credit file | Financial Crooks

Earlier this year one of our credit cards was compromised. My card was charged thousands of dollars in electronics and other online gear which was delivered to someone living in another province. I reported the fraudulent activity and had to complete some paperwork for my credit card company. Much later, I realized I probably should also check my credit file to make sure no one had asked for a loan or a new credit card using the information from my compromised card. So as year end approached, I phoned Equifax to request my free annual credit file report. Here’s what was in it.

A Free Equifax Credit Report Does Not Include Your Credit Rating or Credit Score

First I’ll mention what’s not in it. The free report does not include my credit rating or my credit score.

I don’t know if I have 500 points or 800. I don’t know if I’m BBB or AAA. To find out that information I’d have to pay money. Since I’ve never done anything to damage my rating and I’ve done lots of things that should improve my rating I don’t really care what number they have on file. If you do care, you’ll have to pay for it.

Who Has Been Inquiring About My Equifax Credit File?

Apparently I’m just as unpopular with financial institutions as I am with regular people.
In the past two years only two institutions have inquired about me:

One was PC Financial when I opened my chequing account.
The other was BMO when I got a US dollar MasterCard (which I’ve since cancelled.)

There is also a short list of inquiries “from authorized parties to update their records regarding your existing account with them.”

I have no idea what that means either!

The “parties” are two banks I deal with only. They don’t really seem to be on any particular dates and they only made their requests a few times over the last three years. I have no idea what they were looking for in my file. I have dealings with two other banks that have not made any inquiries.

In the notes it says they may “update their client information prior to making a promotional offering.” I don’t remember receiving any chance of a lifetime promotional offers that match the inquiry dates either.

My Credit History And/Or Banking Information in My Equifax Credit File

This section lists information

reported to Equifax by the organizations listed
the info is received every 30 days from most “credit grantors”

What’s listed?

Well, each of my whopping 2 credit cards is listed.

On my report, none of my bank accounts, savings or chequing, is listed.

For each credit card, the Equifax report states

when the last report was made
a code, in my case, R1 which is defined as “paid as agreed and up to date”
whether the account is joint
the last reported balance on the account
a small part of the account (card) number
when the account was opened
the date the last payment, purchase or cash advance was made
if the card has been terminated, the date it was closed (remember I cancelled our USD MasterCard)
how many times the account has been 2 payment periods past due; 3 ditto; 4 ditto
for the past 48 “reportings” for a monthly payment card, how many “reportings” were paid as agreed

What If I See Something Wrong in My Credit File?

Equifax includes a form called the “Consumer Credit Report Update Form” that you can fill in to report errors and omissions.

What’s the Security Like to Protect Me If This Equifax Credit File Letter Gets Stolen?

You may be reluctant to request your credit file report if you think the letter might get stolen and the thief might get your credit card numbers, name, address, SIN number, driver’s license number and other valuable information.

I have to admit I’m a bit uneasy about that too.

Equifax has made a token attempt to protect my info. In the letter, they only give

part of my date of birth
part of my Social Insurance Number
no bank account numbers
a very small part of my credit card number
no credit card expiry date numbers
no credit card “back of the card extra security code” numbers

I’m a bit dismayed, though, that they list

my entire Driver’s License number and
my entire (now invalid) Passport Number.

If I can find the energy, I may be writing them about that and suggesting they mask part of those numbers as well.

If you are requesting your report, I suggest you consider applying by telephone. You will have to tell them your SIN number (but they already know that anyway) but you won’t have to give them your Driver’s License or Passport Number like you have to if you apply in writing. Then (if you haven’t provided them in the past) those government ID numbers will not be on your Credit File or in the letter that they mail to you.

Miscellaneous Odd Stuff in My Equifax Credit Report

Other odds and ends they included in the report

My file was opened the year I graduated.
I don’t know exactly why. The file opened months after I moved into a new city and a new apartment; obtained a MasterCard; started work in a permanent full-time job; and opened a new bank account at a different bank. I’ll never know why all of those previous items didn’t cause them to open a file.
They list my previous and last two addresses.
They have the street name wrong for my oldest address but I’m not planning to fix it because I lived there more than 19 years ago.
They have my Birth Date and SIN number correctly on file.
They know my telephone number but they only found out what it was in 2010. I’m not sure why they found out then either as we neither contacted Equifax nor changed our number.
They know my Driver’s License and Passport numbers from when I applied in writing a few years ago. I applied by telephone this time, so they don’t know my correct Passport number which has changed. (Yes, I let my Passport expire accidentally. Oops.)

They also list definitions of the following terms: (It takes a full page.)

credit score
credit inquiries to the file
credit history and banking information
voluntary deposit
registered consumer proposal
bankruptcy
judgments, seizure of movable/immovable, garnishment of wages
collection accounts
secured loans
What is an inquiry?
Why was I denied credit?
Why is something I paid off still on my credit file?
What can be done if I suspect I am a victim of identity fraud?
Credit clinics

Phew. There seems to be a lot of terms that aren’t applicable to our account for which I am exceedingly grateful.

