Consumer complaint received 2018-12-10
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: SC
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:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted all 3 credit reporting agencies and made them aware that I am a victim of Identity Theft and provided them with a copy of my police report, Identity Theft Affidavit, driver 's license and a recent utility bill and requested that they comply with the FCRA Section 605 ( b ), by blocking the information that I have detailed to them that was fraudulent on my credit file. All 3 credit reporting agencies ultimately blocked the fraudulent information, until recently. In XX/XX/XXXX, I learned that 3 of the fraudulent accounts ( all XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX accounts ) that were previously deleted from my credit file, had been reinserted by Equifax. I have made several attempts to resolve this issue directly with Equifax. Each time I call, I am transferred to many different departments and representatives before I am finally connected with their Office of Consumer Affairs and I get nowhere from there either. I have spent countless hours on the phone with Equifax over the past month trying to resolve this issue, to no avail. Equifax has stated that they do not have to comply with the FCRA and that they will treat the Identity Theft as an average dispute and contact the creditor in that respect on my behalf. Any attempt to try to access the dispute status online or to view a copy of my current credit file online, are quickly rejected by their system. When asked why I am unable to access my file online, Equifax informed me that since I have been a victim of Identity Theft, all online access to my credit file has been removed and that I may only discuss my file with Equifaxs Office of Consumer Affairs. This denial of access to my credit file leaves me vulnerable as I am unable to monitor my file for any potential suspicious activity. The representatives that I have spoken to in Equifaxs Office of Consumer Affairs are very rude and condescending and during my latest follow-up call, when I informed the representative that I had received a letter from Equifax informing me that my personal information had indeed been accessed during their XX/XX/XXXX data breach, and suggested that this Identity Theft is likely a direct result of that data breach, the representative literally hung up on me. Additionally, Equifax is also in violation of FCRA Section 611 ( a ) ( 5 ) ( B ) ( ii ), requiring them to notify me of the reinsertion in writing within 5 business days. I have received no such notice. Equifax is deliberately refusing to comply with the laws that govern them and should be held accountable. I have simply asked that they comply with the law and block certain fraudulent information from my credit file after having provided all of the required documentation, but they refuse to do so. This is unethical behavior that they are displaying and I hope that they will not be allowed to continue to operate in this way.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation