Consumer complaint received 2017-05-17
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: FL
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:
Since  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX , a collections company, whom I have NEVER done business with nor have I ever had an account with, has been reporting a Debt Buyer Account on my Equifax credit report an amount of {$410.00}. I have disputed this account with Equifax and was told by them that they verified this account as being mine, which it 's not.     As instructed on the Equifax investigation report, I have called  XXXX  at the number provided on the credit report numerous times to dispute this matter using the account number provided by  XXXX  which appears on the investigation report. For my own protection, I am refusing to give  XXXX  any additional information -- especially my SS # to a collection company in the event they make any additional inquiries which ought also need to be removed from my credit profile. Although I provided  XXXX  with the account number, my name and address to verify my identity to them as it appears on my Equifax report to identify myself as the person disputing the erroneous and damaging information they are reporting on credit profile,  XXXX  refuses to discuss this account with me because I refuse to give them the las t 4 digits of  my Social Security number, citing privacy protection.     After their many attempts to justify their reason of needing my social security number to identify me they used  one  of their internal systems to access my name and number through their system and asked me to confirm the last  four  digits of my SS # which the agent named "  XXXX  '' said she had my full social security number in front of her as proof that  XXXX  performed an UNAUTHORIZED CREDIT CHECK which appears on my credit report and have not provided any information besides stating a DEBT BUYER ACCOUNT. I told  XXXX , I knew my rights under FCRA and by providing a company issued account number, that I did n't have to provide my SS # as reasonable ID -- particularly to a DEBT COLLECTOR speaking on a RECORDED LINE ; who would ultimately use my information in their own pursuit of debt collection activities.     Also, inany of my disputes neither  XXXX  nor Equifax has provided any additional information to me such as a statement or contract to indicate the origin of this collection debt, to resolve this matter, since I have never had any dealings at all with  XXXX , no contracts, no signed agreements, no nothing. On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , I applied for an apartment and my application came back saying I had to provide an additional {$720.00} Security deposit because  XXXX  has placed this on my credit report -- fraudulently and illegally. This is even more frustrating because they say date of first delinquency is in  XXXX ,  XXXX , date opened,  XXXX ,  XXXX ,  XXXX  and have been reporting this since  XXXX  of  XXXX , creating numerous erroneous inquiries among my other credit reports ( i.e.  XXXX , Equifax,  XXXX  Renta l Bureaus ),  as well.     I pray you can help me get this sorted out. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation