Experian Hack Affects Millions of T-Mobile Credit Applicants

[JackieInCo]

I would call, ask what they need to establish identity. Then start getting those records. Not trying to scare you but this exact thing was how I discovered my mother was using my identity. I tried to get a free credit report and the address was somewhere I'd never lived, a mortgage of a house in a state I didn't even live in... This could just be an error of data but either way, the sooner you find out/sign up, the better.

There is a car loan opened on June 1, 2015 and the loan is through an online provider called credit acceptance and it is not mine.

Everything on my report was wrong including name and address. This is going to be a headache.

 

[AllergyDoc]

We signed up for T-Mobile on 9/14 so I'm in this group. I've already signed up for the 2 years of free monitoring. There's an alert message on the hom page of your account. It links to whatshisface's statement, which has a link to the free credit monitoring.

 

[campyguy]

I'm not and haven't been a T-Mo "customer", but I did sign up for a "Test Drive" a little more than a year ago. Concerned, I called in and talked with a man with a very thick foreign accent, whom I had to interrupt twice to allow me to finish. Cripes, I just got done with the Adobe hack fall out.

Cutting to it and FYI, he related that letters will go out to affected parties on 10/5. Let the waiting begin.

 

[Rigby]

Looks like I will be signing up for this although I already use a similar service. Unfortunately I tested Tmobile several times in the last 2-3 years and they ran my credit each time therefore I would be part of this mess. Now I wonder what this monitoring service is going to do for you if you actually have an issue (i.e. your identity is stolen, etc), are they going to help you address the issue?

It doesn't do anything to prevent ID theft. After you become a victim, they may be able to support you in negotiating with creditors and credit bureaus, and some of these services reimburse you for cost incurred while repairing the damage. But it's still a huge hassle (a friend of mine went through this and it took him months to clean up). If you know that you were affected, I'd recommend to place a security freeze on your credit files as mentioned earlier. Much more effective.

 

[Rigby]

Tried signing up for the two years free credit monitoring. When it gets to the two verification questions, it fails. I called the number and they said wait four hours and try again. I try again and it asks the same questions causing it to fail again. One of the questions says that I may have bought a car in June and I didn't. The other lists cities I never lived in. Selecting none, makes it fail.

Don't panic quite yet. It's not unusual if some of the verification questions don't include a correct choice for you. Have you tried to get your free annual credit report yet? See the FTC site for the official link.

 

[JackieInCo]

Don't panic quite yet. It's not unusual if some of the verification questions don't include a correct choice for you. Have you tried to get your free annual credit report yet? See the FTC site for the official link.

I did. Shows I bought a car on June 1, 2015 which of course, I didn't.

There are also a few variations of my name that I have requested to be removed. I have to call on Monday to dispute that car. I did call the place that issued the credit for the person to buy that car. When it asked for the borrowers SS#, I entered mine and it said there was no record found.

My address also shows as being in Loveland Colorado, I live in Broomfield. I submitted copies of my ID and SS card so they can get things changed also.

 

[Septembersrain]

I did. Shows I bought a car on June 1, 2015 which of course, I didn't.

There are also a few variations of my name that I have requested to be removed. I have to call on Monday to dispute that car. I did call the place that issued the credit for the person to buy that car. When it asked for the borrowers SS#, I entered mine and it said there was no record found.

My address also shows as being in Loveland Colorado, I live in Broomfield. I submitted copies of my ID and SS card so they can get things changed also.

Sounds like you are being mixed in with someone else. My fiancee, his father has the same name as him. His credit reports show all kind of things that he's like... Wow. I was 10, I bought a car at 10. LOL

They've sort of sorted it out but every once in awhile certain credit purchases his dad makes will show up in his and vice versa...

 

[JackieInCo]

Sounds like you are being mixed in with someone else. My fiancee, his father has the same name as him. His credit reports show all kind of things that he's like... Wow. I was 10, I bought a car at 10. LOL

They've sort of sorted it out but every once in awhile certain credit purchases his dad makes will show up in his and vice versa...

I'm hoping things are just getting mixed up as well, especially since the credit issuers system didn't show my SS#. The variations of my name on my report makes me hopeful. Hopefully Experian has no problem fixing things up.

 

[jdoll021]

Yes, I understand that. I just meant that it's one more reason for me to dislike them, therefor affirming my decision to leave them.

I don't hold them accountable for this. It was Experian who was hacked. Even if the the hackers targeted T-Mobile (either intentionally or unintentionally) this could have happened to any of the telecoms or any other company that uses Experian for credit checks. I think, more than anything else, this really exposes the folly of the credit bureaus and calls into question the whole purpose of their existence if they can't be relied upon to keep our information secure (like they're supposed to).