Consumer complaint received 2020-12-31
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: OR
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
<<<SUMMARY>>> Myself and my spouse have been unable to manage our existing Equifax security freezes in a timely manner since XX/XX/XXXX. The security PINs mailed to us by Equifax in XXXX are no longer accepted as a means to verify our identity and manage our existing security freezes. At present, Equifax 's automated website and phone support systems will not verify our identities based on any of the supplied menu responses for myself or my spouse. This situation has resulted in ongoing personal and financial harms as it has been impossible to manage security freezes within a reasonable time frame for necessary credit inquiries to take place. Notably, in the past year we have had bank account applications rejected ; have been unable to verify our identities to establish IRS.gov accounts ; were unable to process a temporary security freeze lift to facilitate an employment background check ; and most seriously, applying for a new residence be endangered when a time sensitive credit check returns no result. Contacting Equifax customer service on multiple occasions has provided no resolution to date. The only recourse offered by live customer service representatives is to process all future actions related to our security freezes via mail or fax. This method is ineffectual as it will not facilitate timely management of our security freezes. As such, I believe that our rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) are being violated by Equifax , Inc. due to an unreasonable hardship managing the protection of a security freeze. 

<<<ADDITIONAL DETAIL>>> Security freezes for myself and my spouse were initially placed on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX in response to the unprecedented data breach that Equifax was exposed to that same year. The extreme negligence revealed by this breach, in addition to my status as a US military veteran who previously conducted work related to national security, require that we maintain security freezes with each of the national credit reporting agencies ( CRA ). Until approximately XX/XX/XXXX, managing Equifax security freezes was possible via an automated phone service XXXX XXXX XXXX in which the security PIN numbers provided to us via mail were entered to verify our identities. But the use of security PIN numbers was discontinued by Equifax at some point in XXXX without any notification to us. Thereafter, Equifax would only facilitate access to manage our security freezes over the internet or phone if it's new automated identity verification system was satisfied. This resulted in our current predicament where the automated verification system does not accept any responses from us as sufficient. Multiple attempts by myself and my spouse to achieve a resolution by contacting Equifax phone support representatives have been ineffectual. On the last occasion ( reference Equifax Support Case # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX ), I spoke with a senior support representative who informed me that our security freezes could henceforth be managed solely via request sent by mail or fax. This procedure would also need to repeated for every future request. The only explanation offered for this burden is that myself and my spouse had insufficient credit history by which to verify our identities through Equifax 's automated systems. In other words, due to our decision to limit exposure to loans and other financial products in our personal lives, we are being excluded from the only automated systems that can manage a security freeze in a timely manner. Equifax also declined to provide any recourse by which to verify our identities in a manner that would resolve the identity verification issue in durable manner, and thereby restore routine access to manage our credit information via the Equifax website or automated phone system. Unfortunately, it is not possible to process a temporary security freeze lift in a timely manner via mail or fax without risking personal and financial hardship. Third-party service providers routinely process credit inquiries much more quickly than any mail or fax request can be processed. Consequently, the decision by Equifax to discontinue security PIN based service for identity verification while also providing no notification or comparable alternative resulted in myself and my spouse having no reasonable means to process essential business affairs. In addition to contacting customer support, my spouse submitted a consumer complaint in XX/XX/XXXX to the Georgia Office of the Attorney General where Equifax , Inc. is headquartered. This complaint specifically requested assistance to resolve the ongoing identity verification problem. However, the complaint instead produced a bizarre and troubling outcome where Equifax arbitrarily processed a 30-day lift of my spouse 's security freeze even though no such dates for a lift had been requested. And more seriously, my spouse 's attorney general complaint was submitted via a publicly accessible state operated website that required no verification of identity beyond collecting name, address, and phone number. In effect, Equifax processed a temporary lift of my spouse 's security freeze without authorization and without any meaningful verification whatsoever of the complaint 's actual origin. This plainly demonstrated that Equifax is fully capable of lifting a security freeze even when an individual 's identity has not been appropriately verified. Relaying information about the outcome of the attorney general complaint nevertheless produced no accommodation from Equifax support. It should also be noted that phone support representatives recommended on two occasions to permanently remove security freezes in favor of adopting Equifax 's 'Lock & Alert ' service as an alternative. It was indicated to me that the 'Lock & Alert ' service would facilitate a timely method of verifying our identities, while continuing to utilize security freeze protection would not. This amounts to an attempt to compel us away from using our protected rights to use security freezes under the FCRA. As of today XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, myself and my spouse are still prevented from managing our security freezes using the Equifax website ( my.equifax.com ) or calling the automated phone system. I transmitted a notice to Equifax customer service on XX/XX/XXXX offering a final opportunity to resolve the problem but it received no meaningful response. It should be noted that Equifax is the only national CRA that has produced a situation where it is impossible to properly manage our existing security freezes. Separately, myself and my spouse are also unable to access routine credit reports from Equifax without submitting requests via mail or fax. Were it possible for us to avoid conducting any business with Equifax , Inc. ever again, that would be the most ideal resolution. But since privately operated CRAs are commissioned by the United States government to manage consumer information, despite repeatedly demonstrating extreme negligence in their responsibilities to protect sensitive personal information, we have no choice but to work through this conundrum. Exercising our rights under the FCRA is not going to be prevented by a faulty automated system that is incompatible with how we choose to conduct our private personal affairs. Thank you for all due attention to this matter. 

<<< ATTACHMENTS >>> The following information is being supplied with this complaint : Security PIN notices, Equifax XXXX XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX XXXX ; online complaint notice, GA Attorney General XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) ; Security freeze lift notice, Equifax XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) ; online complaint file closed notice, GA Attorney General XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ). Additional information will be supplied upon request.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation