Consumer complaint received 2024-08-02 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Difficulty submitting a dispute or getting information about a dispute over the phone
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: PA

Complaint narrative:
Hello, I would like to make some clarifications. XXXX XXXX XXXX  partnering with XXXX XXXX  Card misunderstood the CFPB complaint # XXXX submitted on XX/XX/XXXX product Credit card. I had an XXXX XXXX credit card and have been a customer since XX/XX/XXXX, and my wife was also on the account as a user. I have no dispute about having the card from that time. What my complaint is about and please understand, is after using the card services from XXXX suddenly I realized in early XX/XX/XXXX that I no longer had access to the account. I could neither sign in nor see any transactions/ details. All of a sudden, the card was active again without access to me with balances running upwards. This is what I am disputing as I am not the one using the card. This activity needs to be investigated the same way that XXXX XXXX did when internal team members opened customers ' accounts without authorization. Around XXXX - XXXX I stopped using the card and was there dormant. I bank with XXXX and I used that to pay my account. Now, XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX in their complaint closure response to CFPB ( this to me is still an open dispute ) that they communicated to me via email on XX/XX/XXXX, detailing the reason for termination of the account. Firstly, please provide proof of that sent email showing my email address and details as I do not have it in my inbox. This means that XXXX XXXX XXXX  has an adverse action in not providing their client with a reason why the account was terminated in a timely manner. Secondly, if XXXX XXXX XXXX  insists that the account was closed on XX/XX/XXXX, now why is the balance increasing every day a few weeks ago was {$74000.00} today it's {$100000.00}? This is my main dispute. Why is the bank allowing this amount to increase daily even after I complained, raised the issue and disputed and according to their records its a closed card? Furthermore, I have no access to the card in any way to make any transactions at merchant points of sale or online or whatever is accumulating the credit card balances and the Bank still places the blame on me. How am I able to use the card if it is closed and aren't credit cards secured in that they have a limit that the customer has been approved for by an underwriter using the debt-to-burden ratio and looking at the ability to repay and exercise their authority to implement what to cap it at? So how does a capped credit card limit now blow up to the present running balance of {$100000.00}? Please tell me this. I don't even make this amount in a year. I would definitely have been denied by an underwriter if I had requested for such a limit so why is it still active and running upwards? This amount is even more than my mother 's mortgage. Is the XXXX XXXX XXXX  biased and only caps it when they are the ones to lose monetary value or reputation loss but since the credit card was in my name it can run to an infinite amount because I am the one to lose out and owe them as they are trying to make it out? Who is going to raise my credit score that keeps reducing by day? Last week it was XXXX and today its XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX  and XXXX XXXX, please explain how a closed credit card is still accruing balances to make negative withdrawals that you are claiming are my debt. I reported/ called XXXX XXXX XXXX  and even called XXXX XXXX and spoke to a Supervisor because I asked them to escalate it but to no avail. Let the Bank continue to perform its due diligence to its customers and not pass on the responsibility to me when it's aware of this fraud taking place and what is sad is that it is continuing. What action have you take to freeze that card that you already confirmed was closed but is now accruing negative balances faster than I can earn that kind of money. Lack of transparency, accountability and acting in the months that have followed reporting by the customer can be construed as disparate action from your institutions for failure to adhere to clients instructions after your internal investigations that led to closure of the card without contacting your client and saying reasons best known to yourselves. Could they be discriminatory if not why was the customer not contacted prior or even questioned while making sure that the customer is also protected and not only worried about their reputation as a Bank and credit card producer? Please use the cameras that you have at ATMs or XXXX at the merchant 's points of sale where the credit card details are being used to confirm that after the credit card was closed by XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XX/XX/XXXX, to the present time it is not me using it. My concern is that if my XXXX XXXX is compromised let me know as having a credit card associated to an XXXX  account may have no safety measures from what I am already experiencing. During XXXX I have changed my passwords and credentials as my information was compromised during XXXX, my XXXX  XXXX  was locked out and was being accessed by someone. I reached out to get that resolved and was able to get my account back. If that past case has a bearing on this current one and made the decision lead to the closure, why werent other options provided to me? The bank has been aware of my card usage from XXXX to XXXX and not once has anyone ever called me to ask or confirm a single transaction. When XXXX XXXX XXXX  says that there are red flags, I wonder what they were triggered by. Could it be that there were foreign transactions, or are the red flags are because the account was compromised and accessed by someone else changing ownership or I am a minority XXXX, XXXX, and 28 years of age that would be considered as discrimination or bias? My family ; wife, and my XXXX children ( XXXX ) and ( 8 months ) live in XXXX and sometimes once yearly I travel to spend time with them. I am a XXXX XXXX. My country XXXX be a Politically Exposed Persons ( PEP ) category or higher risk based on the political strife, I don't know. If there were any red flags that I could have explained, why wasn't I ever asked any questions before the account was closed? What is the reason that XXXX XXXX XXXX  feels not inclined to share? My family and I are no risk to the Bank, we abide by the law. If I were an actual perpetrator would I be insisting on these investigations to show proof of where these transactions have been taking place that are hiking a stated closed account balance daily, making a freeze through the credit bureaus to frustrate identity theft, and reporting to the police ( file # XXXX dated XX/XX/XXXX ) total investigation? XXXX XXXX XXXX  should know your customers ( XXXX ) appropriately and protect them especially ever since I reported about the card which they say is closed, as this should be good news for me that a closed credit card should not behave in this manner yet it is not since it is being used somewhere behind the scenes. In this instance, my request was ignored to investigate and take-action on that particular closed credit card that was reopened and usage getting rampant. Since it is being said the balance is my responsibility am I the one who reopened the card and now having a rave with it? Fundamentally, it would mean that the technology of the Bank and XXXX XXXX is not secure if a customer can have such control, and people out there should be warned about it. Does this mean that either XXXX XXXX XXXX  or XXXX XXXX both reopen closed credit cards for customers to continue using if they were to make this kind of request? If it is not possible to reopen the same credit card then why is mine still active and being used by somebody else since I have no way of getting into the app? Use technology to confirm, pinpoint where the transactions are being done from and who the person is doing them, and not brand me already guilty before being proven innocent. If this dispute is not going to be resolved and keeps being pushed back to me, I will report it to higher authorities for a thorough investigation of not only my XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  but also to see who else is affected by this kind of internal credit card misuse after customer credit cards are closed similar to XXXX team member customer account opening without authorization. Why do I say this? It appears that the Bank and XXXX XXXX are so ready to dump the blame on me instead of investigating after freezing the card to check who is using this credit card that they have confirmed they closed on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Who is using it? That balance is not my responsibility. 
I want to know how can someone have access to my account as it is not secure having it linked to a device which if someone has a way in then they can retrieve all the information. As the account doesnt have XXXX which other banking have when they gained access to it? To me I find it troubling. Before you closed the credit card on the stated date, show proof of any balance that was in arrears because no one has contacted me on that and I am sure I paid that off ready to use the card when the need arose, only to realize it was closed. I also have my statements from my bank on when I made my payments which I am always on top of. From the closure date of XX/XX/XXXX to today XX/XX/XXXX the balance has shot up to {$100000.00} and destroyed my credit score and will we continue to stare at it to blow up more so that I am completely destroyed? 6 months of XXXX, please stop this madness so that the credit bureaus can also act accordingly to clear the dispute that I know you will assist to sort out. 
So, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, this matter is not closed and I am still disputing the rising daily balance of the closed credit card and flabbergasted since the card is not frozen from accumulating negative daily balances, ( ii ) the action taken by the Bank and XXXX XXXX on how and why it was closed without proper notice to me or prior communication ( adverse action ), no Fair Credit Lending was practiced. This matter is not only affecting me but my wife and children in XXXX as I am emotionally and financially stressed. The bank took away XXXX of the credit products that I was approved for and used to balance my daily life and replaced it with no other option provided. How is this XXXX credit XXXX? I will eagerly await your response to know the next course of action. 
The bank says that I should contact them to dispute any unauthorized transaction, how would I know which transactions these are when I do not have access to the app or the credit card or any statements at this point. To me all those transactions that have made the current negative balance is what I am disputing. I feel that I am being treated unfairly since no one is taking me seriously but seems to be throwing back this dispute and balances to me to handle and pay off while it is not me doing the transactions. Why isnt anyone listening to me? You can tell my frustration. Put yourselves in my shoes.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief