Consumer complaint received 2020-07-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
After numerous attempts to have fraudulent information deleted from my credit bureau, I have requested XXXX XXXX XXXX to delete their account from my credit bureau due to inaccuracies they allege are civil. After submitting a complaint a generic response was sent back by XXXX that provided absolutely no factual information nor any valid defense to their decision to remain " unchanged '' as they stated on their decision to falsely report information against me that was the result of credit card fraud and identity theft. XXXX XXXX  is engaging in a tactic using generic responses without actually providing proof they have investigated my claim as well as submitting information based on how they " feel '' not what is based on fact or law. They have routinely denied my claim for this account to be removed from my credit even when presented with copies of the police report that document the fact I am the victim of fraud and identity theft and even provided them the name of the person who is the theif. Their response is that they " feel '' the complaint is civil as the person involved is an ex-girlfriend but they fail to examine the actual laws that govern this case and prove this is not civil nor that how they " feel '' can suddenly make the case a civil case simply because they do not wish to actually charge off an account due to this criminal activity and instead have openly and incorrectly demanded I collect the money myself. This is now how the legal system works and XXXX XXXX  is not immune to the consequences of violating the Fair Credit Billing Act or the fact that at least 4 state statutes in North Carolina directly define my situation as criminal fraud as well as two Federal  Statutes. XXXX XXXX  is not investigating in good faith or they would be able to see within minutes that the following statutes cover my case of being the victim of fraud and have no legal standing to push off my case as " civil ''. Lastly, XXXX is making inaccurate statements that they are attributing to me in their investigation that I never made. XXXX is stating I claim this person " handled my finances '' which is not true, XXXX has claimed in the past that I gave this person permission to use my cards, which is also false, and most recently XXXX has made the allegation that this account is a civil matter due to my request to " pay me back '' the stolen funds, which is also untrue. I have never asked her to pay me, I instructed that she payoff the stolen cards, or face criminal charges, which is exactly what has occurred. XXXX has submitted falsified information as part of their " investigation '' in this case which they never gathered from me, but somehow found this information in their report as if I was even spoken to about this complaint. XXXX has not spoken to me regarding this fraudulent activity since the initial filing almost two years ago and has not validated anything they reported on that investigation. They then continue to use this same misinformation and use statements against me that I never made as proof of their results of the investigation, yet refuse to take actual signed affidavit 's of fraud which I offered to them the day I filed the claim. XXXX is falsifying information and relying on fundamentally faulty information which is counter to the law. So, to provide proof once again XXXX is wrong in their claim of this being a " civil '' matter I am attaching all relevant statutes, both state and Federal, which directly contradict statements made by XXXX XXXX. The following State of North Carolina Statutes define the charges made by the ex on my credit card as fraud : 14-113.9. Financial transaction card theft. ( a ) A person is guilty of financial transaction card theft when the person does any of the following : ( 1 ) Takes, obtains or withholds a financial transaction card from the person, possession, custody or control of another without the cardholder 's consent and with the intent to use it ; or who, with knowledge that it has been so taken, obtained or withheld, receives the financial transaction card with intent to use it or to sell it, or to transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder 14-113.13. Financial transaction card fraud. XXXX a ) A person is guilty of financial transaction card fraud when, with intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any another person, he ( 1 ) Uses for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services or anything else of value a financial transaction card obtained or retained, or which was received with knowledge that it was obtained or retained, in violation of G.S. 14-113.9 or 14-113.11 or a financial transaction card which he knows is forged, altered, expired, revoked or was obtained as a result of a fraudulent application in violation of G.S. 14-113.13 ( c ) ; or ( 2 ) Obtains money,  goods, services, or anything else of value by : a. Representing without the consent of the cardholder that he is the holder of a specified card ; or b. Presenting the financial transaction card without the authorization or permission of the cardholder ; or c. Representing that he is the holder of a card and such card has not in fact been issued ; or d. Using a financial transaction card to knowingly and willfully exceed : 1. The actual balance of a demand deposit account or time deposit account ; or 2. An authorized credit line in an amount which exceeds such authorized credit line in the amount of five hundred dollars ( {$500.00} XXXX, or fifty percent ( 50 % ) of such authorized credit line, whichever is greater ; or ( 3 ) Obtains control over a financial transaction card as security for debt ; or ( 4 ) Deposits into his account or any account, by means of an automated banking device, a false, fictitious, forged, altered or counterfeit check, draft, money order, or any other such document not his lawful or legal property ; or ( 5 ) Receives money, goods, services or anything else of value as a result of a false, fictitious, forged, altered, or counterfeit check, draft, money order or any other such document having been deposited into an account via an automated banking device, knowing at the time of receipt of the money, goods, services, or item of value that the document so deposited was false, fictitious, forged, altered or counterfeit or that the above deposited item was not his lawful or legal property 14-113.11. Forgery of financial transaction card. ( a ) A person is guilty of financial transaction card forgery when : ( 2 ) With intent to defraud a purported issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services or anything else of value, or any other person, he falsely encodes, duplicates or alters existing encoded information on a financial transaction card or utters such a financial transaction card ; 14-113.15. Criminal receipt of goods and services fraudulently obtained. A person is guilty of criminally receiving goods and services fraudulently  obtained when he receives money, goods, services or anything else of value obtained in violation of G.S. 14-113.13 ( a ) with the knowledge or belief that the same were obtained in violation of G.S. 14-113.13 ( a ). Conviction of criminal receipt of goods and services fraudulently obtained is punishable as provided in G.S. 14-113.17 ( a ) if the value of all the money, goods, services and anything else of value, obtained in violation of this section, does not exceed five hundred dollars ( {$500.00} ) in any six-month period ; conviction of criminal receipt of goods and services fraudulently obtained is punishable as provided in G.S . 14-113.17 ( b ) if such value exceeds five hundred dollars ( {$500.00} ) in any six-month period. ( 1967, c. 1244, s. 2 ; 1979, c. 741, s. 1. ) 14-113.17. Punishment and penalties. ( b ) A crime punishable under this Article is punishable as a Class I felony. ( 1967, c. 1244, s. 2 ; 1979, c. 741, s. 1 ; c. 760, s. 5 ; 1993, c. 539, ss. 55, 1183 ; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14 ( c ). The Federal Statutes which also confirm the actions against me as criminal fraud are as follows : 15 U.S.C. 1644 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 15. Commerce and Trade 1644. Fraudulent use of credit cards ; penalties ( a ) Use, attempt or conspiracy to use card in transaction affecting interstate or foreign commerce Whoever knowingly in a transaction affecting interstate or foreign commerce, uses or attempts or conspires to use any counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen, or fraudulently obtained credit card to obtain money, goods, services, or anything else of value which within any one-year period has a value aggregating {$1000.00} or more ; or ( d ) Receipt, concealment, etc., of goods obtained by use of card Whoever knowingly receives, conceals, uses, or transports money, goods, services, or anything else of value ( except tickets for interstate or foreign transportation ) which ( 1 ) within any one-year period has a value aggregating {$1000.00} or more, ( 2 ) has moved in or is part of, or which constitutes interstate or foreign commerce, and ( 3 ) has been obtained with a counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen, or fraudulently obtained credit card ; or ( f ) Furnishing of money, etc., through use of card Whoever in a transaction affecting interstate or foreign commerce furnishes money, property, services, or anything else of value, which within any one-year period has a value aggregating {$1000.00} or more, through the use of any counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen, or fraudulently obtained credit card knowing the same to be counterfeit, fictitious, altered, forged, lost, stolen, or fraudulently obtained shall be fined not more than {$10000.00} or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both Because these charges were made by someone without my knowledge and without my permission and criminal felony charges were taken out, my account is covered under the legal definition of fraudulent activity and must be deleted under the XXXX guarantee of zero fraud guarantee protection. Any attempt to call this civil is a direct violation of my rights under the Federal protection of the Fair Credit Billing Act as well as the North Carolina General Statutes.

I have brought up this same issue directly with the credit agencies Experian and Equifax who have also failed to do their due diligence in verifying the information is valid. I have asked for copies of their investigation of how they arrived at the decision that the information provided was accurate after sending copies of the police report and filing identity theft and credit card theft against the perpetrator. All I ever received is a false promise by telephone through an agent that it would be received within 30 days. This was in XX/XX/XXXX and I have yet to receive any validated documentation on their " investigation '' as there is none to provide. I personally believe that they are simply taking the false information that XXXX XXXX XXXX is providing and simply stating " Ok, that's what we will put on his credit '' and not actually completing any investigation to verify the validity of the information they are reporting. A police report for identity and credit card theft that includes their account should be more than enough evidence that what XXXX XXXX XXXX is sending them is the result of fraud and Identity theft as the police report states. I would welcome the company contacting the police department and speaking to someone in investigations as well and verifying the report is genuine and the result of me being a victim of fraud and credit card theft as well as identity theft. Lastly, I have attached copies of the above referenced statutes that nullify XXXX XXXX XXXX 's claim that I owe money because they " feel '' an ex girlfriend stealing credit cards is civil. XXXX XXXX XXXX is intentionally making false claims that were never made on my behalf. I never provided my credit cards voluntarily to allow the ex girlfriend to use them, I never agreed to allow her access to them, I never provided her with my account information. All of these statements by XXXX XXXX were made by them, they were never made by me. They " assumed '' that is what occurred according to the initial investigator. XXXX XXXX XXXX can not provide ANY documentation or statements from me that say otherwise because it never happened. I was stolen from and my accounts were used fraudulently. This account is the result of that fraud and I have followed all chains of command and provided all requested documentation to provide this proof of fraudulent activity. As stated in the provided North Carolina laws as well as Federal Laws, I am the victim of fraud, the crimes committed against me are felony charges and the proper authorities have been notified and charges have been filed as you can see in the attached police report. There should be no other reasons why this account remains on my credit needlessly damaging my credit report unless it is an intentional act. Refusal to remove this from my credit bureau with fully verifiable information showing the activity is fraud will result in additional action through the court system seeking damages under the fair credit reporting act as well as requesting punitive damages in addition to any court ordered restitution. I have requested this removal of incorrect information more than a dozen times over the past two years and no one has once contacted me through any investigation or made any more of an effort than to simply respond with " verified by account holder ''. That is not an investigation, that is a copy an paste job of incorrect information. This account must be deleted immediately.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation