Consumer complaint received 2024-01-04 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Credit monitoring or identity theft protection services — Problem with product or service terms changing
Company: Experian Information Solutions Inc.
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Recently I discovered a new negative piece of information on my Experian credit report that was furnished by XXXX XXXX. On information and belief, the furnished information indicated the account was past due and charged off with a balanced owed around $ 8-9k. Initially, since I am a customer of XXXX XXXX, with XXXX accounts, all of which are active and in good standing, I thought that maybe the information was submitted incorrectly, or to the wrong file, so I initiated a dispute. A few days later Experian came back and stated the information was accurate. 

Next I contacted XXXX XXXX and confirmed my XXXX accounts with them were and are still active and in good standing. They were also unable to find where the negative information was coming from thus they could not provide me any further details. Having spent the last XXXX  years recovering from what seems like the never ending battle that comes with being the victim of identity theft, I knew the furnished information must have been the result of identity theft. Since I am a paid member of Experians, which comes with identity theft protection and a fraud resolution specialist whos with you every step of the way, my next call was to them. The agent I spoke with opened a case for me and a few days later XXXX a Fraud Resolution Specialist got in contact with me to discuss the situation. Having gone through this before, when she called I was prepared with my FTC Identity Theft Report and proper forms of Identification, which I uploaded to Experian.com through a link provided my XXXX. At the end of my call with XXXX, I was left believing that Experian would fully comply with the Law and block the information within the short time they have to do so. Boy was I wrong. Instead, 2 days later I received and email telling me the dispute I requested was now open, however I DID NOT ASK FOR THE INFORMATION TO BE DISPUTED AGAIN, NOR DID I GIVE MY PERMISSION TO ANY ONE AT EXPERIAN TO ACCESS AND SHARE MY CREDIT REPORT TO DO SO. Less then twelve hours later I received another email telling me my dispute was completed and the information was verified as valid by the furnisher ( Of course the furnisher believes its valid. Someone pretended to be me and open an account with them, so in their eyes the information is valid, when it is not. By initiating this dispute without consent, Experian caused my credit score to drop XXXX points. 

Over the court of the next 10 days, I left no less than XXXX voicemails for XXXX, at her extension, as well as in her teams general mailbox. To date ZERO of my messages have been returned. I then spent XXXX pain staking days arguing, sitting on hold, being hung up on, and transfered to so many different departments at Experian, yet not a single one wanted to take ownership of the problem and help guide me to a resolution. My last call during that 2 day period, I landed at the desk of XXXX in disputes. First XXXX tells me he could not find the FTC ID Theft Report and Identification I submitted but then proceeds to tell me it doesnt matter, because in his opinion the information was valid and that he would not do anything else to assist me. When I asked for a supervisor, he first refused, then said fine and put me on hold for XXXX minutes, at which time he came back on the line and ended our call. XXXX minutes after he hung up on me I reviewed an email from Experian that reads : In response to the request we received to remove certain items from your credit report, we have examined the identity theft report you provided to us and have confirmed that it is a fraudulent document. 

Pursuant to Section 605B ( c ) ( 1 ) ( B ) and Section 611 ( a ) ( 3 ) ( A ) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, we have not blocked any items from your credit report or initiated disputes of any items on your behalf due to the fraudulent nature of the documentation we received. 

Deliberately providing fraudulent identity theft reports to Experian is a serious matter. Experian security personnel actively work with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies on cases involving fraudulent identity theft reports that were submitted to Experian in an effort to alter or remove data for credit repair purposes. Please be aware that Experian reserves the right to report this incident to law enforcement, creditor security personnel or the appropriate government agency listed on the identity theft report, and to request criminal prosecution of the individual ( XXXX ) who submitted the fraudulent document. 

First, how can he claim he doesnt have the documents, then XXXX minutes later make such egregiously false accusations about said documents. My response is simple, go right ahead and contact the authorities, would you like me to dial the number for you? I maintain the same position today, simply because I know which of us is being truthful and which is not. 

The following Monday, I spent another XXXX hours being transferred, put on hold, and hung up on, until I finally got a supervisor who actually helped me. Since XXXX was being unresponsive, they created a new case so it could be assigned to a different specialist, and a few days later a specialist named XXXX reached out to discuss my identity theft issuers. While on the phone with him he sent me another link to upload documents and I once again sent in my FTC ID Theft Report and appropriate IDs. The next day I received an email stating that they were unable to block the information because they did not received the exact documents I uploaded the day prior. THey then once again WITHOUT MY CONSENT disputed the information, which caused my credit score to drop another XXXX points ( so thats now a XXXX point reduction in my score due to Experian taking action on my credit file I did not ask for or give them consent to do ). I then began to reach out to XXXX, which I have now done more than XXXX times and just like XXXX XXXX has not responded to a single XXXX of my messages.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief