Consumer complaint received 2022-09-10
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: OH
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with fraud alerts or security freezes

Complaint:
I called Equifax several times back in XXXX in regards to information being reported that I did not consent to being reported on my credit report. 

I was told that they can not do anything about it, that I need to take it up with the company providing them my data. They also let me know that if it was a fraud case then I needed to submit a report to the FTC in order to have it removed from my report. 

I was not calling them about fraud nor identity theft. I did NOT file an FTC report or contact Equifax again to start a fraud dispute. 

I discovered yesterday that my XXXX business account was overdrawn by {$80.00} for XXXX transactions that happened back on XX/XX/XXXX for {$50.00} and XX/XX/XXXX for {$30.00}. It left me with - {$67.00} in my business account because i had {$12.00} in my account at the time. I used my business account to send myself an invoice to my personal email. I paid the invoices using my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The transactions went through fine, but now they are being disputed by XXXX. 

I can no longer use my business account as XXXX has permanently limited my account because of this. 

When I called my card issuer, XXXX XXXX XXXX, I was told by the automatic answering services that my account was pending collections. I then spoke with a live agent and was told that my account was closed for fraud. After speaking with a higher up I discovered that XXXX XXXX XXXX was alerted by Equifax on XX/XX/XXXX that this account was fraudulent, although I never made that claim or asked them to contact XXXX XXXX XXXX on my behalf. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX told me that they conducted an internal investigation & somehow came up with the fact that it was indeed opened fraudulently, but it was not. I applied & accepted the approval for my XXXXXXXX credit card. 

I was never alerted that there was an investigation nor of the results of this investigation until my business account was unusable & I had to figure out why. 

When I called Equifax to ask why they sent them the report they said they couldn't tell me why it was sent and they had no record of me claiming fraud at all. The only thing I did do was update my employment, my address & my name. I did recieve a letter in the mail from them showing that my address, name & employment was indeed updated. Nowhere on the letter does it show anything about a fraud dispute or anything. 

My XXXX card can not be reinstated because of the fraud closure. I have to wait XXXX before I can reapply with them or I will be denied because of the fraud closure. I still had avaliable credit on the card that I really needed to use. 

I've spoken with XXXX card about dropping the disputed transactions but now I have to wait XXXX days to see if their investigation team will release the dispute so I can use my business account again. 

I am currently in the hospital with XXXX XXXX so I can not work. That card was helping me cover expenses. Equifax has not only managed to get my card closed but they have also negatively impacted my credit score by contacting XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX without my consent. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is also to blame because I was not alerted of the potential closure of my account, the actual closure, the investigation of my account and I was not given a chance to prove that the transactions were not fraudulent.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation