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I recently helped a relative request a free credit report from Equifax after some suspicious activity that had occurred on their accounts. About a week later, they received mail from TransUnion requesting proof of their identity before releasing any credit report to them.
This struck me as odd that we never contacted TransUnion, only Equifax. Why would they receive mail from TransUnion? Aren't these two different agencies? We have received nothing from Equifax yet. I tried calling Equifax tonight, but their offices are closed for the weekend. There is no way to verify anything until Monday.
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
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How did the relative request the free report--did they just request their free annual report or did they say they were requesting it because of suspicious activity or possible ID theft?
If a person has fraudulent activity happen to them and they report it to one CRA then that CRA is required to notify all of the CRA's.
If the relative claimed they were requesting the free report because of possible ID theft, or something similar, then it sounds like the EQ rep that was handling the request may have jumped the gun and went ahead and notified the other CRA's.
If the relative had just requested their free annual report and never mentioned suspicious activity, etc. as their reason for requesting a free report then something doesn't sound right.
Either way, have the relative call TU on Monday and ask why they (TU) sent the letter when the relative had requested their report from EQ only. Do not use the phone number that is listed on the letter. Go to TU's own website to get their contact info.
We called together, sitting side by side. I tried to put a fraud alert on the account, but not sure this happened. I will have to call back Monday with them. I'm gonna call Equifax first since that's the number we contacted originally, and I have a confirmation # to refer to. I'll ask them first then contact Transunion.
The timing of receiving the Transunion correspondence only 7-10 days after requesting an Equifax report makes sense, but I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this. If you request an Equifax credit report, you should receive mail from Equifax. Right?
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,057 posts, read 12,211,906 times
Reputation: 10269
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nolefan34
We called together, sitting side by side. I tried to put a fraud alert on the account, but not sure this happened. I will have to call back Monday with them. I'm gonna call Equifax first since that's the number we contacted originally, and I have a confirmation # to refer to. I'll ask them first then contact Transunion.
The timing of receiving the Transunion correspondence only 7-10 days after requesting an Equifax report makes sense, but I'm still trying to wrap my brain around this. If you request an Equifax credit report, you should receive mail from Equifax. Right?
By trying to put the fraud alert on the EQ credit report then you triggered EQ's action in contacting the other CRA's (CRA's = consumer reporting agencies--TU, EQ, EX, etc.) regarding the fraud alert, which they are required to do by Federal law. Now your relatives credit reports are locked down for the next 90 days. The CRA's will give them *pin numbers to lift the fraud alert for a short time if they want to seek credit. Fraud alerts can be removed before the end of the first 90 day period, but sometimes CRA initiated fraud alerts are a pain to have removed and may sometimes pop back on there, in the future, for no reason (which is why I usually recommend freezing over fraud alerts).
It's understandable why TU sent that letter requesting info since by law when a fraud alert is placed then your relative is allowed a free copy of their credit report from all the CRA's, and TU has to verify that your relative is who they say they are before sending that free copy of their report, EX will probably also require verification info. That's also why they received a letter from TU faster then a response from EQ. EQ has to pull information to send while TU has to have verification info before pulling the information to send your relative the free (because of the fraud alert) credit report.
Usually the verification info is the SSN and a household bill with the person's name on it.
(if they are sticklers they may even request a copy of the ID theft police report, and/or, a copy of the FTC ID theft report)
* Tell your relative to be very careful in keeping track of the pin numbers the CRA's give them. It can end up being a major headache in dealing with them if the pin number is ever lost/misplaced.
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