Repost from Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 04:01 pm:

Subject: Equifax Credit Watch - PAY to find out about identity theft AFTER it happened? Why?


While holding at the Equifax "Priority 800 number" 1-888-532-0179 provided with the online report, I got to listen to the following two advertisements several hundred times:

1) "Take control of your financial information with Equifax Credit Watch - an online service featuring e-mail notification within 24 hour of changes to your credit file.

Don't be the last to know, sign up on-line today.

Don't be the last to know!"

and

2) "If identity theft strikes, how will you know?

Let Equifax Credit Watch watch out for you.

With e-mail notification within 24 hours of changes to your credit file.

Sign of for Credit Watch 0nline today at equifax.com"

From the web: "For just $29.95 Protect yourself
from identity theft"

FALSE advertising: Equifax notifies you AFTER someone stole your identity.

It makes me sick how the CRAs are allowed to exploit the fear of identity theft.

They are CAUSING the problem and then PROFIT off the subsequent fear.

ALL the CRA's need to do to PREVENT identity theft and unauthorized inquiries is to assign user changeable PINs to each file.

Now they'll get millions of suckers to send em 30 bucks so they can find out AFTER the fact that they're having a problem. Unbelievable ...

copy faxed to the FTC at 12023262012@faxaway.com

I just cancelled my 30 day trial membership at Privista, and this was their last ditch effort to convince me to keep their credit monitoring service:

"IDENTITY THEFT

Will affect over 700,000 people this year alone!
Can take over two years to clean up after you've been a victim!

Tiger Woods was a victim.
Martha Stewart was a victim.
Oprah Winfrey was a victim.
Steven Spielberg was a victim.

ARE YOU SURE YOU WON'T BE NEXT?

Privista provides you with the tools you need to actively monitor your credit and guard yourself against identity theft. With Privista, you can rest assured that you'll get the industry's best early warning system."

$49.95