Consumer complaint received 2017-09-14
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: AZ
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Other personal consumer report
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Reporting company used your report improperly

Complaint:
XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX XXXX -- Equifax Inc. ( XXXX : XXXX ) today announced a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million U.S. consumers . Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files. Based on the company 's investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX. The company has found no evidence of unauthorized activity on Equifax 's core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases. 
The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver 's license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed. 

As requested on the Equifax website on XX/XX/XXXX I entered my name and my wifes name and the last 6 numbers of our social security numbers and they provided the info below which states that our credit info has been breeched. 

Thank You Based on the information provided, we believe that your personal information may have been impacted by this incident. 
Click the button below to continue your enrollment in XXXX XXXX. 
Enroll For more information visit the FAQ page. 

I also tried to freeze my Equifax credit report online and got : System Currently Unavailable Error 5000 and the info listed below : Additional Information Required We 're sorry ... we can not process your online request concerning an Equifax security freeze. To assist us in processing your request please submit in writing the required items outlined below. 


For all security freeze requests please submit the following ID information : your complete name including any suffix ( e.g. Jr., Sr., etc. ), complete address, Social Security number and date of birth. 

For the Placement of a security freeze, please provide the above required personal ID information. 

To temporarily lift a security freeze, you must submit all of the following along with the required personal ID information : - 10-digit personal identification number ( PIN ) - Date range ( e.g. XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX ) or proper information regarding the third party ( ies ) to receive your credit file ( e.g. XXXX ) To permanently remove a security freeze, you must submit all of the following along with the required personal ID information : - 10-digit personal identification number ( PIN ) - Two ( 2 )  forms of identification ( eg.Pay stub with address and utility bill ) Please return your required personal ID information along with any additionally required information noted above to : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX GA XXXX Please include payment by check or major credit card for the appropriate fees. For XXXX, XXXX, XXXX or XXXX XXXX payment, please include your name as it appears on the card, the card number and the expiration date. Please click here for the fees associated with your state 's security freeze. 


We will provide you with written confirmation of the successful completion of your security freeze request. 


To make a security freeze request with the other national consumer credit reporting agencies, please contact XXXX  and XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX Thank you, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX We have tried numerous times to reach Equifax by phone with no success. 
Our understanding is that our credit has been compromised for the rest of our lives because of this breech. We will need to freeze our credit with all three credit bureaus at a cost of {$5.00} each. If we want to get a loan, credit card etc. we will have to unfreeze each of these accounts at a cost of anywhere between {$5.00} to {$20.00}. Then will have to freeze them again. This company has made billions of dollars off consumers and we expect them to have to pay for their mistake by paying for all our freezes and unfreezes.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation