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     | Tuesday, February 27, 2001 - 06:56 am  I checked my Trans Union report the other day and on the back it says: "Special Messages: Input current address reported used in true name fraud or credit fraud Input address, ssn, or telephone number reported by more than one source" I called up to ask what this was about and to see if I could get it removed. The lady said that somebody in my apartment building or someone who used to live in my apartment building committed fraud and that's why it's on there. She also said I couldn't get it removed. What I'm not clear on is why would it affect the whole apartment building as she implied? Everyone has a different apartment number after all. Won't this message raise a red flag to potential creditors? Also there is a consumer statement on there that I never made: "Consumer Statement: Do not confuse with consumers of similar identification; verify all identifying information." I assume they'll let me remove this if I want but they shouldn't be saying that this is my statement.
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| | Tuesday, February 27, 2001 - 10:53 am A PIN has been proposed for YEARS to eliminate or at least substantially reduce these fraud problems. But the CRAs say that's not necessary. A PIN that's required to access my credit files. Nobody runs MY credit without MY permission. They must remove the consumer statement since it's not yours. Regarding "Special Messages: Input current address reported used in true name fraud or credit fraud Input address, ssn, or telephone number reported by more than one source" I'd say those credit notations are NOT necessary. If I read that, I'd think you got problems coming your way. Why rent to YOU or make YOU a loan? You'll either be defrauding or be defrauded. If somebody used your social, you might want to know. I'd ask for the police reports to find out exactly WHAT is going on and if they don't remove it, I'd sue. AGAIN.
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| | Tuesday, February 27, 2001 - 01:49 pm Well I wrote and asked for their evidence of fraud. We'll see what happens...
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| | Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 05:43 am I was considering having a "fraud alert" attached to my credit with the bureau's as I am not interested in any more/new credit especially instant-credit offers............................................ (Folks who are nervous about identity theft may want to consider putting a fraud alert on their credit files. With a fraud alert, a credit bureau must contact you before any new credit can be approved. An identity theft victim puts fraud alerts on credit files to prevent an impostor from applying for and receiving even more credit in the victim's name. The price of protection: convenience The downside of a fraud alert is you give up the convenience of "instant credit." So you can forget about signing up for a new credit card and going shopping with it three minutes later. The upside is the knowledge that no new credit can be granted in your name without your knowledge and approval. For more information about the putting a fraud alert on your credit file, contact the credit bureaus. "If you've got your house, got your car, got your two credit cards and you know there's no other credit that you'll be getting in the near future and you're very, very, very concerned about identity theft, take advantage of the fraud alert," Givens says. Regardless of what precautions you take or don't take, everyone is at risk when it comes to identity theft. "Ultimately, you cannot prevent identity theft from happening to you," Givens says. "You can only reduce your chances.") from CNN/FN ..................................................I am glad now I didn't have the "fraud alert" attached to my record.I did sign up to http://www.privista.com/ for $19.95 annually they provide weekly monitoring of the Equifax report and will report any changes.I like this service because aside from giving help in protection from identity theft it also gives me a way to help guard against inaccurate reporting.
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| | Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 11:36 am Interesting. If I was seriously worried about identity theft, I'd notify the CRAs of my new CREDIT FILE PIN and request that I want my credit file accessed only by companies who have my PIN. Of course they're not set up for a PIN because that would reduce their business (credit reports) dramatically as every inquiry would have to be authorized. But if I later had a problem, I'd sue them for not following my instructions. Except for CompuBank, every bank and almost every other account I've had in recent years (cell phone, insurance, phone company, electric, etc.) uses a PIN to identify me. There's the possibility that I could convince a judge that my CREDIT FILE is at least as important as my phone service and that the CRAs acted negligent by not honoring my demand for PIN verification. Am I the only one who objects to the fact that we, the people, constantly have to pay and work for our protection so that corporate can make BILLIONS in profits off our fear of incorrect credit reporting and identity theft? We have to PAY for credit reports to monitor who incorrectly reports on us, we have to PAY for our credit scores (coming soon), we have to PAY for credit monitoring services ... and all those payments are VICTORIES because we now have the RIGHT TO PAY! It makes me sick.
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| | Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 02:28 pm We pay to do quality control for them. It's a total scam. Some of the errors are so stupid that if they had any kind of data validation in their software they would be noticed: I have a collection account that was sold on my Trans Union credit report. Highest Balance is reported as $0.00. If my highest balance was $0.00 then how could it be a collection account? If their software checked for this kind of error they would have rejected it and told Sears to straighten out their stinkin' numbers and resubmit it. Never mind about the dates. I don't remember them but they are different on my Equifax... Awhile ago after I first received my Capital One card Experian showed that my highest balance was lower than my current balance. That is friggin impossible and their software should have caught the error. That is the kind of error that isn't even worth disuputing since the balances change all the time but still it can screw me and they ought to be able to prevent them. Their data validation is probably just to make sure every thing sumbitted can be entered in the database. Is this field a number? Is this field text? Is this field a date? Is this field too long? Is this field empty? And that's it. Pathetic, and how long have they been doing this? Oh I get it, if they improved the software then they would lose profits from consumers who buy their reports all the time to check for errors.
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| | Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 03:30 pm Yes, and not only that. If *one* CRAs actually told their CLIENTS, the creditors, to report accurately, the creditors would no longer use that CRA. It would be a really BAD business decision for a CRA to require accurate reporting. Free market at work. Awhile ago after I first received my Capital One card Experian showed that my highest balance was lower than my current balance. Save THAT report. Would you make it available to someone who files a law suit relating to scoring and reporting? Also, there's a new Fair Isaac factor N8 "Number of revolving accounts with balances higher than limits."
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| | Wednesday, February 28, 2001 - 09:35 pm Erik's "evidence" certainly deserves it's own topic, so I moved it to the Fair Isaac section. There are probably 20+ NextGen factors affected by this ONE Capital One account, but the balance being higher than the limit would be a big negative impact for: Fair Isaac NextGen Risk Factors N8 - Number of revolving accounts with balances higher than limits. and/or P5 - Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving or other revolving accounts is too high and/or P6 - Proportion of balances to credit limits on revolving accounts is too high and/or Q1 - Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving accounts is too high. I have no idea what the difference between "revolving accounts" and "bank/national revolving accounts" is. Anyone else?
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 03:36 pm followed advice...sent registered/return receipt letters to the big three CRA informing them of my CreditFilePIN.I now realize I have caused a "fraud alert" to appear on my files.From your bankrate link concerning Denise Richardson's case....http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/special/19990820.asp ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The credit bureaus won’t give you a PIN. All three will add a fraud alert to the credit report "so when someone applies for credit, the credit grantor will see the statement and they’ll know to be careful about granting credit," says Christine Hill, spokeswoman for Trans Union. A PIN, says Yates of Experian, would be unnecessary, "just one more piece of identifying information," along with the name, address, Social Security number and maybe place of employment. Lewis bets that there’s a jury out there that would not buy that argument. He thinks that if someone asks for a PIN from the credit bureaus, then continues to get bad credit reports because of an impostor’s fraud, a jury will throw the book at the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus don’t want to change their methods because they don’t want to upset their clients who extend credit, he says. "All the creditors around the country seem to operate their credit application process in the same slipshod way," he says. "It’s not by accident. They don’t want to do anything to impede the customer’s impulsiveness." ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thank You for the advice but I wish I would have known beforehand this would cause a fraud alert(I should have realized this! and followed advice under disclaimer section[Please spend some time reading at the forum before taking anyone's advice]) causing potential creditor's to think...... "Regarding "Special Messages: Input current address reported used in true name fraud or credit fraud Input address, ssn, or telephone number reported by more than one source" I'd say those credit notations are NOT necessary. If I read that, I'd think you got problems coming your way. Why rent to YOU or make YOU a loan? You'll either be defrauding or be defrauded."----------------------------------------------------- Anyway I was seriously concerned with ID theft and this is one more layer of protection.
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| | Monday, March 05, 2001 - 05:02 pm Thanks much for posting the excerpts from that article, now I know WHERE I read that about the credit file PIN. Please let us know what the response will be, would like to know for sure if they add a fraud alert.
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| | Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 07:42 pm Here is what Trans Union had to say about my special message: "Thanks for writing. I have reviewed the question and found that the apartment complex is listed in our data base as being used in the past for fraud purposes. This is not a reflection on you. It is a warning of the address. When I entered your information with the correct apartment number, I did not get the messages. Our fraud service is used to warn the customer of the potential for fraud. Hopefully, it is not used to deny the application. Please alert the user that the address is a multi-unit dwelling and you can not control the actions of your neighbors. The address was given to us in March of 1998 from First Union." Very nice of them to hope that this special message, which has nothing to do with me or the apartment unit I live in, won't be used to deny me credit...
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| | Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 08:01 pm Hah! Like, when was the last time you could "alert" a creditor to anything on your report? "The customer" is the creditor, and TU couldn't care less about the impact on Erik, the person. I consider this redlining. Erik, if you got more time, file more complaints. Or sue ...
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| | Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 08:31 am Maybe if I get time I will start filing lawsuits against these kinds of things. Do you know how long I have to sue in Califonria for violations of the FCRA?
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| | Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 09:13 am It probably says right in the FCRA, I'll look next time I read there.
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| | Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 11:00 am As I was looking through the Links section for something else, I found FEDERAL - The statute of limitations for suing the CRAs and reporting creditors "... The FCRA provides a two (2) year statute of limitation commencing from the date of the violation of the Act, regardless of whether the victim even knows of the violation. It is perhaps the least consumer-friendly provision of the anti-consumer FCRA ...."
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| | Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 12:43 pm Thanks Christine. I guess that's one more reason why should pay the CRAs every year to see what's on our report. We'll lose our only recourse if we wait too long.
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