Consumer complaint received 2021-09-20
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was result of identity theft
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc. (TX)

I have been a victim of identity theft since 2015. The initial symptoms were paying my bills using XXXX bill pay and creditors notifying me that the bill was not paid via collection notices. I do not know how secure the bill pay site is. I may have paid the bills twice in error without looking at my bank statements but there needs to be an audit and consumers may need to be reimbursed. My money kept disappearing without explanation numerous of times. I would look at my bank statements but could not find where it was disappearing. I then received several bill collectors harassing me via phone and then letters in error. See attach XXXX XXXX XXXX as an example. Secondly, someone opened at second telephone line without my consent which means they were pretending to be me. This became a habit. As soon as I opened an account then they would modify it, clone it, etc which made it harder to catch them. If they opened new accounts under my name I may have caught them sooner but they never did. I then notified XXXX XXXX XXXX fraud to report the outstanding balance of {$500.00} on their website but I never received a call back or letter. My bill is usually {$100.00} per month. This complaint was never investigated and I never received my money back. Initially I thought it could be a billing error which has happened in the past and was fixed immediately. XXXX XXXX XXXX refused to resolve this so I closed immediately in person and I paid {$250.00} the rest of payments were maid monthly. After XXXX XXXX XXXX was paid {$500.00} then I get a collection letter stating I owe them money because I never paid my owed balance. I notified the credit bureaus in writing telling them I paid XXXX XXXX XXXX  {$500.00} ; I am not going to give them an additional {$250.00} but they did not take me seriously and the dispute lasted over three years on my credit report. And then it is finally removed when I furnish my bank statements. There was no investigation from the credit bureaus it was just my letter sent to the creditor. When another creditor complained XXXX XXXX of the same issue they closed my credit card account in error. There was no debt owed but my account was closed. I was never late. I would have to gather my bank records from XXXX and audit them and forward to XXXX XXXX as they are claiming I was late on payments. I decided to switch banks in hopes to resolve future issues with creditors but keep XXXX open for disputing purposes only which was a mistake. I should have closed it immediately but I was unaware of this critical knowledge at that time. I did not know how to report a bank I was having issues with. I still had to pay a loan to XXXX and used XXXX bill pay to transfer my funds to XXXX. At the XXXX bank I was notified of fraud transactions. I was aware that I was having fraud transactions at XXXX because there was insufficient funds to pay bills numerous of times which isn't normal for me. XXXX told me it was a card skimmer and to get a new card which would resolve the issue. I have had numerous of debit cards replaced at XXXX ; I knew this wasn't going to resolve the issue but didn't know what else to do at that time. I got a new card at XXXX but it did not resolve the issue. Someone had collected my personal information and was cloning my credit and debit cards to use my funds without my acknowledgement or approval. I asked the bank how did you catch them because I was unable to? They stated that everything is time stamped and it was impossible for XXXX people to shop simultaneously at far and different locations. Later I called inquiry to close my account because of identity theft. The bank gave me an identity theft brochure which stated to contact FTC. I then closed XXXX bank account permanently and closed XXXX account to avoid fraud transactions in the future. On FTC website I learned there that I was an XXXX XXXX breach victim. XXXX or FTC should always notify victims of the data breach to avoid grave damage to credit report. I was not notified by any party. I had to investigate myself. I opened a credit monitoring account. And got notifications that someone is posting my personal information on the dark web including my email address and phone number. I then contacted the local police and FBI. A year later they are still unable to find the perpetrator. I recently got an apple alert on my iphone that someone from XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX is trying to log in as me. I then realize that once your information is posted on the dark web anyone can see it worldwide. Therefore law enforcement agencies would not have jurisdiction and no one would be held accountable. I submitted evidence to the credit bureaus asking to clear my name on my credit report due to fraud and identity theft. A letter was sent to the creditors on behalf of credit bureau using the language, " if the account was opened as a result of identity theft, ... '' the account was opened by me that is not the issue. The language should have stated that my accounts were compromised due to identity theft. As a result, the accounts weren't considered fraud so the issue remains unresolved. This is fraud because someone gained my personal information and cloned my credit cards. They tarnished my credit reputation, impersonated me, and made fraud transactions. As this remains unresolved I am having issues with housing, renting a car due to catastrophe and they require a credit check or credit card which I don't have.