Hacking a credit bureau's customer service department
A comedy article
by The Mailman  176,467  56
03/15/2010 06:46 AM 1342 views
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Most financial institutions and credit card companies recommend to check your own credit report on a regular basis, in order to protect yourself against credit fraud. I have made it a habit to ask the two credit reporting agencies that operate here in Canada for my credit report every year or two.
I usually opt for the free "snail mail" option that agencies are legally required to offer to the public. This year however, I chose to splurge on the online credit report, which is not only faster, but also has the benefit of including your "credit score" in addition to your credit report. The credit score is a magic three-digit number that the agency assigns to you and that tells how good your credit is.
So I went to the respective websites of both credit reporting agencies. I filled out all the mandatory fields on the forms and paid the fees. I was careful to leave all the optional fields in the forms blank because these agencies probably already know enough about me as it is and I don't want to risk handing them information about myself that they don't already have.
Everything went smoothly on one site, but on the site of the second agency, the results page said that there was a problem with my request and that they could not give me my credit score online. They did display my entire credit history, but the score was missing. The page invited me to call customer service for further information.
So I called, and naturally, I was asked to repeat every single piece of information that I had entered minutes earlier on the website to the woman who took my call - let's call her Lynn. She then said that my file did not contain enough information about me to positively identify me, that is why the web site did not show me my credit score. She made it clear that her company's web site has a strict policy when it came to protecting personal information.
An image search for "customer service" tells us that this woman and her two blurry colleagues work for the customer service department of at least a dozen different companies across the world.
Lynn and I then engaged in a conversation about online security, the protection of privacy, the dangers of credit card fraud, etc. She told me how sorry she was that the web site wouldn't give me the information that I had paid for, but that she did not have any control over the web site. I told her that I was glad to see that the company was being careful before divulging personal information.
At the same time, I argued that it was strange that the company deemed it okay, based on the information I provided, to show me my entire credit report, complete with name, address and details about my credit history, but that they would not show me the 3-digit number that they decided was my personal credit score, which just so happens to be the piece of information that they make their money with.
- "Again", said Lynn, "I am sorry, I see your credit score on my screen, but for security reasons the web site will not display your credit score on your results page."
- "That's ok, Lynn", I replied, "but just out of curiosity before I hang up, what is my credit score anyway?"
She then very politely proceeded to give me my credit score over the phone.
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Like This? Rate It!
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Funny
8 votes
3.8
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Funny
2 votes
3.0
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Big Irish Chickens 286,642  61
03/15/2010 06:51 AM
She should have told you she couldn't help you after collecting your information.
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0 votes
0.0
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Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Zolton 88,214 34
03/15/2010 06:52 AM
But... you're using a Bluetooth, the most vulnerable communications device known to man!
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Funny
1 votes
3.0
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Kiss me I'm Cyco Irish 11,330 11
03/15/2010 06:54 AM
That's horrible customer service.
She's supposed to upsell you on the deluxe credit report in 3-D for the low, low price of $29.95 for at least 15 minutes before just giving you or who she thinks is you your credit score.
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Chuckleworthy
2 votes
2.0
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Semper Fidelis Tyrannotacosaurus 61,976 36
03/15/2010 08:34 AM
So? What's your credit score? And your mother's maiden name? Hurry up the TV delivery guy is waiting.
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