Consumer complaint received 2017-09-08
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: OH
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
The Equifax Hack website does not always work, so some are unable to determine if they have been impacted. Also they can not enroll for the TrustedID protection being provided courtesy of Equifax.
DETAILS : Today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) the local paper reported that Equifax had been Hacked onXX/XX/XXXX
Equifax has provided a website and XXXX number for consumers to verify if they have been affected by the Hack.
When you go to https : //www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/, you are instructed to first select the button " Potential Impact ''. That takes you to a page the asks you to enter your last name and part of your SSN.
-- I entered my last name and the site put a green check mark next to the field to acknowledge the data had been entered.
-- I entered the last 6 digits of my SSN and received another green check mark.
-- I pressed the " Continue '' button, and nothing happened. After trying this several times, I checked with a tech ( personal friend ) who used a web developer 's tool to determine what was happening in the background.
The site wo n't work if you are using some tracking blockers ... And it has not been coded to allow tracking blocking. -- - a VERY odd concept for a company that is responsible for safeguarding your personal information ( and which has failed to do that anyway ) I called the XXXX number, received the standard " ... your call is very important to us, please hold for the next available customer service representative ... ''. After 15 minutes of dead silence, the line disconnected.
I called the number a second time, received same standard recorded greeting. After 15 minutes of music on hold, the line disconnected.
I called the number a third time, same greeting, etc ... After about 7 minutes of music, someone answered the call. I explained that the website was not working, and that I wanted to verify if I was impacted. He spoke very broken English and did not understand what I was saying. Then he said he would let someone know and they might want to call be back in about 3 business days.
We kept getting stuck on the discussion about the broken website, even though I started saying maybe it was just me ... and could he help me with checking if I was impacted by the Hack.
This conversation never went smoothly because his English was not good enough for him to fully understand what I was saying or to expand on what he meant. I asked for a supervisor and he hung up on me.
I have tried every Equifax site I can find for customer contact info so I can send an email to let them know there is a problem with the Hack site, but any time you select 'contact us ', the site fails to link. I have tried all of the Equifax phone numbers I can find listed, but everything either goes to music or disconnects immediately.
I suspected you could get help if you log in to the Equifax member site, but you have to buy a product to get access to that.
I called the number that actives a 90 day fraud alert. It is automated and successfully allowed me to set it up. Equifax would still not recognize me as a customer ( fraud alert is free ), and redirected me to their product page so I could select my product ( buy something ).
I called the number that enables a credit freeze, but did not enter some information to see if it would transfer me to a person. It did transfer me to customer service, then disconnected. Tried that twice. The third time I input all the information needed and paid the {$5.00} change, but Equifax STILL would not recognize me as a customer and again sent me back to their product sales page.
You have to buy an ongoing credit monitoring package in order to be able to log into the Equifax site to get customer service help.
BOTTOM LINE : If you use tracking blocker security on your browser, Equifax is not coded to work for you. The issue arises because Equifax redirects to some XXXX owned and monitored sites ( completely out of Equifax control ), and those sites want to track everything you do. XXXX has been reported to even track your physical location.
Any business redirecting to another business 's site, has to code to allow their ( Equifax 's ) data to display on the screen. The second business ( XXXX ) will withhold the response since you are blocking their tracking.
Apparently, the use of XXXX sub-routines is considered a shortcut for web developers, and is a common practice. Coding to allow their users to block XXXX  tracking, and still be able to use the developer 's site, is also apparently a common situation for web developers.
Although ... I have a serious concern with Equifax redirecting other sites, which it does not directly secure, in their processes ... and especially after 143 million people have been put at risk.
Can you contact Equifax and let them know there is an issue with their site? I do n't run into this problem with other sites that redirect in the background to various XXXX functions.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation