Consumer complaint received 2023-07-07
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: TX
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: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
On Friday, XX/XX/2023 I received a notification from XXXX that my SSN was used to create an account with a company called XXXX, for a purchase of {$210.00} on a credit plan. This was done using stolen personal information. I've never heard of this company and did not authorize this. XXXX should have prevented this from even happening. 

Then on Monday, XX/XX/2023 I received an item from this company in the mail. I called XXXX right away to get the issue resolved, report the fraud and let them know I wanted any accounts closed and reported as fraud and once we had written confirmation I wanted to return the item. 

The woman I spoke to, XXXX, sent information off to " loss prevention '' so they could do an investigation. She said there were no other accounts open, this was the only order under my name. We determined that the email address and phone number associated with the order where not any of mine as well. 

I also filed an Identity Theft Report with the FTC for this. 
FTC Report Number XXXX On Wednesday, XX/XX/2023 I received a notice in the mail from XXXX for an entirely different item totaled at {$400.00} asking me to send a check for {$25.00} to have the order processed. This was very upsetting considering XXXX had told me there were no other orders using my stolen personal information. 

On Friday, XX/XX/2023 I received a letter from XXXX stating that they had completed a review and determined that the {$210.00} item wasn't fraud and citing our phone call as evidence, which is wildly inaccurate. 

I HAVE A RECORDING OF ALL PHONE CALLS WITH THIS COMPANY. 

I called the company again to inquire about both purchases and try to rectify the situation on both fraudulent orders. I told them I would like to return the item I didn't order once they did the following actions and provided written confirmation : -ALL accounts with XXXX XXXX XXXX and all other affiliates under their umbrella are marked as fraud and closed -Any and all orders are canceled and marked as fraud -A block is placed so that any attempt by anyone to use my personal information results in an inability to open an account or place an order of any kind at any of these companies -The fraud is reported to the credit agencies so it can be taken off of my credit report I redisputed the {$210.00} credit inquiry with Equifax after this call . 

XXXX is continuing to insist they are not engaging in fraud. 

I've had multiple issues with Equifax not removing fraudulent inquires from my report for years since my identity was stolen in the OPM hack ( I was in the military ) and I am sick of wasting my time dealing with these issues while XXXX doesn't do what it was contracted to do by the government on my behalf. 

XXXX is clearly running a scam as a way of doing business by the many similar reports claimed on the XXXX  website that mirror my own experience with them. 
XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX? XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX I also filed a complaint with the XXXX on Saturday, XX/XX/2023. Complaint ID : XXXX I attempted one more time to call XXXX Tuesday, XX/XX/2023, to speak to someone in loss prevention, which is the department I was told multiple times handles these " investigations '' and was prevented from speaking to someone in the department. 

Because XXXX keeps insisting this is not fraud, Equifax is also denying my dispute and has not removed the inquiry from my credit report. They have denied me a handful of times. 

They do not seem to care at all that I've filed an FTC Identity Theft Report and reported them to the XXXX. They absolutely refuse to help me in any way despite this clearly being a known problem with their company. 

The item that was sent to me was returned with delivery confirmation on Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX. 

When I tried to call today ( XX/XX/XXXX ) via the number on the XXXX response, I was told the credit department went home for the day and no one could talk to me until Monday. 

I've tried everything and just keep getting the run around.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation