Consumer complaint received 2022-05-20
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services
Sub-issue: Problem canceling credit monitoring or identify theft protection service

Complaint:
I was just notified by a former employer that my name and social security number were accessed by an unauthorized person, The letter I received recommended contacting Equifax, XXXX and XXXX to place a fraud alert and security freeze on my credit file. I called Equifax on XX/XX/2022 to place the fraud alert and security freeze. The representative ( " she '' ) I spoke with assisted me with those two tasks. 

She then advised that I needed to place a credit report control lock and search " hard to find websites '' for my social security number. She informed me that Equifax provides such a service called " XXXX XXXX '' for a charge of {$16.00} per month. She insisted that " as a victim of identity theft I consider this service to obtain the best protection ''. She stated that Equifax would alert me if any fraudulent activity was found. She said I could cancel the XXXX  XXXX before XX/XX/2022 if I did not want to continue the service. 

I provided my name, date of birth, SS #, email address, mobile phone, home address and credit card number. She entered that information and told me she would send me an email to access my Equifax account. I received the email, created a secure password and accessed my Equifax account. Once in the account I noticed that my current address was incorrect. I called Equifax back immediately to correct the address. The representative I spoke with ( " he '' ) said my name was spelled incorrectly as well on the screen he was looking at and that he would make the correction to my name and home address. I was even more disappointed to hear that my name was misspelled. 

Upon further exploration of the " myEquifax '' website, I found that Equifax offers a free service called " XXXX '' that " scans suspected fraudulent websites and alert you if we find your Social Security, credit card, banking and medical ID numbers ''. And since on the same day I had placed the security freeze on my credit reports for all 3 credit bureaus, the credit report lock provided by XXXX XXXXXXXX was not necessary. 

Upon learning this, I became upset and felt Equifax had fraudulently represented the XXXX XXXX. I believed they had added insult to injury after the security breach that occurred at my former employers. I called Equifax back about 2-3 hours later on XX/XX/2022 and asked to cancel the XXXX XXXX service effective immediately requesting a refund of the {$16.00} charged to my XXXX. The first representative I spoke with stated a refund is not possible but I could cancel the service effective XX/XX/2022. I asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor stated the same that a refund was not possible but the service could be cancelled on XX/XX/2022. I did elect to cancel the service on XX/XX/2022 but stated since no services had been provided as yet, I believed I should deserve a refund and wanted to cancel the service effective XX/XX/2022. He repeated that a refund was not possible. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said there was no one available. 

I told the supervisor that was not acceptable. I stated that Equifax was committing fraud by charging for a service that actually was available at no cost. In addition, I felt violated that I placed my trust in Equifax by giving secure information to enable them to protect my credit and they could not even get the information recorded properly, thus making it difficult for me to trust them to secure my account. No further action was offered by the Equifax supervisor.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation