Consumer complaint received 2025-05-22 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report — Reporting company used your report improperly
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: MO

Complaint narrative:
I am filing this formal complaint against the XXXX nationwide consumer reporting agencies Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion for their continued reporting of XXXX fraudulent accounts and XXXX unauthorized hard inquiries on my credit reports. These fraudulent items are a direct result of the XXXX XXXX data breach, which compromised the sensitive personal information of over XXXX XXXX Americans including my own. 

Despite initiating multiple disputes and submitting documentation identifying these accounts and inquiries as fraudulent, the credit bureaus have failed to fulfill their legal obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ( FACTA ). The continued reporting of this inaccurate and harmful information has caused significant damage to my credit standing, emotional distress, and loss of financial opportunities. 

Violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) Failure to Maintain Maximum Possible Accuracy Under 15 U.S.C. 1681e ( b ), consumer reporting agencies must follow reasonable procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of the information they include in consumer reports. Reporting accounts and inquiries that I did not authorize or open and which I have identified as fraudulent directly violates this provision.

Failure to Conduct a Reasonable Reinvestigation Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ), once a consumer disputes an item on their report, the credit bureaus are required to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation within XXXX days. The CRAs have either failed to investigate these fraudulent items adequately or have relied solely on automated responses from data furnishers a practice that does not meet the legal threshold for a reasonable reinvestigation, as established in multiple court decisions. 

Failure to Block Fraudulent Information Due to Identity Theft Under 15 U.S.C. 1681c-2 ( a ), once a consumer provides proof of identity theft ( such as a police report or identity theft affidavit ), the credit bureau must block the reporting of any information resulting from that identity theft within XXXX business days. I have submitted documentation identifying these XXXX accounts and XXXX inquiries as fraudulent. The credit bureaus have failed to comply with this requirement and have continued to report harmful information that should have been blocked under the law. 

Failure to Notify Furnishers of the Dispute According to 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 2 ), when a consumer files a dispute, the credit bureau must notify the furnisher of the disputed information and include all relevant information provided by the consumer. There is no evidence that this was done thoroughly in my case, as the responses I received from the CRAs were generic, vague, and lacked any details about how the information was verified.

Damages from the Equifax Data Breach The source of this fraudulent activity is the Equifax data breach, which exposed my Social Security number, date of birth, and other personal identifying information to malicious actors. Despite this breach being publicly acknowledged and settled, Equifax continues to report fraudulent activity resulting from their own negligence, and XXXX and XXXX are complicit by continuing to report these unverifiable and damaging entries. 

It is unacceptable that consumers must continue to suffer from the consequences of a breach caused by a credit bureaus own security failures, especially when those same bureaus then fail to follow the law when consumers seek to correct the harm. I urge the CFPB to intervene on my behalf and compel these agencies to comply with their legal obligations under the FCRA and related laws. 

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief