Consumer complaint received 2024-10-10 00:00:00
Product: Credit reporting or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a company's investigation into an existing problem — Their investigation did not fix an error on your report
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
I am a victim of indentity theft, as a credit card was opened up with a company called " SYNCB/CARE CREDIT '' under my name. The issue was discovered last year ( 2023 ) after my credit started to crash, because my credit was hit with the negative reporting since payments obviously weren't being made on the account. I immediately investigated, and then called the company and explained that it was identity theft. The account was closed, an investigation was opened, and the reporting was ultimately removed from my credit report after challenging it on the bureau site and explaining that it was identity theft. 

A while later, I received an email from the company again, stating that a payment was due. I called, and the individual that I spoke with told me that the investigation was closed and ruled that the account was legitimate. It was not an extensive investigation, and the reasoning to their conclusion was easily disproven. They stated that solely because a payment had been made on the account before, that the account was ruled to be mine. I explained how I discovered that it was a relative who has done the exact same thing in the past - opened a credit card account because they were desperate for funding, and kept the account current for a short while until they hit another financial speed bump that forced them to let it lapse ( which is what ended up exposing it to me due to the negative credit alerts I would end up receiving over it ). I explained how they had access to my e-mail and all of my information due to ( previously ) shared business practices, and how they were able to open the account. I explained, once again, that it was a fraudulent account, and that I did not - in fact- open it. The investigation was reopened. 

I just received a notice that negative reporting for this account has once again been reported to the credit bureaus. After following protocol and procedure in this situation, and giving this company everything that they needed, they apparently dont want to help me clear this false account that was illegally opened in my name. The absolute worst part about this is that the debt incurred on the account isn't even a significant number ; I discovered along the way somewhere during all of this that it started as a {$5.00} debt ( presumably a membership/monthly fee or something along those lines ), and when I received the email recently explaining that a payment is due again, it was shown to have increased to roughly {$30.00}. This is absolutely abhorrent that it has not only come to this after all action that I've taken, but that is has come to this over such an insignificant amount. Furthermore, I had to have XXXX XXXX before this account was fraudulently opened. Due to the extremely high costs, Ive ended up having to let XXXX of the XXXX  bills lapse, and then set them up on payment plans. I obviously looked up Care Credit to find out who they are, and it turns out that their card offered the ability to use it as a method of payment towards these XXXX  bills. If I had opened this account, dont you ( Care Credit ) think I would have used it for such a dire situation? Instead of realizing such a huge flaw in their standpoint, they want to punish me over {$5.00} that someone ran up on an illegal account in my name ( while adding interest to it ). 

This account needs to be closed and eliminated, and the negative reporting to the credit bureaus needs to be removed.

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