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Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

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Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#91

Post by g051051 »

olliej wrote: post #80
g051051 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moment credit agencies started running their own monitoring services, it seemed like they were openly admitting that they were defaming people. I still do not understand why this is legal. If you're signed up for credit monitoring, you get notified when your credit info gets changed, so you have a chance to react if it's an error (or fraud). How is that defamation? Why would it be illegal?

No. It's defamation because they know their information is frequently incorrect, that it is trivial for people to get outright fraudulent transactions attached to people's "credit report". Knowing that, they then present that information as fact to others, despite knowing that the information they provided is used specifically for purposes where false information will add significant costs to the people they're repor…

They do not publish fraudulent data. They publish data provided by the credit grantors. If the credit grantors don't do their due diligence, that's on them, not the CRA. And if credit grantors fail to due that due diligence often enough, they get kicked out.

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#92

Post by g051051 »

handoflixue wrote: post #88
g051051 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The moment credit agencies started running their own monitoring services, it seemed like they were openly admitting that they were defaming people. I still do not understand why this is legal. If you're signed up for credit monitoring, you get notified when your credit info gets changed, so you have a chance to react if it's an error (or fraud). How is that defamation? Why would it be illegal?

g051051? The guy who keeps trying to post porn all over this site? I can't believe you've got the guts to go posting here. I've told everyone about your disgusting behavior. What's that? You never did that? Well, for just $5/month you can sign up for my monitoring service and we can investigate your claims. In the mean time, I'm going to keep warning everyone about your behavior. I feel like most people would conside…

You told a reporter that story. The reporter, _without verifying it_, then tells his newspaper that the story you told is true and he's verified it (which is a lie). Now the newspaper publishes it. Who's responsible?

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#93

Post by lazide »

smaudet wrote: post #79
lazide wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could not get a loan or credit, I guess. There are costs to that approach, of course.

Wildly unfeasible. The consumer does not have a choice, they do not have an ability to live within their means without incurring credit checks. Take housing - perhaps it is possible to purchase outright a home with cash, however you will not find generally anyone willing to take payment in cash. If you cannot afford that and are not taking a loan, then you must rent. However you cannot rent without a credit score. So…

How did you get that from what I wrote?

And notably, it’s entirely possible to rent without a credit check. Just not big corp places.

My current place didn’t check my credit, and they weren’t the only ones. I was disappointed they didn’t. But a lot of the cookie cutter places will.

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#94

Post by Vvector »

no_wizard wrote: post #44
ziddoap wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lets burn down FICO and the credit reporting bureaus. This seems to be the harder problem. I read potentially better solutions all the time, but I never read about how to get to that point first.

Its lack of motivation really. I think people have become ingrained / numb to them that they don't really think about it until they have a problem, or some sector of society gets repeatedly screwed by the bureaus etc. There's been no systematic callout of the bureaus in wider society, that I can tell.

We are not the customers, we are the product. The customers are the banks and other entities that want to check our credit.

Probably the only answer is legislation

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#95

Post by CatWChainsaw »

jimt1234 wrote: post #32
thedanbob wrote: post #13

It is mind-blowing to me how incompetent the credit agencies are. I just tried to check my credit was frozen everywhere and I couldn't log into Experian. Tried "forgot my password"... oops, "can't find your username". Tried entering my email, "please verify with your phone number"... oops, "doesn't match our records". Tried "verify another way" and it asked for my phone number and last 4 of my SSN. Hey, that worked!…

I think it's the opposite of Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to stupidity/incompetence that which is adequately explained by malice/evil-intent .

The original Hanlon's law is an excellent argument for why Reverse Hanlon's law is more often true.

For another example, see every customer service phone tree in existence. Or more broadly, any customer service, although Google gets extra side-eye.

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#96

Post by hakfoo »

judge2020 wrote: post #84
winrid wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just ridiculous. Modern countries like France do not use credit scores. They just look at your last few bank statements.

From what I can find online, is it true that “Fichiers Banque de France”, owned by the French Government, has a de facto credit system to log credit defaults (so that lenders can deny you if you’ve missed payments for too long in the past)?

A actual state-run system has at least some legal accountability.

When a politician gets a loan denied due to bogus data, I'm sure heads would fly. It's probably also subject to whatever their equivalent to FOIA and whistleblowing laws are over there.

The private sector gives us the worst of everything: it's an obnoxious panopticon, PLUS being incentivized to be untransparent and seek out eternal growth.

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#97

Post by NoblePublius »

cheriot wrote: post #78
NoblePublius wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every financial institution has its own credit file on you. They don’t need the third party services at all. Credit profiles can be created easily from any number of public data sources. These companies exist because we wrote laws requiring them to exist, and for no other reason.

If you don't like the terms with your current bank, how would you apply for a loan with a different one [that doesn't know you]? People need the ability to shop around.

Plaid

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#99

Post by atrettel »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #86

You tried methods #1 and #2. Stamps are expensive but the effectiveness of method #3 might surprise you. The mail-in form is not going to ask for a voice sample. From consumerfinance.gov: "You can request and review your free report through one of the following ways: 1. Online: Visit AnnualCreditReport.com 2. Phone: Call (877) 322-8228 3. Mail: Download and complete the Annual Credit Report Request form. Mail the com…

In my experience, requesting the reports in the mail is the only guaranteed way that I can get my full credit reports. The website sometimes works, but I often get an error for my Experian report that says that "A condition exists that prevents Experian from being able to accept your request at this time." It turns out that Experian never lets me get my annual free credit report using Firefox, but if I try it with Chrome, I can get it. This is the only workaround I've found when the website won't give you your report. The only other option is to just mail in the form and wait a few weeks (which is what I often end up doing anyway).

Re: Tell HN: Equifax free credit report dark patterns

#100

Post by int_19h »

alexb_ wrote: post #45
no_wizard wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's an idea: lets burn down FICO and the credit reporting bureaus. After all things seemed to work fine before credit scores. Perhaps we put too much "stock" in them in the first place. There has to be better ways to manage this. One way I could forsee is a government agency that acted as a reporting depot. Then you could forbid the sale of information, and create legislative firewalls for it to keep it out of the…

> After all things seemed to work fine before credit scores. Perhaps we put too much "stock" in them in the first place. There has to be better ways to manage this. The old way to do it, pre-credit score, is that they would take a look at your zip code, take a look at the color of your skin, and decide if you were a "trustworthy individual"

And they still do that.
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