There is a final heading of “Consumer Department” but nothing following it. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to represent the signature closing the letter or if they just randomly stopped printing definitions at that point!

Related Reading

Check Your Credit Report for Free from Equifax

Join In
Did you ever order your credit report? Were there any surprises in it? Please share your experiences with a comment.

Back in November I listed some of the financial chores to consider completing by year end. Of course, I forgot one. You can check your credit file annually for free; if you’re like me, you probably have forgotten to do that: It’s not yet too late! You can check your credit report for free once per year with TransUnion and Equifax.

Why Should I Check My Credit Report?

This check will not tell you your credit rating or credit score. It will only tell you information about what credit products you are using and whether there are any problems such as late payments. For people who use credit responsibly and always pay off their balance at the end of the month, the purpose of the check is to make sure no identity mix-ups or identity theft has taken place.

For example, if your name is a fairly common one, it’s possible a mistake can happen and someone else’s credit card can be listed as yours. If they aren’t managing that card well, it’s your credit history that will get damaged.

If you find an item on your file that isn’t yours you can get the problem corrected before it becomes a major problem, such as when you go to renew your mortgage or purchase a car.

A less common but more frightening prospect is that your identity may have been stolen. Again, seeing the problem on your report will give you the tip to start fixing it.

Earlier this year, my credit card was compromised and used without authorization for a number of online purchases. (Ironically it was the card I only use about once per month, so I hope the police determined the source of the information theft and could use it to catch the fraudsters.) I think I should check my credit report to make sure nothing else has happened because of this security breach.

Does a Free Credit Report Include My Credit Rating or Score?

No. This check will not tell you your credit rating or credit score. You have to pay money to retrieve those. In general if you’ve been living within your means and paying your bills you don’t need to know the number anyway!

(Some RedFlagDeal users will play the system by signing up for a year’s service to check their score, and then cancel after they receive the first report for their “first month free” trial offer. I don’t encourage this, personally.)

How to Order Your Annual Free Credit Report for Equifax

You can order your Equifax “Credit File” for free by calling their toll-free number or by submitting a request in writing.

To Order Your Equifax Free Credit File by Phone

WARNING!
First, don’t trust any phone number given on a secondary website, including this one, to be correct!

Someone could hack my site and change the phone number. Then when you call, some fraudster will get your full name, address and Social Insurance Number: plenty of information to start stealing your identity!

The toll-free number for Equifax is provided on their website.

Here’s what I had to provide to the automated service to order my report by phone:

my Social Insurance Number (you can’t use the automated service without giving this)
my date of birth
my house number, but not street, city, or province
whether I have an apartment number
my postal code

***Interesting Bit***
The automated system asked for my credit card number, after explaining nothing would be billed to me. It then asked if I had a major credit card from MasterCard, VISA or American Express.

I said “no.”

The system responded that it will mail my report.

I actually DO have a major credit card in my name. It’s slightly possible that some internal check will compare my response with my file and reject my request for the credit report, but I doubt it. After all, people must call in who like me are (a) reluctant to give their credit card number out where they might be overheard or via cell phone transmission or (b) who don’t have their card with them at the time they make the call and who haven’t memorized their card number. If the request is rejected I will update this post, of course.

The automated system said I could expect my report in 3-5 business days. Knowing the postal service here and given the weekends and stat holidays coming up, I’ll expect it sometime in the New Year.

To Order Your Equifax Free Credit File by Mail or Fax

To request your free credit report from Equifax, print the form provided on their site.

You will need to provide

a photocopy of 2 different government-issued identification items
for example a driver’s licence, birth certificate or passport
if your current address is not on one of the photocopies of your id, you must also provide a copy of another document with your address
for example a utility bill, bank or credit card statement. You can black out the details if it still clearly shows the date of the document, the sender, your name and address and your account number.
your full name/s
address
any previous addresses within the past 3 years
at your option, you can provide: your Social Insurance Number, this is useful if you have a very common name
at your option, you can provide: your name and the last four digits of a major credit card

Sign and date the form.

The information you provide will

be used to update your file; it may also be disclosed to customers requesting your credit report
be used to issue you the correct report

Mail or fax the completed request form to the address or fax number listed on the Equifax.ca form.

So Do I Have to Give My SIN and Credit Card Number to Get a Free Report

As mentioned above,

you can order a free report by phone without giving a credit card number but you must provide your SIN.
you can order a free report by mail or fax without giving a credit card number or SIN but you must provide copies of two pieces of government id, your full address and date of birth.

Pick your poison!

When Will I Get My Equifax Credit Report?

The file will be sent by mail. It should arrive within 5-10 business days after the request is received.