Consumer complaint received 2024-11-10 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Information belongs to someone else
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA

Complaint narrative:
SUMMARY : My identity was stolen. Someone impersonated me to open a credit card through XXXX. I reported this to XXXX, who has refused to assist me. I filed disputes with the credit bureaus. 

After I provided XXXX with substantial documentation, it conducted a 28-minute " investigation '' into my dispute and did nothing. It was literally impossible for XXXX to review the documentation I provided in 28 minutes -- let alone investigate the accuracy of those documents. 

Equifax initially rejected my dispute, but all it did was ask XXXX to confirm the debt -- which XXXX fraudulently did. I have since provided substantial backup documentation to Equifax, and have not yet heard back, but it is my understanding they have re-opened their investigation. 

At no point did XXXX or Equifax contact me to discuss this fraud. They both simply asked XXXX  for confirmation, XXXX  fraudulently confirmed the account, and XXXX and Equifax accepted XXXX  's fraudulent confirmation at face value. This whole process is a circular joke -- no one seems to be doing any real investigation into the fraud. 

My understanding is that XXXX 's investigation into this fraud remains ongoing. 

DETAILED FACTUAL BACKGROUND : XXXX XXXX ( XXXX  ) is a XXXXbased finance company that provides credit card lending services. 

XXXX was a digital wellness program that offered an app where users could track activities like sleep, diet, exercise, meals, and mindfulness. XXXX ceased operations on XX/XX/XXXX after being unable to find a buyer or investment partner. The XXXX app is no longer available. Prior to ceasing operations, XXXX partnered with XXXX to issue a XXXX credit card. 

On or about XX/XX/XXXX, a fraudsterunbeknownst to mefraudulently opened a credit card account with XXXX of the credit cards that XXXX  offers ( the Fraudulent Account ). Upon information and belief, the Fraudulent Account is tied to a XXXX  card that XXXX offered and serviced ( the Credit Card ). 

Upon information and belief, the fraudster was able to open the Fraudulent Account merely by fraudulently representing my name, address, and telephone number as the fraudsters own. Upon information and belief, the fraudster did not provide either my actual email address or social security number ( SSN ) when the fraudster opened the Fraudulent Account, as explained more fully below. 

In other words, XXXX negligently allowed the fraudster to open the Fraudulent Account without even undertaking the most basic of confirming steps ( i.e., obtaining verification through a SSN and email address ). 

Based upon information recently received from Equifax, the fraudster apparently made payments on the Credit Card for the Fraudulent Account in XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. Thereafter, the fraudster racked up charges totaling approximately {$340.00} that he or she did not pay. 

To be clear, I did not open the Fraudulent Account and, accordingly, have never used the Credit Card. In fact, before I learned of the fraud described herein, I had never even heard of XXXX  or XXXX. 

I have never received any correspondence from XXXX regarding the Fraudulent Account or Credit Card. I have never received any billing statements at any time from XXXX or XXXX. I have never even downloaded or used the XXXX app. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX XXXX, I received a call from someone purporting to be a representative of XXXX XXXX, a debt collections agency. That representative stated she was calling to collect the approximate {$340.00} balance that the fraudster had failed to pay regarding the Fraudulent Account. That representative asked me for personal identifying information. 

This call came at a great surprise to me, given that ( XXXX ) I had never even heard of XXXX  at the time of this call ; ( XXXX ) I have never had any sort of account with XXXX  ; and ( XXXX ) I have always made all credit card payments timely. Given the surprise nature of this call and the representatives request for personal identifying information, I feared this call was a scam ( i.e., that it was an improper attempt to obtain my personal identifying information ). I informed the debt collector that the Fraudulent Account was not mine and that I had never even heard of XXXX. 

In response, the debt collector provided the address and telephone number associated with the Fraudulent Accountboth of which belong to me, and which the fraudster had misrepresented as his or her own. 

However, the debt collector also provided the email address allegedly associated with the account, which is not associated with me ( and has never been ). I informed the debt collector that the email address was not mine, and emphasized ( once again ) that the Fraudulent Account was the product of fraud and I am not liable for it. 

The debt collector then represented to me that XXXX XXXX would mail a dispute form to my residence that I could use to dispute the alleged debt associated with the Fraudulent Account within 30 days. 

At the conclusion of this call, I still suspected that the call was a scam for the reasons described above. Thus, that same night, I checked my credit report online to verify whether there was any account on my report associated with XXXX. I had not checked my credit report in years prior to this time because I had not applied for any new loans since I refinanced my mortgage around the XXXX timeframe. 

To my surprise, the Fraudulent Account was incorrectly listed on my credit report. This was the first time I learned of this fact. 

Disturbingly, XXXX  inaccurate reporting of the XXXX Account on my credit report dropped my credit score initially by over XXXX points ( although it has since rebounded to some degree ). As a direct result of the fraud and XXXX  actions described herein, my credit score remains well below where it was prior to the fraud. 

Having just learned of the Fraudulent Account, I called XXXX  at around XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained the situation to the XXXX representative on that call, and asked for assistance in closing the Fraudulent Account and removing it from my credit reports. 

The XXXX representative asked for my SSN and other personal identifying information. I truthfully provided that information. The XXXX  representative confirmed there was no account at XXXX  associated with my SSN. 

I was relieved to hear that the fraudster had likely not been able to misuse my SSN, and was hopeful that XXXX  would therefore work with me to resolve the fraud. I requested that the XXXX  representative send me confirmation in writing that there was no account at XXXX  associated with my SSN. 

Inexplicably, the XXXX representative refused to provide me with written confirmation. I explained that I needed such confirmation to provide to the credit bureaus to help resolve the fraud. The XXXX representative remained steadfast in his refusal to provide any information in writing. Instead, the XXXX representative merely referred me to the credit bureaus. I explained that I fully intended to file disputes with the credit bureaus, but that ( XXXX ) the fraud originated at XXXX  ; ( XXXX ) XXXX  inaccurately reported the Fraudulent Account on my credit report ; and ( XXXX ) the bureaus would ultimately be contacting XXXX  to obtain the same type of information I was requesting. I pleaded for assistance. 

Despite my pleas, the XXXX representative refused to provide any written confirmation. Realizing that continuing to request written confirmation was an exercise in futility, I then requested an email address he could use to contact XXXX about the Fraudulent Account. The XXXX representative initially refused to provide an email address. I emphasized that it was important to me to start documenting this fraud in writing, and again asked for an email address. After a few minutes where I was put on hold, the XXXX representative eventually provided the following email address : XXXX. 

At XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX, I emailed that address, notified XXXX  in writing of the fraud described herein, and asked for assistance in resolving the fraud and clearing my name/credit report. Meanwhile, I filed disputes with all three credit bureaus that night regarding the Fraudulent Account. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX responded via its XXXX email address, and again simply referred me to the credit bureau. XXXX offered no further assistance. 

Given that I had already ( XXXX ) filed disputes with the bureaus, ( XXXX ) informed XXXX  of the fraud, ( XXXX ) confirmed with a XXXX  representative that there was no account associated with my SSN, and ( XXXX ) XXXX   itself had expressly referred me to the credit bureausI was hopeful that XXXX  and the credit bureaus would work collaboratively to resolve the fraud described herein ( i.e., remove the Fraudulent Account from my credit reports, among other things ). 

Then, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received mailed correspondence from XXXX XXXX, the aforementioned debt collector. Contrary to what the debt collector had represented during her XX/XX/XXXX telephone call with me, this correspondence was not a form whereby I could dispute the debt. Instead, the correspondence stated, We have contacted the creditor [ XXXX ] who has verified the information. In other words, having full knowledge of the fraud described herein, XXXX egregiously continued to perpetuate the fraud by lying to XXXX XXXX about the Fraudulent Account being a valid debt of mine ( which it is not ). 

Disappointed with XXXX  bad faith, I called XXXX once again to voice my concern about the Fraudulent Account. The representative I spoke to on the night of XX/XX/XXXX was even less than helpful than the first representative. This representative expressly stated, we do not provide solutions, and ( once again ) merely referred me to the credit bureaus. 

That same night, I placed a fraud alert with the credit bureaus and filed an Identify Theft Report with the Federal Trade Commission. That same night, I again emailed XXXX, and requested the following information : a. [ C ] opies of all applications and other business records relating to the account allegedly associated with my name at XXXX. ; b. The email address associated with the Fraudulent Account ; XXXX Documents pertaining to how the Fraudulent Account was opened by the fraudster, including XXXX  request ( or lack thereof ) for any verifying information ; XXXX The SSN associated with the Fraudulent Account ; e. [ I ] nformation showing what the ~ {$340.00} associated with the Fraudulent Account was used to purchase, and where those purchases occurred. 

Ironically, XXXX  responded on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX AM, and stated that it was refusing to assist me because XXXX  was unable to locate an application or account using the email address [ that I ] was writing from. 

Obviously, the reason why XXXX could not locate my email address is that the fraudster opened the Fraudulent Account using an email address not associated with me ( as discussed above ). In other words, XXXX  was continuing to perpetuate its fraud through circular and negligent confirming policies ( i.e., XXXX  negligently allowed the fraudster to open the Fraudulent Account in my name using an email not associated with me, and then refused to discuss the details of the Fraudulent Account with me because I do not have access to the email address fraudulently used by the fraudster ). 

I responded that morning at XXXX XXXX  : " You're kidding. Did you read my emails??? This is my email address. Of course there is not application or account associated with it -- I do not have an account with XXXX. I am emailing you about a *fraudulent* account that needs to be closed, and which you need to report to the credit agencies and the loan collector as not being mine. '' Then, on XX/XX/XXXX, Equifax reported to me via email that it had allegedly completed its investigation of my dispute of the Fraudulent Account. Equifax reported that it contacted the company reporting the information to Equifax ( i.e., XXXX ), and XXXX had confirmed that the Fraudulent Account was an alleged valid debt of mine. In other words, with full knowledge that the Fraudulent Account was not a valid debt of mine, XXXX nevertheless went ahead and expressly lied to Equifax about that fact. 

Based on the Equifax report, Equifax did nothing to investigate the dispute other than simply ask XXXX for confirmationa pathetically poor attempt at an investigation given that, as described above, the Fraudulent Account : ( XXXX ) is not associated with any of my email addresses; and ( XXXX ) is not associated with my SSN. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, I had not received any notices from either XXXX or XXXX regarding the outcome of their investigations into the disputed Fraudulent Account. Nevertheless, as a result of receiving Equifaxs notice, I logged onto my online accounts with XXXX and XXXX to check the status of their investigations. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX was still investigating my dispute of the Fraudulent Account. 

However, to my surprise, I discovered that XXXX had apparently concluded its investigation ( or lack thereof ) back on XX/XX/XXXX, and had failed to notify me of that fact. Rather, XXXX merely provided an update in my online account, but did not provide notice via email ( or otherwise ) of that fact. 

XXXX XX/XX/XXXX online update states that, The company that reported the information [ XXXX ] has certified to XXXX that the information is accurate. In other words, XXXX Equifaxdid nothing more than request confirmation from XXXX, who fraudulently provided confirmation even though XXXX had actual notice from me that such confirmation was inaccurate. 

Moreover, the circumstances should have alerted Equifax and XXXX that there was a real need to seriously question the nature of the Fraudulent Account. I have multiple credit cards all tied to the same email address and I have never missed a payment on any of them. The credit card payments that I routinely makes on my actual credit cards are many multiples of the approximate {$340.00} delinquency allegedly associated with the Fraudulent Account. Accordingly, Equifax and XXXX had actual notice by virtue of the other information on my credit report that it was incredibly unlikely that I would be delinquent on a {$340.00} debt associated with a credit card that is not tied to my email address or my SSN ( because, of course, I am not delinquent because the Fraudulent Account is not mine, and is instead the product of fraud/identity theft ). 

Based on the contents of the information received from Equifax and XXXX, it does not appear that either of them undertook efforts to ( XXXX ) confirm the SSN associated with the Fraudulent Account matched my SSN ; ( XXXX ) confirm the email address associated the Fraudulent Account matched my email addresses ; ( XXXX ) confirm the transactions the fraudster made using the Credit Card align geographically with the location where I reside ; ( XXXX ) confirm whether the nature of the transactions the fraudster made align with my purchase history ; or ( XXXX ) confirm in any way the accuracy of the fraudulent information perpetuated by XXXX. 

In fact, neither Equifax nor XXXX even contacted me during their investigations. Rather, both of those entities simply accepted XXXX  fraudulent story at face value without even bothering to obtain information from me. 

To make matters worse, I re-submitted this dispute to XXXX at XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX, but this time uploaded supporting documentation, including, among other things, ( XXXX ) a draft copy of a Complaint, which contains a detailed recitation of the facts demonstrating the fraud ; ( XXXX ) a copy of my Identity Theft Report ; ( XXXX ) a copy of my correspondence with XXXX  ( in which XXXX  refused to provide information to me about the Fraudulent Account because my email address is not associated with the Fraudulent Account ). 

Incredibly, XXXX completed its investigation ( or lack thereof ) into this renewed disputewith substantial supporting documentationin no more than 28 minutes. To that end, XXXX emailed me an update ( unlike previously ) at XXXX XXXX  on XX/XX/XXXX, where it maintained its improper stance that the Fraudulent Account is a valid debt of mine ( when it is not ; again, it is the product of identity theft/fraud ). 

It is impossible that XXXX actually reviewed the supporting documentationlet alone investigated the accuracy of that informationin 28 minutes. The evidence unequivocally demonstrates that XXXX failed to undertake a reasonable investigation into my dispute of the Fraudulent Account. 

As described above, both Equifax and XXXX failed to undertake the reasonable investigation into my dispute of the Fraudulent Account, as required by law.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation