Consumer complaint received 2025-05-06 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: CA

Complaint narrative:
I am writing to dispute the reinsertion of several fraudulent credit card accounts on my credit report. My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX, and I am a victim of identity theft. These credit card accounts were fraudulent opened without my knowledge or authorization and were previously removed from my credit files following earlier disputes I filed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ). In accordance with FCRA procedures, those accounts were deleted from my report after the credit bureaus determined they were not verified as legitimate debts attributable to me. I have documentation of your prior deletion of these accounts due to their fraudulent nature. 
However, upon reviewing my recent credit reports, I was alarmed to discover that these deleted fraudulent accounts have been reinserted into my credit files. I never received any notification of such reinsertion. Re-reporting these accounts without proper notice or basis is a serious concern, as it may violate my rights under federal law. I remind you of Section 611 ( a ) ( 5 ) ( B ) of the FCRA ( 15 U.S.C. 1681i ( a ) ( 5 ) ( B ) ) imposes strict requirements on credit reporting agencies when reinserting previously deleted information. Reinserted information must meet two key conditions : ( 1 ) the furnisher of the information must certify that the information is complete and accurate before it can be reinserted, and ( 2 ) the consumer reporting agency must notify the consumer in writing within 5 business days of reinsertion, including specific details about the furnisher and the consumers rights. These requirements are designed to prevent erroneous or fraudulent data from reappearing on a consumers report without proper verification.

To date, I have not received any written notice that these accounts were being reinserted, nor any communication providing the required details ( such as the business name and contact information of the furnisher that certified the informations accuracy, or notice of my right to add a statement to my file ) as mandated by FCRA 611 ( a ) ( 5 ) ( B ) ( ii ) - ( iii ). The absence of the mandatory notice strongly suggests that the proper reinsertion procedure was not followed. Furthermore, if no certification of accuracy was obtained from the furnishers, then the reinsertion of these accounts is plainly improper and illegal under the FCRA. The law explicitly forbids a credit bureau from reinserting a deleted item unless the furnisher certifies its accuracy, and even then the bureau must notify the consumer within five days of doing so. By re-reporting these accounts without adhering to these steps, the credit bureaus may have violated federal law.

Please be advised that these accounts are the result of identity theft, which is a serious crime under federal law. In 1998, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, making it a federal offense to use another persons identity without authorization ( 18 U.S.C. 1028 ). This law recognizes me as a victim of criminal fraud. I have taken appropriate steps as an identity theft victim : I have reported the fraudulent activity to the Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) and local law enforcement, and I have placed a fraud alert on my credit file under the provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ( FACTA ) and FCRA ( 15 U.S.C. 1681c-1 ) 22image. ( FACTA is the 2003 amendment to the FCRA that enhanced identity theft protections, including the right to place fraud alerts and obtain free reports. ) I should not be further victimized by having these fraudulent accounts reappear on my credit history. In fact, FACTA added FCRA Section 605B, which gives identity theft victims the right to have fraudulent information blocked from their credit reports altogether. I am prepared to invoke my rights under FCRA 605B to permanently block these accounts if necessary, by providing an identity theft report to you. Once information is confirmed as resulting from identity theft, the credit bureau must block it from the credit report within 4 business days and prevent it from returning.

In light of the above, I demand immediate action to address this issue. Please reinvestigate these reinserted accounts at once and remove them permanently from my credit reports unless you can fully verify in compliance with the law that they are my accounts ( which, given the evidence of fraud, is impossible ). I specifically requested the following :

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation