Did I really just get billed for somebody stealing my info??
Complaint
Tony V
Country: United States
Experian is the US-based arm of global credit reporting agency Experian Plc. This business provides credit reporting and lead generation services utilizing its database of more than 215 million US consumers and some 15 million US businesses. The US company has close to 6,000 employees, while the global parent company has close to 15,000 employees worldwide and Annual Revenue of close to $4 billion USD ... my point is that Experian has been around for over 30 years and has a pretty successful business model ... the company does not need to scam people out of $20, or even $100, it's not worth the risk to their reputation, nor does this very profitable company need to steal to make money.
The culprit here are the data miners and identity thieves who are utilizing the open access provided by the weak security with the company's online credit report monitoring services. Armed with limited information including your name and your card information, anybody can get in to your credit file and that is what the thieves are looking for. It's all about accessing your info. The beauty of the information swipe is that we are paying for it!
I just noticed 4 months of $19.95 charges from the same EXPERIAN *CREDITREPO 877-2977790 CA as the rest of you. I certainly will not be calling the number and providing them with any additional information. Who knows, maybe it's not really Experian that you are calling ... and that could be Part 2 of the scam? Maybe that's where they ask for your social security # and complete the theft of the rest of your information.
I have called my bank, changed my card #, and will hope and pray that the damage is not already done. For their involvement in this mess, at the very least I would hope that Experian tries a little harder to protect the private information in their database a bit more than by allowing random access to anybody who asks.
The culprit here are the data miners and identity thieves who are utilizing the open access provided by the weak security with the company's online credit report monitoring services. Armed with limited information including your name and your card information, anybody can get in to your credit file and that is what the thieves are looking for. It's all about accessing your info. The beauty of the information swipe is that we are paying for it!
I just noticed 4 months of $19.95 charges from the same EXPERIAN *CREDITREPO 877-2977790 CA as the rest of you. I certainly will not be calling the number and providing them with any additional information. Who knows, maybe it's not really Experian that you are calling ... and that could be Part 2 of the scam? Maybe that's where they ask for your social security # and complete the theft of the rest of your information.
I have called my bank, changed my card #, and will hope and pray that the damage is not already done. For their involvement in this mess, at the very least I would hope that Experian tries a little harder to protect the private information in their database a bit more than by allowing random access to anybody who asks.
Comments
Experian is handing out credit reports to any thief who can make it past their challenge questions and punch in a valid credit card number. No surprise, id thieves have access to valid credit card numbers, or maybe they just guess those as well.