Consumer complaint received 2020-05-08
Company: TRANSUNION INTERMEDIATE HOLDINGS, INC.
State: OR
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: Billing dispute for services

Complaint:
Dear CFPB, A few months ago, I received a charge on my XXXX XXXX card from " Transunion XXXX CA '' for {$21.00}. Immediately, I disputed the charge because I have not signed up for any service from Transunion or another credit reporting service. XXXX XXXX swiftly handled the dispute and reimbursed my funds. Then, it happened again. Transunion billed my credit card again. I disputed and asked XXXX XXXX to block the charges and then did some due diligence on my end. 

I have attached a snippet of one of my XXXX statements with the typical charges. This has happened several times and the charges vary by a few cents each time. I find the variation strange. 

My wife and I teamed up to call Transunion and log in to their website to search for any account associated with my name. We couldn't find any ourselves, and Transunion representatives could not find any account or billing history either. Just in case, I wanted to cancel any credit monitoring service or fees that I might have " accidentally '' signed up for by clicking through one of the sneaky disclosures that credit bureaus sometimes use. 

*The irony here is that I used to work for XXXX XXXX XXXX and ran our compliance audit program. We were one of the largest background companies in the nation, were involved with a lawsuit against you the CFPB to clear up our own errors, and I consulted many major clients like XXXX, USPS, etc. on best practices for following CFPB guidelines on consumer reporting laws. In short, I have some experience on what is okay and what is arguably shady. 

This week, I got on the phone with Transunion and escalated to a mid-level manager who could not find any sort of account or history of me after searching his system by my name, former addresses, phone number, or XXXX XXXX credit card number the charges were being made to. He would not escalate to his manager. The " best he could do '' ( actual quotation ) was to have me file a complaint by email by sending my social security number and credit card number to Transunion 's dispute email address -- I drew the XXXX line. From my work in background check audits, I know that email is not secure and we ALWAYS asked people to fax details like this. Plus, it was sketchy that he needed this information, especially in a case where I wonder if my identify has been stolen in the first place. 

At this point, I will continue to dispute the charges with XXXX XXXX, but feel handcuffed about what to do with Transunion. They have no record of any account or charges they are levying against me, and yet the charges continue to appear on my credit card statement. 

There is one far-fetched possibility I've considered. A few years ago, the State of South Carolina had a security breach and offered free fraud alerts or credit monitoring and I may have opted in to that? I truly can not remember, but researching the Transunion issue online led me to this article ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and the writer reports something similar happening to him. 

Is it possible that this fee is a pass-through fee by another company monitoring my credit from way back then? 

Still, I am being taken advantage of because now that I have caught the charge, I have no way to cancel any service or even now what that service entails. This is an unfair and predatory business practice coming from somewhere. 

Please help me block Transunion from continuing these unauthorized, and at this point unfixable, charges on my account. 

Thank you for your time and best regards, XXXX XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation