Consumer complaint received 2016-11-04
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: PA
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity protection
Sub-issue: Problem with fraud alerts

Complaint:
I received a letter from Equifax on XXXX XXXX, 2016. I was alarmed and quite concerned as I did not contact Equifax to place a fraud alert on my credit file nor for any other reason. The letter goes on to say that they eliminated my need to contact XXXX and XXXX as they would forward my fraud alert to those companies on my behalf. 
I placed a call to Equifax on the evening of XXXX XXXX, 2016, and unfortunately was unable to obtain the name of the representative to whom I spoke as his accent made it difficult to understand him. I stated that I did n't place a fraud alert on my file at which time I was informed that XXXX received the fraud alert and then notified Equifax to place the fraud alert on my credit file. Please keep in mind that the letter I received was from Equifax Information Services LLC, and stated that I contacted Equifax and that they placed the alert and that they contacted XXXX and XXXX on my behalf. At this point, not only am I alarmed at receiving a letter acknowledging an action I did not take, I am also frustrated because I can not get answers to my questions regarding how the fraud alert was placed and why the letter came from Equifax if the alert was placed with XXXX. With a raised voice, the representative said, " it came from XXXX '', and hung up on me. That call was brief and included hold time. 
I called back and explained to the next representative that the previous representative hung up on me and was assured that he would not do that but that we might get disconnected. I asked him to take my number and to please call me back if we 're disconnected and he said, " we do n't do that ''. After I continued to ask pointed questions about why an inaccurate fraud alert letter was generated by Equifax and how a fraud alert could be placed on my file without me doing it, he also raised his voice and said, " I will take it off your file! ". At this point, I was already upset with the treatment I received by XXXX Equifax representatives. Now add to it that a frustrated representative can simply remove the fraud alert even though it was not generated by the company with whom he is employed. I 'm flabbergasted. He said the letter was incorrect but that 's not a problem. He may not think it 's a problem but it is a significant problem for me as it is indicative of the level of attention that is n't paid to the work that is being done. He had the audacity to say to me, do n't you want to know about a fraud alert? Of course I do. The purpose of my call was not to be informed of a fraud alert. What I wanted to know is how the alert was generated when I did n't do it - the representative finally gave me possibilities to explain that. My son and I were working on the removal of a late charge from my file but did not request a fraud alert. I also wanted to know why the letter came from a company other than the one who supposedly received the fraud alert. After my conversations with the second Equifax representative, I still want to know why Equifax received an alert from XXXX but incorrectly and irresponsibly sent me a letter stating that I initiated the alert with Equifax ; why if we got disconnected the representative could n't offer the courtesy of a call back ; why if the XXXX companies share the fraud alerts, they do n't share the removal of alerts ; and how the representative from XXXX company can remove the alert from my file even though it was placed by a different company. I still do n't have a letter from XXXX stating that I requested a fraud alert be placed on my credit file. 
On XXXX XXXX, 2016, I made a request to my mortgage company to check my credit file - according to a XXXX loan officer, there is nothing on my credit file with XXXX although Equifax claimed the fraud alert came from XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation