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Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#41

Post by ams6110 »

GFischer wrote: post #36
troyk wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they can sell what they call the "header" of your credit report without regulation (such as the FCRA). This info includes your name, address, ssn and dob. Or at least it did when I bought it in the 90's to build a service to find dead-beat dads. I've heard they are more restrictive on the SSN, but I also would bet that's the #1 data element for the ID thefters.

I don't understand why the U.S. is so opposed to a nationwide ID, and yet obviously need one, and end up treating other documents less suited to the task as one. Here in Uruguay (and almost everywhere else) we have a national ID number (Cédula de Identidad). It's not supposed to be secret (although it's not a great idea to divulge it freely). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identification_number

I don't see how a new id number will solve anything. We already have a de-facto national id number, the SSN.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#42

Post by bullseye »

callmeed wrote: post #28
dangrossman wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual bad decisions you made in the past are a valid reason not to risk underwriting a large loan to you. There are valid criticisms of the credit agencies, but that doesn't seem like one of them. If you want a mortgage and you feel you have a convincing reason a bank should risk entrusting you with their money despite a bad credit history, try an in-person appointment with a lender at a local credit union. Be prepa…

I don't disagree with you–but it can be frustrating to know you've improved both your responsibility and your earning power yet only be judged by the past. For example, I've paid cash for the last 5 cars our family has purchased over the last 6 years. Why doesn't my ability to do that apply to my credit-worthiness? Small things like that annoy me about the agencies/system. Also, the median home price where we live is…

> For example, I've paid cash for the last 5 cars our family has purchased over the last 6 years. Why doesn't my ability to do that apply to my credit-worthiness?

Because paying cash once for something is the opposite of proving credit-worthiness. You haven't proven an ability to uphold your end of a long-term agreement.

If you want to improve your credit, finance those cars. Make payments for about 6 months and then pay them off. You pay a little extra in interest, but you get another credit entry which is in good standing.

On an unrelated note, you can almost always negotiate a better price on your car (in the US) if you finance and then pay the loan off.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#43

Post by GFischer »

ams6110 wrote: post #41
GFischer wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why the U.S. is so opposed to a nationwide ID, and yet obviously need one, and end up treating other documents less suited to the task as one. Here in Uruguay (and almost everywhere else) we have a national ID number (Cédula de Identidad). It's not supposed to be secret (although it's not a great idea to divulge it freely). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_identification_number

I don't see how a new id number will solve anything. We already have a de-facto national id number, the SSN.

Because a new ID number can have security measures.

The ID number in my country has photograph, fingerprints, signature, several security measures (difficult to fake). Not so easy to steal (of course there are forgeries, but identity theft becomes much harder)

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#44

Post by bediger4000 »

Do "underground" credit rating agencies exist? I don't mean credit rating agencies for carders and scammers, I mean agencies that track things they're not supposed to track. Agencies that keep the data on file for longer than they're supposed, keep track of how many times a particular ID asks for refunds, or to get their security deposit back, material like that.

It would have to be out of the Caribbean or some place with lax data privacy laws, and strict confidentiality laws.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#45

Post by hackula1 »

callmeed wrote: post #28
dangrossman wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual bad decisions you made in the past are a valid reason not to risk underwriting a large loan to you. There are valid criticisms of the credit agencies, but that doesn't seem like one of them. If you want a mortgage and you feel you have a convincing reason a bank should risk entrusting you with their money despite a bad credit history, try an in-person appointment with a lender at a local credit union. Be prepa…

I don't disagree with you–but it can be frustrating to know you've improved both your responsibility and your earning power yet only be judged by the past. For example, I've paid cash for the last 5 cars our family has purchased over the last 6 years. Why doesn't my ability to do that apply to my credit-worthiness? Small things like that annoy me about the agencies/system. Also, the median home price where we live is…

If a 20-30% downpayment seems completely unrealistic, then you are probably not in area that you can afford. A home is like a car, in that nobody forces you to buy the Porsche, and you can always buy something in a cheaper area. A location with a median home value of 600k is definitely in the "Porsche" category of locations. Go find yourself a Camry.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#47

Post by pc86 »

callmeed wrote: post #27
malandrew wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought credit rating things only lasted 7 years. Are your credit transgressions more recent than that?

Most are, but (from what I understand) there are ways items can stay on for longer. For example, if your account is sold or resold to a collection agency, I believe the clock resets under the new creditor.

This is not accurate. The clock only "resets" if you take action on it. It can be resold every 6 months and unless you contact a creditor about the debt, nothing changes.

For small debts in the 4-6 year range it's usually fine to let them just fall off your report (although there's certainly a moral ambiguity there). Larger debts will almost always be litigated well before the 7-year mark, and entering into litigation does reset that clock.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#48

Post by pc86 »

dingaling wrote: post #21
Silhouette wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Voluntarily? If you want to use credit, you have to let lenders collaborate to determine whether they're willing to lend to you, if that's their criteria for making decisions. If you don't want to use credit, they get no special pass to store and use personal data about you. I'm from Europe, where generally personal privacy gets more emphasis than it seems to in some places, notably the US. We have explicit laws abou…

I'm convinced that those 'errors' on reports are actually phishing. When I ordered my reports I paid with postal orders, so as not to leak any financial information back to the agencies. I'm glad I did so, as the details ( other than my mortgage ) were laughably incorrect. I was on the verge of writing to correct them and then caught myself - that's exactly what they want, isn't it? So hopefully by now they've diverg…

Were they negative elements or just factually incorrect neutral/positive elements? Correct or not, if your credit report is pulled and there is wildly inaccurate (negative) information you can still be declined, and not many people know that you are entitled to a free report if you're declined based on what's in that report.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#49

Post by pionar »

marincounty wrote: post #26
malandrew wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought credit rating things only lasted 7 years. Are your credit transgressions more recent than that?

I'm pretty sure it's 7 years. After that they're suspose to remove the information. They don't really care though. You need to call and have it removed. Sometimes you need to really hassel them. If you have old debt, some buyers of that old debt are fraudlently trying to make it look like new debt by filing it with credit agencies--fight it. It's all about statue of limitations. Oh, I've noticed some of you are very…

> A credit agency that actually looks at an individuals ability to pay back a loan.

The problem with that is that just because someone is able to pay back a loan doesn't mean they will.

I had a roommate in college that financially was able to pay off a credit card, but was just so irresponsible that he ignored it.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#50

Post by kd0amg »

GFischer wrote: post #43
ams6110 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how a new id number will solve anything. We already have a de-facto national id number, the SSN.

Because a new ID number can have security measures. The ID number in my country has photograph, fingerprints, signature, several security measures (difficult to fake). Not so easy to steal (of course there are forgeries, but identity theft becomes much harder)

Hold on, do you mean an ID number or an ID card? As far as I can tell, the Cédula de Identidad you mention is a card, not just a number. Numbers are pretty much always trivial to duplicate. Checking a physical document kind of requires a face-to-face transaction.
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