Identity Theft Hurts

Sign Up for TransUnion’s Free Credit Monitoring

To register for this settlement go to http://www.ListClassAction.com or call 866-416-3470.  Hurry though, you have until the 24th of September 2008.

You see, TransUnion was involved in a class-action settlement brought against it by these wonderful people:

(a) Gogerty v. Trans Union 00CV1665, N.D. Illinois
(b) Payne v. Trans Union 00CV3292, N.D. Illinois
(c) Comstock v. Trans Union 00CV4730, D. Arizona
(d) Martinelli v. Trans Union 00CV4731, N.D. California
(e) Turner v. Trans Union 00CV4732, S.D. Illinois
(f) Woods v. Trans Union 00CV4733, S.D. Illinois
(g) Winkelmann v. Trans Union 00CV4734, D. Nebraska
(h) Feige v. Trans Union 00CV4735, S.D. New York
(i) Rozenblitt v. Trans Union 00CV4736, E.D. Pennsylvania
(j) Kearley v. Trans Union 00CV5468, M.D. Alabama
(k) Wayne v. Trans Union 00CV5682, C.D. California
(1) Stein v. Trans Union 00CV7780, 00CV8096, S.D. California
(m) Morse v. Trans Union 05CV831, E.D. Louisiana
(n) Jowers v. Trans Union 06CV3074, E.D. Texas

I thank them all!

In a class-action settlement, TransUnion agreed to provide free credit-monitoring services to millions of consumers to settle claims that it illegally sold private information for marketing purposes.

I have to pose the following questions:

TransUnion, why did you try to drag the cases out with litigation?  I guess by agreeing to the settlement you agree that ”Defendants have denied, and continue to deny, each and every claim and allegation of wrongdoing that has been alleged by Plaintiffs in the Actions.”

TransUnion, why not offer all customers identity theft protection for free?  You are the keepers of my financial consumer credit. 

TransUnion why do you state here on your corporate website a webpage titled ”RESTORING” that “I” must do the following?  

“Once you realize that you are a fraud victim, you need to contact various government, banking, and credit agencies.”

Why don’t YOU contact them instead of the victim?  If an identity thief opens a fraudulent account in my name, and you post a derogatory comment to my credit record, you’ve failed, not me.  The error is yours to correct, not mine.  You should not post a derogatory credit comment until you have verified via phone, fax or an email with the lender, creditor and debtor that the account is indeed valid.  Better yet, why don’t YOU get in touch with the victim’s identity thief, that way you two parties can sort it out?

Also, if your collection agency buddies come to you and inquire about my credit history (they’re your buddies because they pay you to look at my credit record), any derogatory information should be left out of my credit report until you can reasonably verify the facts.

In closing, I see that TransUnion will monitor my credit, -for $11.95 a month.  How nice of you!  You charge customers for monitoring their credit, which is SOMETHING YOU SHOULD BE DOING TO BEGIN WITH! 

Here are some of the benefits of the service that you should be providing FREE OF CHARGE:

Credit Alerts Within 24 Hours of Critical Changes
 
24 hour notification of critical changes to your credit report

Swiftly find out about credit report changes including fraudulent activity, new inquiries, new accounts, late payments, & more
 

Unlimited Access to Your Credit Report
 
Receive a brand new credit report anytime you want

Reports are easy-to-read with color graphics and free interactive guide 
Powerful Tools and Analysis
 
Graphical trending helps you manage your progress

View colorful charts and graphs on changes in your debt, income, credit score, and more

However, if you don’t “sign up”, it’s more like this:

No Credit Alerts Within 24 Hours of Critical Changes
 
No notification of critical changes to your credit report  (It’s our data, and we don’t fill out police reports, you do!)

Find out about credit report changes including fraudulent activity, new inquiries, new accounts, late payments, & more from banks and credit collectors right when you need to buy a new home or apply for a new job!
 

Limited Access to Your Credit Report  (We’ll give you a free report once a year, only because federal law requires it)
 
Receive a brand new credit report once a year

You won’t see any reports that are easy-to-read with color graphics and free interactive guide

 
Powerful Tools and Analysis
 
No graphical trending helps you manage your progress

No colorful charts and graphs on changes in your debt, income, credit score, and more