topic Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month in General Credit Topics

After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Thu, 24 Sep 2015 21:26:12 GMT

Two years ago I had some issues with identity theft and several credit cards were fraudulently opened in my name. I was able to straighten everything out and clean up my credit reports pretty quickly, but one minor issue remains.

One of the cards was with Capital One. After I contacted them, they shut down the account, and I've called back several times to confirm that the account is closed. It no longer appears on any credit report (including the three biggies and two smaller ones whose names elude me right now).

However, ever since the incident, they do a soft inquiry with each of the three major bureaus every month. Is this normal? I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone there who can explain it, and it maybe doesn't matter because they're just soft inquiries. But it is concerning that a company I've never legitimately done business with has reviewed my information more than 80 times (3 bureaus x 29 months).

Thanks if anyone can provide insight or direct me to a Capital One number where I can actually get a straight answer.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

RobertEG — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 01:47:12 GMT

The underlying issue is that although the account may have been closed due to asserted identity theft, the party who opened the account apparently has never been offically determined. No offense, but as far as proofs go, it could have been you.

They would have permisible purpose only if you were the responsible consumer, so if you can get a detrmination as to the identity theft, then any issue of permissible purpose would be resolved, thus barring any continued permissible purpse on their part.

Has anything been done since the issue of identity theft was alleged? Any police investigatiion or any deermination that you were clealy not the responsible concsuemr, or was it left as only an allegation and block from your credit report?

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 02:52:00 GMT

Haha, police investigation -- that's a good one. I put a ton of evidence in front of them, but they had bigger fish to fry. (I was even part of a larger group that was affected.)

I don't recall if I sent Cap One a police report directly, or if I just sent it to TransUnion, who then contacted Cap One. In any case I got a letter from them acknowledging it was fraud. And in reviewing my paperwork, it looks like the fraudster tried to open a second Cap One card at the same time, which was flat out rejected. Here's what they said about the one that was opened:

"The account referenced above was opened with a fraudulent application in the name of [my name]. It is now closed and the name [my name] was removed from the account, releasing him/her from any further responsibility. We're currently in the process of deleting this fraudulent account from this individual's credit file.

The account is closed with a zero balance. Please disregard all inquiries and an derogatory information reported by Captial One."

I never paid attention to the "disregard all inquiries" line, as I didn't know what that meant at the time, but two years' of incessant inquiries seems over the top.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

RobertEG — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 05:34:27 GMT

Section 604(a) lists situations in which a party may obtain a credit report, and states that only those situations, and "no other" apply.

Your situation where they acknowledge that they do not have an account with the consumer for leaves them with no permisible purpose.

I would send them notice that they lack permissible purpose. If they continue, it becomes a willful violation of t he FCRA, and subjects them to civil action under both FCRA 616 and 619. You can then file a complaint with the CFPB and/or initiate your own civil action.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 13:38:38 GMT

Thanks for that insight. So this is something I should pursue with Capital One, rather than the credit bureaus? And could these soft inquiries be the result of the application that was denied, rather than the opened card they confirmed as fraud?

I should note one other thing, as it seems peculiar: These soft inquiries are only staying on my credit report for one month. That is, everytime one of them appears, the previous one disappears. So currently, even though they've done these soft inquiries every month for the past two years, only the most current one shows up when I pull a new report.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

Revelate — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 16:32:20 GMT

@TheToddler wrote:
Thanks for that insight. So this is something I should pursue with Capital One, rather than the credit bureaus? And could these soft inquiries be the result of the application that was denied, rather than the opened card they confirmed as fraud?

I should note one other thing, as it seems peculiar: These soft inquiries are only staying on my credit report for one month. That is, everytime one of them appears, the previous one disappears. So currently, even though they've done these soft inquiries every month for the past two years, only the most current one shows up when I pull a new report.

They could just be promotional inquiries.

It's honestly not something to worry about, soft inquiries have no bearing on one's FICO score and lenders won't even see them on their pulls. I wouldn't sweat it.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 17:00:01 GMT

Well, I have extended fraud alerts on my accounts, so shouldn't that block promotional inquiries?

You're right, though, they're just soft inquiries. I'm just obsessed with keeping my reports in order. I probably pay closer attention to the soft inquiries than most people, as they actually helped confirm that my ID thief was accessing my credit reports themselves -- so I always monitor them now.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

Revelate — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 22:15:19 GMT

@TheToddler wrote:
Well, I have extended fraud alerts on my accounts, so shouldn't that block promotional inquiries?

You're right, though, they're just soft inquiries. I'm just obsessed with keeping my reports in order. I probably pay closer attention to the soft inquiries than most people, as they actually helped confirm that my ID thief was accessing my credit reports themselves -- so I always monitor them now.

I'm not certain that it would; how are they listed on the bureaus? Think at least one bureau makes a distinction between AR and promotional on the assumption some lenders code it properly anyway. Not certain if C1 does or not.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 20:03:54 GMT

Yes, it appears to be an AR, and I don't even have an account with them!

Equifax shows:

AR-CAPITAL ONE NTL ASSOC

What's odd is that my EQ report specifically says, for the AM or AR prefix: "Inquiries with these prefixes indicate a periodic review of your credit history by one of your creditors. (AM and AR inquiries remain for twelve months.)"

Yet these inquiries do not remain on my credit report for 12 months; a new one shows up each month and the previous one disappears.

Experian just says "Capital One" with no further details.

TransUnion also just says "CAPITAL ONE NATL ASSOC."

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 20:13:42 GMT

I get soft pulled by Cap One several times a month, every month. No biggie.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 13:52:27 GMT

AR would seem the better of the limited coding choices. Presumably, they're pulling for fraud related reasons verses mailing you a credit offer (PRM). It's possible your name, address and/or SS# are still being utilized in fraudulent manner (ie. attempting to open new accounts with creditors) by others you're not aware of...

And/or Capital One is proactively protecting its interests and softing to watch for future attempts / generating an internal fraud profile for your identity (not to determine credit criteria, but the level of verification needed, if you were to apply).

In my view, pulling for few months after the fraud would seem reasonable, but doing so 29 months later seem excessive. While SPs don't effect your scores in any way, it's understandable to be concerned / not want those extraneous inquiries on your reports.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 18:02:10 GMT

@TheToddler wrote:
Two years ago I had some issues with identity theft and several credit cards were fraudulently opened in my name. I was able to straighten everything out and clean up my credit reports pretty quickly, but one minor issue remains.

One of the cards was with Capital One. After I contacted them, they shut down the account, and I've called back several times to confirm that the account is closed. It no longer appears on any credit report (including the three biggies and two smaller ones whose names elude me right now).

However, ever since the incident, they do a soft inquiry with each of the three major bureaus every month. Is this normal? I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone there who can explain it, and it maybe doesn't matter because they're just soft inquiries. But it is concerning that a company I've never legitimately done business with has reviewed my information more than 80 times (3 bureaus x 29 months).

Thanks if anyone can provide insight or direct me to a Capital One number where I can actually get a straight answer.

I have an update to provide on my situation.

The soft inquiries kept coming. I kept calling Capital One to make them stop, and each time they told me they would. I called the credit bureaus. They said they can’t keep Capital One from doing it.

On one of the calls with Capital One, I found out that not all departments had gotten word about the account being fraudulent. Following this, I got a vaguely worded letter in the mail, saying something to the effect of “we agree there is an error on your credit report, and we will correct this.” There was no contact information given in the letter, and nothing on my credit report changed because the account had been removed right after the identity theft.

And the soft inquiries continued! On my next call, I got lucky and got transferred to someone who understood my problem. He said apparently the original cause of the problem was that there was some kind of trade line left open, and the inquiries should stop within 60 days.

However, the inquiries continue to happen months later. Something did change – instead of happening on the 17th of every month, they now occur on random dates, and take weeks to show up on my reports. I called back once again, giving them the ID number of the agent who was so helpful to me. But they said they couldn’t connect me back to him!

So although I straightened things out a little with Capital One, my original problem persists. I am about to submit a complaint to the CFPB to see if that gets me anywhere.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

RobertEG — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 00:52:08 GMT

A fraud alert includes automatic opting out of promotional inquires under the FCRA, so the fraud alert will terminate PRM inquiries.

I would not tread too hard on their continued soft pulls.

The CRA has blocked the information from your credit report, as required under FCRA 605B.

However, that is not an official and legal determination that you have no involvment in the account. It is an administrative blocking without any resolution of accountability.

While their continued inquiries would technically be without any permissible purpose if it were clearly established that you never had an account or legitimate business transaction with them, that does not yet appear to be a clear legal interprettion.

The inquires are likely doing more good than harm, as they are checking for possible fraud and not coding so as to effect your scoring.

A complaint with the CFPB would not be inappropriate,but personally I would let it be.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

RonM21 — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 17:50:13 GMT

Good point in that them still soft pulling can possibly detect fraud if it were to happen again. I know it seems like you have not made much progress on the issue, but the good thing is that it will not hurt anything.

Re: After CC fraudulently opened, Capital One does soft inquiry every month

TheToddler — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 18:30:18 GMT

Thanks! for the insight!

How do their continued soft pulls help them detect fraud?

I agree the most attractive thing to do would be to do nothing, as three years have gone by and there’s been no real fallout. Yet, it wasn’t until my fifth call to Capital One that they discovered not all of their departments had gotten word about the account being confirmed as fraud. And getting the CFPB could end up opening a can of worms I don’t want.

And what would I need from Capital One for it to be a clear legal interpretation that I had nothing to do with the account? This is the original letter I received from them about it:

Their letter would seem to contradict the phone calls I’ve made to them, because they still have my name and other personal information – on a few occasions the representative has said they checked my social security number to see if it matched any other accounts.