Consumer complaint received 2018-10-24
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: DE
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/18, I received a letter from XXXX  XXXX saying they needed more information for a credit application they had received. I sent an email right away to XXXX Support email because I did not do that. XXXX replied on XX/XX/18 stating they had located the application, cancelled it, and placed my info into their internal fraud database. They also stated that they would remove the inquiry with the credit bureaus. 

A day or two goes by and I receive a packet from XXXX XXXX XXXX showing someone trying to get 4 new phone lines across two different accounts in my name. I do not have a personal account at all with XXXX XXXX XXXX as my phone is through my business. I called XXXX XXXX XXXX and spoke to XXXX XXXX. The reference # for that is XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX stopped those accounts from being opened. I then received two letters ( one for each fraudulent account ) from XXXX XXXX XXXX dated XX/XX/18 stating they received my credit inquiry removal request & that they had contacted the credit agencies to have the credit inquiry removed. 

By this time I had signed up for a premium XXXX account so I could monitor my information. That is when I noticed a hard inquiry from XXXX at the end of XXXX. XXXX is the only one that did not send me a request for more information so I did not notice it right away. I decided then to file a dispute with Equifax regarding all three inquiries. It could not hurt, I thought, to start the process at both ends. I provided all requested information to Equifax and successfully filed the disputes. Only 2-3 days later, I received an email from Equifax stating the disputes had been completed and to see results to click attached link. I filled in the same information I used when I submitted the disputes and it would not show me the results ; kept saying my info was wrong. Only once in the last 2 weeks have I been able to see the results XXXX XXXX on Equifaxs site and when I clicked it it did not do anything. I refreshed the page, went through the verification procedure again only to be told my info was wrong again. 

At this point, I started looking for reviews or comments about Equifax and the problem I was having. There are pages and pages and pages on the Consumer Affairs website of people having the same problem I am with Equifax. 

I tried posting a comment on Equifaxs XXXX page asking about why I kept getting the wrong info message. They IMd me asking for a contact number. I gave them my work number to call and they did call but I was out of the office. Once I got back in the office, the secretary gave me my messages and I called Equifax back looking to speak with XXXX, the person who had called me. They did not transfer me to XXXX. The first person could not help me said it was the wrong department. Transferred me to a person that I couldnt hear and subsequently couldnt understand also to be told that I didnt have enough credit info to verify my identity. I told the person at Equifax that I could not fabricate accounts with balances out of thin air. 

I just signed up for my online accounts on the Social Security Administration & the IRSs websites without a problem last night. My government knows who I am but Equifax can't figure it out.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation