Chex Systems report has error
Finally, she got a small break when her lawyer friend found out that the bank used a firm named Chex Systems Inc. to run background checks on new customers. With a little snooping, she learned that Chex Systems is used by many financial institutions to verify identities during transactions and to help retailers spot consumers who've bounced checks in the past. She also learned she was entitled to see what records Chex Systems had about her through what's called a "consumer disclosure," the firm's version of a free annual credit report. She got her response on Aug. 18. There, on page 2, in black and white, was the bad news.
"Number inactivated due to report of death," it said, right next to her Social Security number.
And just below, there was a toll free number to call with disputes. She called immediately to make the case with Chex Systems that she was, in fact, alive.
"I got on the phone with an agent who sounded extremely upset that I would even question the validity of their report," she said. "He said I was reported dead on August 3, 2008."
Chex Systems, which is a subsidiary of Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc., said in an e-mail to msnbc.com that it could not comment on a specific consumer's situation, citing privacy concerns, but it asserted that all death information comes "via a direct feed from the Social Security Administration."
"But they say I'm not dead," Rivers, exasperated by this obvious Catch-22, said. "I am at wit's end. ... As Chex Systems has passed this information to so many federal agencies and their clients, there is absolutely no way to tell who has the information and how to get all reports corrected."
For all intents and purposes, Rivers had suffered digital death, a near-fatal disease in our increasingly interconnected world.
After Rivers contacted msnbc.com looking for help, she tried to get her free annual copy of her credit report using the Web site AnnualCreditReport.com. The site indicated there was a problem with her credit record and recommended she request the report via U.S. mail. She's still awaiting the response.
Identity Theft Resource Center offers hope
Finally, she got a small break when her lawyer friend found out that the bank used a firm named Chex Systems Inc. to run background checks on new customers. With a little snooping, she learned that Chex Systems is used by many financial institutions to verify identities during transactions and to help retailers spot consumers who've bounced checks in the past. She also learned she was entitled to see what records Chex Systems had about her through what's called a "consumer disclosure," the firm's version of a free annual credit report. She got her response on Aug. 18. There, on page 2, in black and white, was the bad news.
"Number inactivated due to report of death," it said, right next to her Social Security number.
And just below, there was a toll free number to call with disputes. She called immediately to make the case with Chex Systems that she was, in fact, alive.
"I got on the phone with an agent who sounded extremely upset that I would even question the validity of their report," she said. "He said I was reported dead on August 3, 2008."
Chex Systems, which is a subsidiary of Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc., said in an e-mail to msnbc.com that it could not comment on a specific consumer's situation, citing privacy concerns, but it asserted that all death information comes "via a direct feed from the Social Security Administration."
"But they say I'm not dead," Rivers, exasperated by this obvious Catch-22, said. "I am at wit's end. ... As Chex Systems has passed this information to so many federal agencies and their clients, there is absolutely no way to tell who has the information and how to get all reports corrected."
For all intents and purposes, Rivers had suffered digital death, a near-fatal disease in our increasingly interconnected world.
After Rivers contacted msnbc.com looking for help, she tried to get her free annual copy of her credit report using the Web site AnnualCreditReport.com. The site indicated there was a problem with her credit record and recommended she request the report via U.S. mail. She's still awaiting the response.
Identity Theft Resource Center offers hope
Closed November 2010
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