Consumer complaint received 2022-01-03
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: NC
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
From XXXX through XXXX of XXXX, I was employed with a company that contacted me through legitimate business channels to offer me the possibility of employment. The name of this company was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  ). After numerous discussions about the employment opportunity, I accepted and signed an employment contract on XX/XX/XXXX. My first day of work was on XX/XX/XXXX. My duties for this job as they were described to me was to purchase high demand products that were specifically order by customers located in other countries that did not have access to these products. I would be reimbursed for the purchase price of these products via an official company bank account with my name listed as an authorized account holder. I would then ship these products to an intermediary that would be gathering products from various employees and ship them in bulk to the customer fulfillment location. After 2 weeks I began to get suspicious of the operation due to the lack of information I was being provided and the questions I had asked that remained unanswered by my superior. After asking these questions repeatedly, every payment that was made from the company bank account was reversed and I was stuck with a large amount of debt. I repeatedly reached out to my superior after this instance and was assured it would be resolved. It was never resolved, and my superior ceased all contact with me and would not respond to my calls, messages and emails. I immediately contacted the credit card companies to ask them how these payments could reverse, and they stated that it was a feature of the bank account that was being used. I was never paid for any work and was left with over {$85000.00} wor I immediately went to the police and filed a police report. I then contacted the police in each city I was sending products to. I was alerted to large seizure at one location and the police were unaware of anything at the second location. I then reached out the to Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) who informed me that this was a fraud scheme and there were many victims throughout the country. I was informed because the criminals were foreign, it would be highly unlikely for any justice to come to them, and I was best off to contact a lawyer. 
I contacted an attorney in XX/XX/XXXX. After explaining my situation to them, they agreed that I should not be held liable for debt incurred and I retained their services to help me in this matter. On XX/XX/XXXX, my attorney sent the first of three demand letters to each of the 3 creditors via certified mail. The second demand letter was sent XX/XX/XXXX and the third was sent XX/XX/XXXX, all letters were sent via certified mail. These letters explained the situation as well as highlighting the banks involvement in the perpetuation of this crime. My attorneys received no response from any of the 3 demand letters to the 3 different creditors. I was told by my lawyers that I had 2 options, sue the creditors to force them to address this issue or do nothing. They told me they recommended that I do nothing. It would be very costly to engage in litigation with 3 separate creditors and it would most likely cost more than the debt itself. My attorneys believed that the creditors knew that they could not collect this debt and therefore would just write the debt off and avoid any legal battle. I have taken their advice and have not heard from any of my creditors. My credit score and credit report have been destroyed. I am unable to receive security clearances for work and have lost out on several employment opportunities. This has completely turned my life upside down.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation