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

[TheToddler]

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.

[RobertEG]

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?

[TheToddler]

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.

[RobertEG]

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.

[TheToddler]

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.

[Revelate]

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@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.

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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.

[TheToddler]

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.

[Revelate]

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@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.

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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.

[TheToddler]

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."

[Anonymous]

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