Consumer complaint received 2016-07-11
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CA
Product: Credit reporting
Issue: Credit reporting company's investigation
Sub-issue: Inadequate help over the phone

Complaint:
The issue started when I got an alert ( Through my ID monitoring service " protect my id '' ) that my credit report had had a XXXX recent hard inquiries in 2 consecutive days, once from a company called " XXXX '' and another from a company called " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. As I have never heard of or did any business with either of those companies, this lead me to believe I was a victim of identity theft. 
I then decided to file a dispute through Equifax website, only to find out that my information do n't match what they have in file about me. 
I called Equifax on XXXX/XXXX/16, and spoke to XXXX ( Customer Service Agent ) who completely refused to help. I then asked to speak to a supervisor, was transferred to XXXX who helped me put an initial 90 days fraud alert but still refused to do anything to reverse the credit pulls and their impact on my credit score. She insisted that I contact those companies and ask them to reverse the pulls. Few days later they sent me a document confirming that those companies have pulled my credit report ( see attachment ). 
I realized that I 'm entitled to a free credit report. So I tried to order it through Equifax website and file a dispute about the XXXX hard pulls, only to find out that my information mismatch on their system was never fixed and I ca n't file anything online. So I called Equifax on XXXX/XXXX/16 at XXXX and spoke to Customer service agent XXXX XXXX and explained that those companies never had my consent nor had a reason to run my credit. I also asked for my free credit report as a victim of identity theft. XXXX XXXX denied my right to have a credit report and tried to upsell me their identity protection product instead of helping me. I then asked to speak to a Supervisor and was transferred during the same phone call to XXXX XXXX who said she fixed the issue where my personal info do n't match what they have in file about me, but refused to help with the credit pulls issue and then the line dropped. Called back on the same day and spoke to Customer Service Agent XXXX, asked to be transferred to a supervisor and was connected with XXXX XXXX who agreed to send me my credit report but denied helping in disputing the hard pulls and instructed me to contact the companies directly. 
As the credit report was never sent to me, I tried to request one online only to find that my information mismatch still exists so I call again on XXXX/XXXX/16 at XXXX and spoke to XXXX who requested one for me. It finally showed up few days later and it reflects the credit pulls in question. 
I tried to look up online through XXXX the companies " XXXX XXXX '' and " XXXX XXXX XXXX '' to get their phone numbers as all what I had on my credit pull was their addresses. I called the number I found for " XXXX '' the phone operator denied that they have pulled my credit, refused to transfer me to a manager, and invited me to sue the company if I would like to. So I decided as last resort to send a formal registered letter asking for any evidence of business relationship between us or any prove of my consent they had when they ran my credit. 
I also did the same with the second company " XXXX XXXX XXXX ''. When I called they denied pulling my credit so I went ahead and sent them an email asking for a clarification but never heard back from them. I then used their address from the address that showed up on my credit report and sent a registered formal letter asking for clarification. Both letters returned undeliverable as those businesses do not exist at those corresponding addresses. 
I realized that I was a victim of identity theft and both companies fraudulently ran my credit. Equifax is completely refusing to help, even mismatched my information so I do n't try to file a complaint online and the companies are nowhere to be found.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation