and police report ID being provided. 

XXXX of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires Equifax and businesses to block the fraudulent information on my credit report resulting from identity theft within XXXX business days and to promptly notify the furnisher ( XXXX ) of that information, is being disregarded out of what is seemingly Equifax refusing to investigate the situation with proper diligence. XXXX of my disputes was rejected within what wasn't even a day 's time, leading me to believe their company is not taking this fraud seriously. Companies involved in the dispute have been contacted with a letter from the XXXX XXXX XXXX requesting compliance, and details regarding that process are on record. In spite of this, Equifax will not remove the fraudulent inquiries- this is also in spite of the inquiries appearing as completely different cities/states that have no bearing on any of my past residences or business endeavours. All of the proof and compliance I have provided appears to still not be enough for Equifax to fairly and appropriately comply with section 605B and remove the attempts at fraud. 

XXXX, Equifax and XXXX have all been provided a copy of the FTC fraud report, police report ID and accompanying details of the fraud occurring in various states and cities by the individual. The particular incident I am reporting is Equifax for not complying with the requested removal of the hard inquiry which was done via fraud on XX/XX/XXXX in addition to the less impactful but still fraudulent soft inquiries listed above. I have been punctual and timely with all information requested, and continue to contact the agencies which were complicit in running my credit without my permission for further compliance with the authorities. 

Letters to businesses involved in the ID theft were mailed out the first week of XXXX as a follow-up, since the inquiries in question were largely still appearing- this is also when I filed a formal police report and an investigation was launched to assist in closing down the fraud accounts and resolving inaccurate reporting done on part of the credit bureaus where fraud had occurred. 

In spite of all of this and my detailed record keeping, Equifax has rejected all attempts at removing these false inquiries- this is also as other agencies like XXXX have actually complied and done their due diligence to ensure their reports are correct. It's a shame that Equifax would want improper data and fraud in their records. The fact that another bureau has taken this seriously displays negligence of reporting on the part of Equifax ; it's not a matter of " if '' they can remove the fraud from my record, but rather that they just seem not to want to. 


It literally appears someone is just auto-rejecting my request at this point in spite of the information supporting the claims above being provided and the XXXX XXXX of effort I'm making to investigate the matter. 

At this time, nearly a month has passed with no resolution, and in the most recent dispute rejection, a note from Equifax was included stating " [ c ] onsumer 's dispute not specific, '' in spite of my request being as specific as possible. I'm concerned at this point that my submissions are being thrown out without consideration at this point, maliciously. 

In particular, this complaint is with Equifax, who has an obligation under section XXXX of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires them to block the fraudulent information on my credit report resulting from identity theft within XXXX business days and to promptly notify the furnisher ( XXXX ) of that information. The agency is well past that deadline and is not in compliance with section XXXX, in spite of being provided a detailed FTC ID theft report and more. 

Simply put, what more information can I provide to Equifax to prove that I don't live in XXXX different states and XXXX different cities pulling my credit at several different locations all in the same day? What more can I do to get the businesses who illegally ran my credit to comply, beyond what I've already done via getting police involved? Unless Equifax believes that I have somehow acquired the ability to clone myself and run my credit that fast, it appears they are being outright negligent with any consideration towards the details of my continued complaints with their reporting. It's insulting to read each dispute rejection that has come through, with their results finding that the information is " factual and accurate. '' XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX all have to bear responsibility for the error they've made in allowing the ID thief to run my credit for attempts at business, and Equifax in XXXX is owed specific scrutiny for not taking the continued provision of materials and proof seriously. It's as if I am trying to gather a bunch of children together to submit their homework assignments on time, and none of them are making it easy. How am I supposed to do anything more when I'm working with companies that allow ID thieves to apply for loans in my name, and credit bureaus that whimsically trust those businesses in spite of an ongoing police investigation? Does everyone in this situation have blinders on? Hopefully this complaint will motivate each agency to take my personal information more seriously. I will name each agency above in the formal submission of this complaint to further ensure they too comply with the FTC and CFPB.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation