Consumer complaint received 2020-10-22
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: VA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020 - I sent XXXX, Equifax and XXXX certified letters requesting a block of information reporting as Unauthorized Charges from my Credit Report under FCRA 605B as a result of identity theft. I provided all three Credit Reporting Bureaus a copy of my FTC Identity Theft Report, proof of my identity and a copy of my credit report showing the fraudulent items. 
I requested each Agency to please block this information from my credit report, as directed by section 605B of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and to notify all furnishers of this information. 

On XX/XX/2020 - I contacted XXXX to check the status of my fraud case after verifying that my certified letter had been received by XXXX  on XX/XX/2020 at XXXX and signed for by XXXX XXXX. I was notified by XXXX  Fraud department that they had not received my block information despite the tracking number information I provided. To date, XXXX  claims to have not received my official complaint package. 

On XX/XX/2020 I contacted XXXX  again to determine the status of my certified letter w/ my personal identifiable information included in the package. The XXXX  Supervisor advised me of the status, which at that time, was still unknown. XXXX  states that they have never received my certified letter & package, although I have evidence contradicting their claim. Furthermore, I provided the USPS Tracking # of the package in an effort to assist w/ locating my package. The Supervisor advised that she would give me a call before the close of business to provide an update. The Supervisor never returned my call. 

On XX/XX/2020 I filed a formal complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding the aforementioned concerns. 

On XX/XX/2020 I filed an inquiry with the USPS regarding the status of my delivered package containing my personal identifiable information. USPS opened an investigation into the status of my package ( Service Request # XXXX ). 

On XX/XX/2020 I received an initial contact from the Postmaster of the local Post Office in XXXX, Texas acknowledging my inquiry and to provide an update to the current status, which at that time was simply a notification of the investigation. 

On XX/XX/2020 XXXX  returned a response to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) indicating that they had in fact received my Identity Theft Reports, Fraudulent reporting information blocking request letters, proof of identity, police report, and FCRA 605B that was sent certified mail on XX/XX/2020 at XXXX by XXXX XXXX ; however, did not action my request because it appeared to be from someone other than myself, although I sent my personal identifiable information to verify my identity and their false claim of non-receipt the numerous times that I called to speak with a Fraud specialist. 

On XX/XX/2020 I called the CFPB back after providing feedback to XXXX response. I notified the CFPB that XXXX  response was unacceptable because there was no way this information could be from a third party as I was the person who filed the complaint and provided the documentation required to justify my complaint. The CFPB advised me that they closed the complaint out because the Company responded irrespective of sufficiency. The CFPB representative referred me to a legal resource in my area for additional assistance. 

On XX/XX/2020 I contacted XXXX on a recorded line to question the status of the receipt of my certified documents. The XXXX  representative stated that my documents were NEVER received nor updated in their system. The representative requested tracking # information for my certified documents. I provided the tracking # and then I, asked to speak to a Supervisor. The representative placed me on hold while she located her Supervisor. I was on hold for roughly 10 minutes before the representative returned to notify me that her Supervisor would be with me momentarily. She asked to place me on hold for another several minutes until the Supervisor became available. After waiting online for another 15 minutes, someone returned to line and hung up abruptly. I called back to XXXX  and was on hold again for a total of 54:10 minutes On XX/XX/2020 - After several attempts to mitigate this matter online and via telephone, I contacted the XXXX Fraud Department again who advised that I send the documents again online via the company 's upload option. After several unsuccessful attempts, I contacted XXXX  again and requested a direct link to send my documents so that they would be properly received, a fraud specialist told me to send my documents to a different address which would go directly to the Fraud department. 

On XX/XX/2020 - I contacted XXXX Fraud Department again on a recorded line to inquire about the status of my identity theft documents that I sent online and in XXXX since they had responded to CFPB stating that they had in fact received my documents. Not to my surprise, the fraud specialist stated that she could not find any documentation in XXXX on their system. She did not even have information pertaining to my CFPB complaint. It appears that XXXX erased any data associated with my identity theft claim. Nevertheless, the Fraud Specialist managed to give me another address to send my claim directly to their department. The Fraud Representative told me that she submitted a form to resolve my issue of my identity theft concerns. She mentioned that it would take 3-5 Business days. She also recommended that I resend my identity theft documents to the following address - XXXX. XXXX XXXX, XXXX TX XXXX, which was different from the address that I mailed my original identity theft documents to on XX/XX/2020. She advised me that the XXXX XXXX that I originally sent my documents was the incorrect mailing address. She advised that the original address of XXXX. XXXX XXXX, XXXX TX XXXX was the box to send fraud alerts, not the official XXXX XXXX  to resolve identity theft reports. All these calls were recorded. This call lasted 63:50. 

On XX/XX/2020 - I RESENT my identity theft documents via certified priority 2-day delivery to the XXXX  Fraud Department address that I received from the Fraud Specialist on XX/XX/2020. I sent the package certified mail to XXXX. XXXX XXXX, XXXX TX XXXX, attention Fraud Department. Certified Tracking # - XXXX. 

On XX/XX/2020 - I tracked my delivery and discovered that my identity theft packaged arrived at the XXXX  fraud Department on XX/XX/2020 at XXXX and was signed for by XXXX XXXX . I subsequently contacted XXXX  again on a recorded call notifying them that I had RESENT my identity theft report, police report, FCRA 605B, proof of identity and Fraudulent information blocking request letters to the Fraud Department addressed given to me on and documentation as requested and wanted to check the status. I was informed by the Fraud representative that they had not yet received my identity theft package even though USPS tracking shows the package was received. I was advised by the Fraud Specialist that I should call back around XXXX XXXX 2020 to get a status and that my identity theft information should be uploaded in the system by then. I agreed to give XXXX another opportunity to mitigate this problem. This call was recorded. 

On XX/XX/2020 I received an alert on my XXXX  Credit Report that an account was added. I found this to be strange because I had not applied for any credit so I was baffled as to why a new account would be added to my credit file. Turns out, an account that I listed in my XX/XX/2020 FTC IDENTITY THEFT REPORT was ADDED to my XXXX Credit File on XX/XX/2020. Since my discovery was after XXXX normal business hours, I could not contact the Fraud Department until the next business day, which was on XXXX XXXX, 2020. I have proof of this addition because I printed reports before and after the addition of this fraudulent account. 

On XX/XX/2020 I contacted XXXX again on a recorded line to inquire about the receipt of my identity theft documentation. The Fraud Specialist informed me that XXXX  had NOT received my Identity Theft documents YET. This is when I knew that XXXX  was WILLFULLY NEGLIEGIENT and were WILLFULLY BREAKING THE LAW as it pertains to FCRA 605B. Hence the reason I am here today. I want to file a CIVIL LAWSUIT against XXXX  for WILLFUL NEGLIGIENCE. I made two calls to XXXX  Fraud Department on XX/XX/2020. The first call was abruptly disconnected total call duration 4:15 ; The second call duration was 48:00. All calls were recorded. 

As of XX/XX/2020 - Three additional FRADULENT accounts that were listed on my XX/XX/2020 IDENTITY THEFT REPORT sent to XXXX  on XX/XX/2020 were LISTED on my Most RECENT CREDIT REPORT. XXXX  STILL DENIES ever receiving my FTC IDENTITY THEFT REPORTS. Clearly, XXXX  is in violation of the law 605B.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation