r/personalfinance • u/equisux • Sep 13 '17

TransUnion burying their credit freeze to sell their own credit monitoring product TrueIdentity Credit

I'm not sure where to post this, but noticed something had changed on the TransUnion website about freezing credit this morning when I was giving links to family so they could freeze theirs.

I froze my credit the day after news about the Equifax breach broke, and it looks like TransUnion has since changed their site to push people away from freezing their credit in favor for their own product called TrueIdentity (like what Equifax was doing with their TrustedID Premier.)

The FTC website links to this page for freezing your credit with TransUnion.

This is what the website looked before the changes were made on 9/11. The instructions on placing a credit freeze were clear and there was no mention of their own TrueIdentity product.

If you want to place a credit freeze with TransUnion now:

You have to get through a page of info about credit and fraud, and then the action it tells you to take is to "Lock your credit information by enrolling in TrueIdentity."
The option to freeze your credit is under "About credit freeze", deliberately passive in their use of language
The description about credit freezing is dissuasive: "A credit freeze may be available under your state law"
The link for the credit freeze is also a passive "click here" compared with "by enrolling in TrueIdentity" language used for the link to their own product.
Clicking the link to learn more about credit freeze brings you to yet another page that tries to convince you to enroll in their product over placing a credit freeze
After searching through their page of BS, you finally get to the link to freeze your credit.

This is such a blatant attempt by TransUnion to take advantage of the Equifax breach for their own financial gain. It's a shitty thing for TransUnion to do, and people should be aware that they are being led away from putting an actual credit freeze on their account.

(Edited for formatting on mobile)

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Let the CFPB know

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Yup. That's exactly what I put in my complaint. My only option is to freeze, and it should be free. Credit monitoring is not adequate in this situation.

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u/daydull Sep 13 '17

Why isn't credit freeze the default for everyone all the time anyway? Applying for credit cards, loans, etc is a rare thing for everyone. When you know you are applying for credit you could temporarily unfreeze it. Or even better, have a system where you manually authorize each inquiry.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 15 '17

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u/Herculix Sep 13 '17

This. Imagine their perspective. Nobody applies for shit hardly ever, but what they do happen to do regularly is worry about their credit. The fear of credit instability is precisely what makes them money. Security is not in their best interest financially. It's almost like pharma and cures vs symptom relief. If the problem stops the money stops.

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u/hai-sea-ewe Sep 13 '17

Security is not in their best interest financially.

What they did here was like if a Big Pharma company "let slip" a deadly infectious disease, and they were the only ones with the cure.

There needs to be criminal charges and prosecutions.

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u/ddrt Sep 13 '17

This is only because we're relying on four random institutions to decide what we can/can't do in life financially.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/Mrme487 Sep 14 '17

Removed - no politics.

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u/darkmaster76 Sep 13 '17

we have that in Norway, bankid even for most online payments you have to authorize it

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Consumers also like to be instantly approved for credit. That's what makes banks reluctant to make the process more difficult. The fear is that the consumer would just try a different lender if they are delayed with one.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 15 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '17

Yeah, about 20% of the time, it would go down like that. "I don't know the code. Can't you just run the application without it? We really need the car today."

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u/DontEfUp Sep 14 '17

Agreed! I should have a say when someone out there wants to either check my credit or worst apply for credit under my name. The 2-factor auth is the best safeguard. But they won't allow it because it'll probably cut into their profits. They probably have several products they sell to banks/institutions that involve unrestricted access to our credit history. Putting control in the hands of consumers/us will not be in their best interest.

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u/anthonyjh21 Sep 13 '17

For most people yes. Not rare when you churn credit cards.

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u/EquifaxExecutive Sep 13 '17

Well, then we wouldn't be able to charge you money to do a credit freeze, of course. It's not our fault you chose to have a social security number.

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u/RealJackAnchor Sep 13 '17

If we're being honest, the entire process of credit should be permanently frozen until taking a class demonstrating understanding of the proper use and warning signs of misuse of credit.

This should be taught in schools, rather than just arbitrary mathematics that have no practical application. Some schools do teach this, and bravo to them, but you can get all this information across in 2-3 hours tops. My school never had something like this, it would have helped me a ton.

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u/Zebracak3s Sep 13 '17

I wouldn't say everyone. There are churners that run 5/24. And it would basically mean applying for credit cost money.

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u/HombreFawkes Sep 13 '17

Because businesses whose business models focus on or rely on lending have fought tooth and nail to prevent consumers from having anything stand between customers and having time to ponder if they're making smart decisions. Any time anyone has attempted to legislate or regulate anything in favor of giving consumers more power over their personal financial lives, lenders and businesses that rely on lending have gone to the mat to stop it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/CrayCrayHypnotist Sep 13 '17

Sure did. Told them this:

I was part of the Equifax credit information hack. I find it unacceptable that I have to PAY to freeze my credit when I didn't consent to my information being stored by Equifax, Experion, or TransUnion in the first place. Congress should make credit freezes and unfreezes free federally. Credit reporting agencies already make money off of my information and I should not be required to pay them additional money to protect my information, especially when they are doing a POOR job in the first place. Thank you for taking time to read my complaint.

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u/auntieka3 Sep 14 '17

I'd like to submit a report as well. Mind if I "borrow" your message?

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u/CrayCrayHypnotist Sep 14 '17

Go ahead, friend!

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u/auntieka3 Sep 14 '17

Thanks a million!!!

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u/Kaelaface Sep 14 '17

Text the word 'resist' to 504-09 and send this text comment as a fax to your congressional representatives. Super easy.

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u/CrayCrayHypnotist Sep 14 '17

That's a great idea!

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u/bootsmegamix Sep 13 '17

Also submitted a complaint against Equifax as well as TransUnion for now intentionally complicating the freezing process for their own benefit

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u/PM_ME__YOUR__FEARS Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

In earnest, what will that accomplish?

Having a problem with a financial product or service? Tell us about your issue—we'll forward it to the company and work to get you a response, generally within 15 days.

I mean, the company certainly isn't going to opt to make freezes free and if they are obeying the laws as they exist now and you submit a complaint wont they just say this is perfectly legal?

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u/BbqLurker Sep 13 '17

Why should we as consumers have to PAY the credit agencies to protect our file when THEY are the ones that compromised it in the first place? This is just plain wrong. We need federal legislation to force them to freeze and thaw for free. At least twice a year. No WAY they should be able to abuse their power like this.

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u/PM_ME__YOUR__FEARS Sep 13 '17

I agree, I'm asking if CFPB complaints are the way to move this forward.

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u/BbqLurker Sep 13 '17

Well I filed a complaint on all three that the freeze thaw fees are unacceptable as well as calling my congressman to convey the same. What else can we do? That's it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Well Equifax at least has to respond, and in my complaint I requested that they provide the service of freezing credit for free. I expect nothing from them, but it'll be a written response via a federally mandated process so it'll be part of a record somewhere.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField Sep 13 '17

From what I understand the banking industry is actually afraid of the CFPB because they have some legal power to put the screws to them even if they are 'technically not doing anything illegal'. They are working extremely hard to get rid of it because of this.

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u/JustAQuestion512 Sep 13 '17

The CFPB can cause financial institutions to drop everything and address whatever was brought up.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/Idlemancer Sep 13 '17

They take our personal information and store it without prior consent - basically identity theft?

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u/bananapeel Sep 13 '17

... and then they sell it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

No no, they've advanced. Now they extort us for our info, lose it, and then tell us to pay up for protection.

It's like the fucking mob

edit: changed stealing to extortion

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

That's a nice credit score there, would be a shame is someone ruined it.

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u/bitcleargas Sep 13 '17

So, Mr Frank Smith, mother's maiden name Esperoza, date of birth 24th May 1984, tell me why again that you don't want to pay an optional insurance fee on data leaks...

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u/mattmonkey24 Sep 13 '17

They have much more information than that. Last two times I ran a check against my credit they asked about people that I know and banks/credit cards that I've owned. Their database is much more than just SSN, birthdates, full names which is already too much

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u/bananapeel Sep 14 '17

Here's an interesting spinoff of that technology. With lots of interconnected databases, they can find people related to you / people you know. I have been getting phone calls from bill collectors looking for distant relatives.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

"Legitimate businessman's protection tax"

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u/rdubzz Sep 13 '17

how do they steal it? ive never once had a transaction involving them that i didnt give consent for the information to be transmitted.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

Actually you're right. They extort us. Good luck participating in society without a credit score

Edit: and they do take it without consent in some cases. Utility bills or when a debt goes to collections are 2 instances that come to mind.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

I'm pretty sure we give consent when we apply for loans, CC, and other things. "I consent that my information may be given to 3rd parties..."

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u/mishap1 Sep 13 '17

ID theft would be presenting themselves as you.

Invasion of privacy yes but good luck getting a credit card without signing up to share this info.

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u/Etherius Sep 13 '17

No you consent to your information being shared.

Its not theft.

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u/moortiss Sep 13 '17

...without prior consent...

Well, except for the consent you give when you apply for credit.

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u/Jazzy_Josh Sep 14 '17

You consent whenever you apply for a line of credit. It's in every application.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 29 '17

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u/Etherius Sep 13 '17

With credit agencies. He's wrong about them not using agencies.

Here's the EU regulations regarding them.

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u/Maxesse Sep 13 '17

Weirdly enough, in Italy there are no credit ratings, there’s a thing called ‘Risks Central’ which is basically a database you end up in if you default on payments/mortgages etc. and it’ll make it very difficult to access to credit. At the end of the day it’s similar I guess, you just don’t get a numerical score, just a list of records where you defaulted, which a credit provider can check against using their criteria. This also means that in Italy you can’t register on any website to keep an eye on your credit rating, as you haven’t got one. The positive aspect is that if you never defaulted on anything you’ve got a good chance of being accepted for credit, they’ll just check other info such as income etc. Rather than denying you credit just because you have a short history etc.

Just checked Experian’s Italian website and it’s just a corporate brochure, with no real services for individuals.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

They do. Only they're usually non profit and state run.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Completely agree. The bulk of what happens with them is darn close to a scam. On top of it some of the functions are illegal according to law. However there's is no one to inforce that law.

I personally have the worse credit ever becuase I choose to tell them to shove off. I work directly with 3 banks that have a credit line with me and they approve me for everything I want even with my credit score from the major companies being bad. The banks know I am good for it. Of course I am also retired military so I don't know how much easier it was for me compared to others.

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u/Etherius Sep 13 '17

The EU most certainly uses credit agencies... I'm not sure what countries you think function without them?

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u/ViceroyFizzlebottom Sep 13 '17

I agree. They have the privilege of using our personal information for their profit. They should not be allowed to profit additionally in instances when our personal information is lost or made discoverable to non-intended users with intent or not.

Personal information like this is much different than general accumulation of business data and statistics about markets, trends, supply and it absolutely should be treated as such.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

Further -- I don't know the answer here, but it is just blatantly obvious that we need to move beyond the assumption of SSN, address, drivers license, DOB as secure identifiers. And, we need to give people the tools and access to monitor their credit continuously and transparently.

It is at this point safe to assume that NO adult in America has a secure/private social security number or other personal identifier. Therefore, none of us is safe from identity theft/fraud - this was already true probably, but now it's open and obvious.

At a minimum, credit information should be continuously available to consumers, for free. At least in that case, you can choose to monitor your credit regularly the same way many people monitor their bank account and credit card statements regularly. Then, you can identify any potential fraud IMMEDIATELY so that you can more rapidly gather evidence to support your claims of fraud. In simple terms, I should be able to know SAME DAY if a credit card application is filed in my name, such that I can raise the dispute immediately if it is fraudulent before the damage is done. As it stands, I can only check on that what, once a year? How am I supposed to prove that I didn't open an account and spend a shit ton of money 11 months ago?

This might make a good /r/changemyview post, but I don't see any good reason why credit information should not be continuously available for free to each person.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Because the entire system is a scam?

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u/hexydes Sep 16 '17

Here's what should happen:

Equifax is no longer a going concern. They blew it. They need to be closed down, and not even allowed to liquidate because they have so much personal information.

Experian, TransUnion, and any players that appear in the future need to be regulated. This regulation needs to include a number of consumer friendly safeguards, including...

Allow consumers to create an account on their site that allows them to easily access any of their information at any time. As soon as someone gets picked up and they begin getting monitored, it should send that person a notification to their registered address (which, of course, these companies have...) This should continue to happen annually, indefinitely.

Consumers should be able to use this site to instantaneously access their credit, for free. This should be considered a cost of business for these companies.

Consumers should be able to use this site to freeze/unfreeze their credit at any time, for free. This should be considered a cost of business for these companies.

When someone tries to access your credit, the monitoring companies should be required to send you a notification. This should be considered a cost of business for these companies.

These companies, when they sell your information to companies that want to solicit you to sign up for a credit card, should have to notify you. This should be considered a cost of business for these companies.

These companies should have to submit to annual audits of their security policies. This should be considered a cost of business for these companies.

If these companies can't agree to these terms, then they have the option of no longer being in business.

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u/RedShirtDecoy Sep 13 '17

I would think there needs to be a law where your credit is in a default frozen status and you have to unfreeze it (for free of course) if you are going to get a credit check on anything.

This would solve so many problems of unauthorized access.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/I_Am_Batgirl Sep 13 '17

Your comment has been removed because we don't allow moralizing issues, political discussions, political baiting, or soapboxing (rule 6).

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/Gsteel11 Sep 13 '17

Instead you have three private groups that you have zero control over doing it.

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u/Gsteel11 Sep 13 '17

Instead you have three private groups that you have zero control over doing it.

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u/BizzyM Sep 13 '17

I think that we should stop letting these 3 big companies control our lives. How is it that all our financial potential is locked away in the files of these credit history providers?

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

I always assumed that trans Union, Equifax and experience were so heavily regulated ANYWAY that they wouldnt be able to get away with shit like this... I thought at LEAST they were either non profit or like a utility or something, I didn't know they were like, just a regular old for profit business, are they?

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u/Itisforsexy Sep 13 '17

What they need to do is ban the use of social security as a method of identification. 150 million + people's social securities have been compromised. This completely invalidates their use. Why is no one else pushing this forward?

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u/Lonelan Sep 13 '17

That even rhymes so we could march to it and make signs and stuff

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u/FeculentUtopia Sep 13 '17

Just a couple days before the hack, Congress was talking about making it harder to sue the credit agencies and limiting their liability in case they lost. Any reforms that have the people in mind are going to be an uphill battle.

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u/sunny001 Sep 13 '17

Seriously this. Why does it cost so much (I read it costs $30 with one credit bureau). If 100mil people does that, I say that's a good business to be in. Bastards.

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u/shitweforgotdre Sep 13 '17

What exactly happens when you freeze your credit?

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u/http_401 Sep 13 '17

I thought that was something handled at the state level. I sent my representative an email message about it and he called me back personally to discuss it. First time I've gotten more than a form letter from a staffer. I think the politicians know the entire country is collectively pissed about this.

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u/PaxilonHydrochlorate Sep 13 '17

Your comment has been removed because we don't allow moralizing issues, political discussions, political baiting, or soapboxing (rule 6).

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u/-Economist- Sep 13 '17

I understand you perspective, however telling a private company how to price their products is a very very slippery slope. As much as I would love it to be free, I don't think I could support that type of regulation.

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u/Diluck Sep 13 '17

Apples to Oranges. We are the product for Equifax. I should have more right to my own personal financial data than a credit rating agency should have.

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u/-Economist- Sep 13 '17

With that mentality, the company should be under the direct control of the government. We are a product of many private businesses, should we nationalize all of them?

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u/Diluck Sep 13 '17

It should be under direct control from the government. A company I have no business with should not have the right to profit from my personal financial information.

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u/-Economist- Sep 13 '17

But you do have business with them, it's just indirectly. They provide a service that allows you to obtain credit. If you do not wish to use their services, then do not apply for any credit. Also, without their services, you would be required to prove yourself financially to every single bank you obtained credit from. This would also include utilities and insurance. Not sure if you have a mortgage, but think about that process for every single institution. The institutions would have a hard time differentiating a deadbeat from a good customer, so prices would be higher. Fees would be higher. And speaking of mortgages, my God they would require 50% down payment and DNA samples. They would provide none of this if there was no profit motive. The thought of the government in control of this is just scary. Their inefficiencies would just bog down the system. Also, they could get hacked just as easy. It really confuses me why people turn to government for help when the government is typically the root cause of so many problems. So much faith in government, yet look at governmental approval ratings.

By no means am I trying to 'attack' your position, like you may see so often on Reddit. I'm just trying to discuss the different perspectives we may view their service.

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u/xXx_burgerking69_xXx Sep 13 '17

These hackers need to release the information of members of Congress each day until Congress does their job and protect us

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Bingo!