Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service • Hacker News Board

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#51

Post by Karunamon » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:38 PM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #48

dingaling wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In my experience, most every place that declines you based on report data will send you a letter saying (in very general terms, but still) what criterion you failed, as well as the information about where to get your report.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#52

Post by cptskippy » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:43 PM UTC

I did a double take when I saw this because I've been in contact with Equifax recently because I started receiving SPAM form a non-existent email address that I shared with them.

I have a Catch-all address setup on my Domain so that I can give every site I interact with their own custom email address. In this case it was equifax.com@mydomain.com. Since the email address doesn't exist, and they're the only company I've shared it with, they're the only ones with a record of it's existence.

When I emailed them asking if they'd had a security breach or if they were selling email addresses they responded saying they would opt me out of marking emails. When I responded with the context and header info of the emails I received and asked if this was in fact from them things turned. About an hour later I got a response, the tone had changed significantly and they indicated that the incident had been escalated to their security department and that they would be in contact with me as their investigation progressed.

I can say this has been the best response to the dozens of emails I've sent to companies about the same issue. The worst was Best Buy whose response was something along the lines of "Eat Dk, we do what we want."

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#53

Post by GFischer » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:30 PM UTC

kd0amg wrote: post #50

GFischer wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sorry, I meant ID card, you are correct. And I agree that numbers are easy to duplicate.

I'm not from the U.S., but I've read a lot of criticism about the SSN, for example:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/26/3384416/social-security-nu...

"In 2009, researchers developed an algorithm that could guess an individual’s SSN with up to ten percent accuracy"

"SSNs have become available through data resellers, security breaches at various companies and government agencies, unsuspecting customer service representatives, and even public records, if you know where to look. SSNs can be bought in bulk for $1 each on private online forums, and a specific person’s SSN can reportedly be had for as little as $3.80."

I've also read about duplicates ("More than 20 million Americans have more than one SSN associated with their name."), the numbers running out (in the 2050s apparently), etc.

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/111371029.html

The REAL ID act sounds like something closer to what we have:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act

Some other advantages (from an IT point of view): you can validate an ID number against a central database, and get a person's given names in a unique format. Our ID numbers have a check digit, so you can validate if the ID number has been correctly entered :)

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#54

Post by jdbernard » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:33 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #35

dangrossman wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just lived through a recession in which tens of millions of homes depreciated in value during the terms of their loans. Depreciated means it lost value; the house is worth less than before. That, combined with a small downpayment, can result in a bank holding a foreclosed home which is worth less than the value of the mortgage on it.

Ah, I see. I thought your explanation was more general, not specific to the current economic situation. And since I learned as a kid that a house normally only get more value over time (I live in western europe) that was confusing me. Thanks for the clarification.

> I learned as a kid that a house normally only get more value over time

I think this is one of the reasons we got into this mess. People bought more house than they could afford thinking they would be able to sell it if they needed to and at least break even. Nobody was prepared for underwater mortgages because we all assumed houses only appreciate.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#55

Post by nwh » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:44 PM UTC

cptskippy wrote: post #52

I did a double take when I saw this because I've been in contact with Equifax recently because I started receiving SPAM form a non-existent email address that I shared with them. I have a Catch-all address setup on my Domain so that I can give every site I interact with their own custom email address. In this case it was equifax.com@mydomain.com. Since the email address doesn't exist, and they're the only company I'v…

Heh, same. The excuses I get from companies are hilarious. In my case they're just the domain, but encoded and obfuscated. The company will claim anything to get out of it, that my account was compromised, all the way to someone guessing it.

Irritatingly, when I signed up for the utilities at my apartment I used a single address "utilities@domain.com" for simplicity. One of my three suppliers leaked my details with that address, and they all deny it. Took less than a week from moving in to getting penis pump advertisements at that address.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#56

Post by GFischer » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:56 PM UTC

cptskippy wrote: post #52

I did a double take when I saw this because I've been in contact with Equifax recently because I started receiving SPAM form a non-existent email address that I shared with them. I have a Catch-all address setup on my Domain so that I can give every site I interact with their own custom email address. In this case it was equifax.com@mydomain.com. Since the email address doesn't exist, and they're the only company I'v…

I worked for an Equifax subsidiary for a time, and I can vouch that at least there they took security very seriously, and always worked with the best practices.

The downside was that changes were veery slow to implement :)

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#57

Post by useful » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 4:08 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #30

dangrossman wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also, the median home price where we live is $500-600K (depending on the city/neighborhood). 30% of that is quite a down-payment. You're talking about being entrusted with half a million dollars of someone else's money. That's a huge bet to make on you; it goes both ways. If you can't afford the down payment, then you can't afford to live in that neighborhood. 30% isn't an unusual downpayment, especially if you don…

Why is the house "depreciated in value at all" ? I don't understand that part.

all structures depreciate, eventually it will fall down. It requires maintenance to keep the same value. This is one reason most people will tell you to never buy a condo. Land is finite and does not depreciate.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#58

Post by gergles » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 4:32 PM UTC

bediger4000 wrote: post #44

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…

There's a ton of those that are fully aboveboard, you just don't hear about them. One exists for return tracking, one exists for how many applications you've filed for credit cards, one exists for landlord/tenant court entries that saves them forever (they insist they aren't a CRA but under the law they clearly are) -- there's a ton of them other than the Big 3 and there's almost no effective regulation around them.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#59

Post by hnriot » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 5:32 PM UTC

cptskippy wrote: post #52

I did a double take when I saw this because I've been in contact with Equifax recently because I started receiving SPAM form a non-existent email address that I shared with them. I have a Catch-all address setup on my Domain so that I can give every site I interact with their own custom email address. In this case it was equifax.com@mydomain.com. Since the email address doesn't exist, and they're the only company I'v…

that's not exactly a difficult email address to guess, I would think that in this case (specifically this case) equifax would have a very good claim that it wasn't them that leaked it. If instead you had used a hash or something unguessable then you might have a case, but I could easily go and sign up to my favorite nigerian viagra supplier with all the usual suspects facebook@yourdomain.com, airbnb@yourdomain.com... and you'd go right on blaming the facebook, airbnb, etc.

Re: Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

#60

Post by callmeed » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 5:35 PM UTC

hackula1 wrote: post #45

callmeed wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Never said it was unrealistic–just meant it wouldn't happen immediately. By the time I have it available (2-3 years), my credit score will be improved too.

Also, our rent is very low here ($2K for a 4bd home on 1/3 acre in a great neighborhood). We just happen to be in an area where buying vs. renting is out of balance.

And your car analogy breaks down real fast. There are many more factors which can/do prevent people from moving to other cities.