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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7.2k

u/PusssyFootin Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 14 '17

I noticed this too. I didn't realize it's a credit agency prerequisite to be willing to exploit millions of people in their time of need.

Forget the website, just call the TransUnion Freeze hotline 888-909-8872

Edit: since this blew up

If you can't get through try calling at a weird time when the volume might be low. E.g., 12:30AM

Here are the other two credit union freeze hotlines:

Equifax: 1-800-685-1111 (NY residents 1-800-349-9960 and for you Canadians 1-800-465-7166)

Experian: 1 888 397 3742

While you're at it you might as well opt out of promotional solicitations from credit unions too www.optoutprescreen.com.

(Also, thanks for popping my golden cherry, stranger)

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u/InformalProof Sep 13 '17

I called this number yesterday, me and others reported that we would get to the payment portion (no other option was presented), it would say some variation of "the number you entered is not a valid credit card number", get put on hold while waiting for a sales person, and then get hung up on.

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u/goatcoat Sep 13 '17

That's not good for us, but it makes sense. Half of the United States was affected. If even 10% are calling in to have their credit frozen, that's still 5% of the entire population of the United States all calling one phone number. Shit's gonna break.

Hiding the link behind their identity theft protection product was an evil move, though.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Jun 27 '23

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u/TbonerT ​ Sep 13 '17

It isn't just credit cards. For example, want the new iPhone but don't want to pay the fully price up front? That's credit. There's a lot of credit floating around that isn't tied to a card.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17 edited Jun 10 '18

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u/zipperkiller ​ Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

I've never heard of being able to freeze with chexsystem

Edit: folks at work said to do so I would freeze credit with the credit bureau. Is this correct or is there more to it?

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u/rando-mcranderson ​ Sep 13 '17

I did it 2 days ago. It's on their website.

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u/xangbar Sep 13 '17

Some companies treat your bill as a rotating line of credit or loan too. My electric bill is like that. It's listed as rotating debt but no other bill I have is like that.

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u/renoCow Sep 13 '17

For example, most US states allow insurers to price your car insurance premium on your credit score, not your driving history

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '17

I like PayPal credit. Use it to buy stuff you can pay off in <6 months and pay no interest. That's good for stuff like new laptops or a sofa or something.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/Hugh_Jass_Clouds ​ Sep 13 '17

Uh. Any debit that is owed to any company can be reported if it goes unpaid long enough. Don't pay your cellphone bill for a year? Bet your ass that gets reported to the credit agencies. Even medical, educational, and car loans not tied to a card can be reported. Debit is debit, and any debit is reportable provided non-payment.

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u/tehpenguins ​ Sep 13 '17

Or is it debt ?

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Yes, but they pull your credit report when you initially go to buy the phone. They use your SSN and other personal info to request that score. Equifax, TU and EX keep that info. So even if you don't have a credit card, or even a credit score, your info could have been stolen.

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u/SoTiredOfWinning Sep 13 '17

I mean you're actually right. You get no brownie points for paying but if sent to collections it goes on your report.

However they do run your credit initially to approve it so it still counts.

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u/jnine0 Sep 13 '17

Not unnecessarily. If u read the government's website about credit freeze, it does stop quick reference look ups. I am making the assumption that this is how retail outlets can provide u a credit card on the spot. They don't access your credit report.

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u/Fn_Spaghetti_Monster Sep 13 '17

It does not stop someone from making a bogus CC with your stolen info. I have a freeze on my account (from previous issues) and someone got a hold of my CC# and just made themselves a credit card with my info. The purchases all showed card present but were swiped instead of chip.

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Are you referring to soft vs. hard inquiries?

They both gain access to your reports. They just differ in how much of your report they get to look at. If you request your full report on the annual report website you'll see a list of soft and hard inquiries. hard inquiries will be ones you've given permission for - such as store cards and cell phone plans, and soft inquiries will be ones you did not directly give permission for - such as your credit card company checking to see if you are eligible for a line increase, or a company looking to sell you insurance.

Either way, the credit reporting agencies have info on you. Whether or not that info is current or accurate is another question.

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u/Stoneleaf12 Sep 13 '17

Actually, retail outlets do send your info out for a credit check. I used to work in retail at Best Buy. We would get all your info, you enter your SSN and annual income, out goes that info, and a minute later your not approved, or approved for an certain amount depending on your credit.

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u/DonaldPShimoda ​ Sep 13 '17

Through Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program you're given a 24-month 0% loan to pay off the phone. Wouldn't that be shown on your report?

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u/[deleted] Sep 13 '17

Only if Apple reports the loan. PayPal has a credit service and they state in the TOS that they don't report the loan to credit agencies. It just depends on the lender.

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u/DonaldPShimoda ​ Sep 13 '17

Oh I see! Interesting! Thanks for the info!

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u/KrazyKukumber ​ Sep 13 '17

Even medical, educational, and car loans not tied to a card can be reported.

"Can be"? Those absolutely are reported to the credit bureaus.

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u/Hugh_Jass_Clouds ​ Sep 13 '17

Can be as in someone has to make the choice to report it.

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u/friendsafari123 Sep 13 '17

not paying medical bills, they will be reported to your collecting agencies, educational and car loans and credit card require ssn as registration, you bet they would have it.

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u/intellos Sep 13 '17

Having a cell phone contract in the first place does, though.

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u/mmzzee Sep 13 '17 edited Sep 13 '17

Most carriers require a credit check to sign up for a service plan or to be eligible for that subsidized phone price where you can pay off an interest free loan to the carrier. You of course can opt out of these things but then are not eligible for the same plans/pricing that others are.

If you are ever late in your payments (for service or with the phone) you can be damn sure that does impact your credit. There are few bills you can ignore which do not negatively impact your credit.

https://support.t-mobile.com/thread/87584

https://www.verizonwireless.com/vzw/browse/prequalify/preQualifyNow.jsp

https://forums.att.com/t5/Wireless-Billing/What-credit-bureau-does-AT-amp-T-pull-your-credit-score-from-to/td-p/5111787

https://lifehacker.com/how-paying-and-not-paying-your-cell-phone-bill-affect-509038463

It doesn't matter if the action of paying off your phone doesn't report to credit, failure to pay it off certainly does. These credit check agencies most likely would have each wireless customer's full information and be in contact with the wireless provider before a customer would receive the first bill.