Equifax can't verify me

[badatmath]

So they say to send a letter and proof of ID via the USPS
which I will do.

But why . . . No freeze I just wanted to look at the report. Its been some time since I got one but still I am at the same address and obviously I know my SS.

I got my transunion score which was good, experian says too soon and equifax thinks I am lying. I told them considering they do the breaching I think that is a little much. After all how much more info of mine can they lose?

I guess mainly what I am wondering is do I have to do this every year now?

 

[Morgan22]

You can look at your Equifax and Transunion info online at creditkarma.com. You can set up an account with them and set up alert emails also.

 

[badatmath]

I don't really care of my score although I do know one of the 2.

I just had some calls at my work number that COULD be from a debt collector so I was wondering who thinks I haven't paid them. So far as I know there is no one.

Wouldn't a legit company leave a msg? I have no idea.

I avoid signing up for new accounts where people can give away all my personal information generally. And I don't forsee any loans for a long time.

Gosh when I read that back it sounds really rude and not like I meant. I do appreciate the advice I was just wondering what is going on.

 

[COcheesehead]

All of this sounds odd. Did you talk to the person calling you at work? Why did Equifax ask you to identify yourself further? I have been able to sign into all my bureaus.
Creditkarma may be a good work around.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I have the same problem with one of the three but can't remember which one and I've tried it a few times over the years. I think it claims I answer the security questions wrong and I've never bothered to do anything about it but I really should. I'll go hunt down the last credit reports I was able to pull and try it one more time since I have not checked my credit reports in about 5 years.

 

[COcheesehead]

Highly recommend credit alerts to anyone even if your credit is locked or frozen. There are multiple ways to do it. Check your reports on a regular basis too. Mistakes happen, crime happens, ignoring it makes it worse.

 

[badatmath]

All of this sounds odd. Did you talk to the person calling you at work? Why did Equifax ask you to identify yourself further? I have been able to sign into all my bureaus.
Creditkarma may be a good work around.

No explanation form Equifax. And as far as the person calling they call during my off hours and don't leave a message. I found it on my caller id when I was trying to scroll for a legit missed call from a customer and thought who are these people. . . . and why do they call so much. (3 times this week). It shows a company name but no number. I did not hit redial I don't know if it would go thru or if I should because why wouldn't a legit caller leave vm. Could be some scam.

I never check the reports anymore nothing to check you know. I had pulled one a couple months ago because I was not getting a bill for my ambulance ride and I wanted to make sure there were no issues. (Had contacted the ambulance company and was waiting to hear back - they were just slow at calling and billing but all was fine). Otherwise I bet it been . . . years. IDK.

I think I remember credit karma getting sued a few years ago . . . https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidan...s-credit-karmas-deceptive-pre-approved-claims

 

[COcheesehead]

No explanation form Equifax. And as far as the person calling they call during my off hours and don't leave a message. I found it on my caller id when I was trying to scroll for a legit missed call from a customer and thought who are these people. . . . and why do they call so much. (3 times this week). It shows a company name but no number. I did not hit redial I don't know if it would go thru or if I should because why wouldn't a legit caller leave vm. Could be some scam.

I never check the reports anymore nothing to check you know. I had pulled one a couple months ago because I was not getting a bill for my ambulance ride and I wanted to make sure there were no issues. (Had contacted the ambulance company and was waiting to hear back - they were just slow at calling and billing but all was fine). Otherwise I bet it been . . . years. IDK.

I think I remember credit karma getting sued a few years ago . . . https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidan...s-credit-karmas-deceptive-pre-approved-claims

The link you posted has nothing to do with anything discussed on this thread, but pertains to ads on the site. What that has to do with anything is confusing to me.

I look at what you have posted in this thread and see the answers coming easily to me and others, but you seem to avoid the obvious. I am perplexed.

 

[badatmath]

IMO credit karma has nothing to do with why I cannot get into Equifax though I appreciate the suggestion as being kindly meant and helpful to people who may not have heard of them.

I just thought perhaps someone else had had this problem and had an idea of the cause. I will send my documents as it is nothing they don't already know. If I get a report, fine, if not that is fine too.

If the calls that caused my idea of pulling the report are legit they will call back and I will find out what they wanted. My guess is they are some scam.

Thanks, all.

 

[COcheesehead]

IMO credit karma has nothing to do with why I cannot get into Equifax though I appreciate the suggestion as being kindly meant and helpful to people who may not have heard of them.

I just thought perhaps someone else had had this problem and had an idea of the cause. I will send my documents as it is nothing they don't already know. If I get a report, fine, if not that is fine too.

If the calls that caused my idea of pulling the report are legit they will call back and I will find out what they wanted. My guess is they are some scam.

Thanks, all.

CreditKarma removes the need to verify your identity with Equifax.

 

[badatmath]

That just occurred to me you all were trying to tell me how to bypass it to get in today.

I was just wondering why I *couldn't* in the first place though I can think of no reason it matters if I can really.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I don't really care of my score although I do know one of the 2.

I just had some calls at my work number that COULD be from a debt collector so I was wondering who thinks I haven't paid them. So far as I know there is no one.

Wouldn't a legit company leave a msg? I have no idea.

I avoid signing up for new accounts where people can give away all my personal information generally. And I don't forsee any loans for a long time.

Gosh when I read that back it sounds really rude and not like I meant. I do appreciate the advice I was just wondering what is going on.

I used to get calls from debt collectors all the time. They were never looking for me. Unfortunately the only way to stop them is to answer and inform them they have the wrong number. If you ignore the calls they can keep calling. Sad. Once I started doing that the calls stopped.

Typical call:

Caller: I am calling from the Law Offices of Dewey Screwem and Howe. Is this John Doe?

Me: No, you have the wrong number.

Caller: This is the number we have on file for John Doe.

Me: I am not responsible for your errors. Do not call this number again.

Click.

And they would not call back.

 

[JBTX]

Do you have a login at Equifax? Once you have a login as long as you know your ID and password there is no verification needed.

Years ago before login on one of the agencies one piece of the address was slightly different and it wouldn’t allow me to access.

 

[retire48in2018]

2 of 3 bureaus will not provide a credit report (annualcreditreport.com). Had them frozen for last 19 years.

I have no debt for over 20 years now, and as time was progressing (starting about 13 years ago). they wanted more and more info to process request. Last time those 2 processed request, they had incorrect addresses and names tied to my account.

Disputed, but then they wanted too much info. After they had data breaches - I replied that they added info into my account incorrectly without this info. Get rid of these extra data. As they can not properly guard their data, it is not wise to give them even more data.

They sort of resolved it - but now can not provide a report with out more data (drivers license, copy of mail from bank, etc)

I choose to not give them more data that they can lose.

 

[Aerides]

I am at the same address and obviously I know my SS.

Those two data points can be easily found by bad actors. What other verification were you asked?

Usually it's things like old addresses, makes/models of cars you financed, credit cards - ie, data on your report that probably only you would know. IIRC they do put in a few "none of the above" questions, or things so old many of us can't remember, but I'd prefer they err on the side of caution if they ask me a few questions and can't be convinced by my answers.

 

[Spock]

Those two data points can be easily found by bad actors. What other verification were you asked?

Usually it's things like old addresses, makes/models of cars you financed, credit cards - ie, data on your report that probably only you would know. IIRC they do put in a few "none of the above" questions, or things so old many of us can't remember, but I'd prefer they err on the side of caution if they ask me a few questions and can't be convinced by my answers.

State Farm was attempting to verify who was making a payment by asking me who I sold my house to 25 years and 3 houses ago... I never met nor saw the buyer in any of my real estate transactions.

 

[sengsational]

I've been getting regular free credit reports for decades, and Equifax always has thrown up obstacles. In short, compared to the other financial creeper companies, my impression is Equifax is highly sucky.

My recommendation is to get the paper form from "annualcreditreport.com" fill it out and keep an electronic copy of it, along with scans of the required proof documents. This way, when the online request fails, you print that multiple page document, and mail it. Equifax has screwed that up too, but it's been more reliable than online for me.

 

[COcheesehead]

State Farm was attempting to verify who was making a payment by asking me who I sold my house to 25 years and 3 houses ago... I never met nor saw the buyer in any of my real estate transactions.

What? This seems bizarre.

 

[badatmath]

They asked if I had some store credit cards (no) and I forget what else - it must have been what I got wrong.

I cannot answer the calls I get at work if they call when I am not there and don't leave messages. I would never have seen them except I checked caller id history for another reason. The suspected debt collectors have a name but no number listed under it.

I rather agree about not giving Equifax more data even though I know they have it. I put it together but haven't dropped it in the mail. No separate log in for it it was just annual credit report site.

 

[easysurfer]

I've had a thread (or 2, or 3 ) in the past about how bad Equifax is.

This started I think after they had that big hack. After that, seems either something with their online access just doesn't work or they purposely stonewall when talking to them on the phone and paper mail even after giving the proper ID. To this day, trying to get my login id reset at their website still doesn't work. A couple years or so ago, I sent in identifying information after they said do that to get my online access reset. They replied saying I need to send it the info (though I just did!).

But when I needed my annual credit report, doing so by snail mail was no problem. So they had not problem believing I am who I am that way.

Most recently, I went ahead an unfroze my credit with them. For that, I went the snail mail route again and filled out their unfreeze form with identifying information. This time that worked. Then I went online and signed up for their free lock/unlock service and that works. So, I count that as a win as I have the functionality (paper mail) of getting my credit report and online functionality of locking/unlocking my credit. If I really need to guess I can freeze again via paper mail too.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it .

 

[badatmath]

Yeah I am not sure I want it bad enough to mail all those documents even though I got copies ready. I don't really trust USPS. I mailed someone a birthday card recently that took 26 days to arrive. Sure it got there but . . .

 

[Sunset]

They asked if I had some store credit cards (no) and I forget what else - it must have been what I got wrong.

I cannot answer the calls I get at work if they call when I am not there and don't leave messages. I would never have seen them except I checked caller id history for another reason. The suspected debt collectors have a name but no number listed under it.

I rather agree about not giving Equifax more data even though I know they have it. I put it together but haven't dropped it in the mail. No separate log in for it it was just annual credit report site.

Answering questions about anything to someone that phoned you, is a good way to give scammers the info needed to hack your accounts.

If I want to talk to Bank/brokerage/etc.. I phone them using a number I know is good , not even a google search turns up the correct number all the time.

 

[badatmath]

Right why would a legit caller not leave a vm anyway? But what do I know about it really. It would suck if there was something amiss on the equifax report since its so hard to get I can bet they'd never fix it.

 

[badatmath]

No calls from whoever was stalking me at work last week. I am glad I didn't send any verifying documents to Equifax. They have enough.