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Equifax Credit Watch FAQs

How can I dispute inaccuracies on my Equifax Credit Report™?

As stated in the FCRA, you have the right to dispute information that you feel is being reported incorrectly on your Equifax Credit Report™. You are able to initiate an online investigation immediately or you can contact our dispute center at the toll-free number listed at the top of your Equifax Credit Report™. You must have a current copy of your Equifax Credit Report™ and your ten-digit confirmation number to complete this process online, which is found at the top of your Equifax Credit Report™.

To initiate an online investigation, click here. Your investigation requests are covered by the FCRA.

Additionally, you can dispute inaccuracies via US mail by writing to:

Equifax Information Services, LLC
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374

How can I check the status of my dispute?

Within a month of your inquiry, the credit reporting company should notify you of the results of its investigation and provide you with a new credit report free of charge. Examine it carefully to ensure that the inaccuracies have been fixed or removed.

If the error has been fixed, you can have the credit reporting company send the corrected report to anyone who received the inaccurate report in the past six months (two years in the case of employers).

If you find an inaccuracy with one credit reporting company, you may want to get your credit report from the other two agencies to see if their reports contain the same error. After you've corrected an error with one agency, the other agencies should eventually receive the corrected information. But for prompt correction, it's best to contact each of the three agencies individually yourself:

To initiate an online investigation, click here. Your investigation requests are covered by the FCRA.

Equifax 1-800-685-1111
Experian 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion 1-800-916-8800

How do I update the personal information within my credit file?

Contact each of your creditors and make sure that they have your personal information correct in their records. As your creditors report information to Equifax, the current information in your file will be updated. If you forget to update your personal information with any one of your creditors, they will continue to report incorrect information to Equifax. Equifax will then update your personal information to reflect your outdated or incorrect information. Updating your personal information with your creditors first will ensure that information reported to Equifax by your creditors is correct. After contacting your creditors, you may also contact the dispute center and request that your personal information be updated or corrected.

To initiate an online investigation, click here. Your investigation requests are covered by the FCRA.

I recieved a credit file alert from one or two of the credit reporting agencies, but not all three. Why did this occur?

There may be multiple reasons why this occurred. Creditors, lenders, and other entities do not always report to each credit reporting company on the same schedule. Therefore, you may receive the same alert from each agency, but with a lapse of time between each one. In addition, not all creditors, lenders, and entities report to all three agencies. As a result you may not get an alert from each credit reporting company.

What is the Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold Family Program?

The Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold Family Program provides customers that have purchased 12 months of Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with the ability to purchase 12 months of Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold for up to ten family members at a discount. At the time of purchase, a product code will be generated for each family member.

How long is the Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold Family Program product code valid?

Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold Family Program product code is valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.

I do not have files at Experian or TransUnion. Will I be able to purchase Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring Family Program?

If we cannot locate your file at Experian or TransUnion, then you will not be able to purchase Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring Family Program. However, if you have an Equifax Credit Report™, we recommend that you consider Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold in order to obtain a level of identity theft protection.

How do I send Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold or Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring to my family members?

Once you purchase the Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold Family Program, it is easy to send the product to your family members. After your purchase is confirmed, simply click on the "Send to Family Member" button, and enter your family member's contact information. You may also do this in the Member Center. We will then email each family member an Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold certificate with a promotional code and a link to the Equifax Website registration page. If you prefer to print a certificate for your family member, click on the "Print Certificate" button on the send to family member page.

If you would like to send Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring to your family members, simply follow the process outlined about but look for identifying information for Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring.

How can both a fraud alert on my credit file and Equifax Credit Watch™ help me to protect my identity?

Having a fraud alert placed on your credit file is one of the things you can do if you suspect you have been or may be a victim of fraud– such as if you believe someone is trying to open credit accounts in your name. A fraud alert notifies lenders who receive your credit report that they should take steps to verify your identity, such as by contacting you, before authorizing new or additional credit. In this way, fraud alerts can help prevent new accounts from being opened that you did not authorize.

Fraud alerts are not a cure-all, however. For example, they do not prevent someone from using your existing credit cards. So, if you suspect you’re a victim of identity theft, or have already become a victim, fraud alerts are only a start in trying to protect your credit. You also need to pay close attention to your credit report to make sure that there is no activity that you do not recognize.

That is why we recommend that you monitor your credit with one of our Equifax Credit Watch™ credit monitoring products – that start for as little as $4.95 per month. It will allow you to monitor your credit file so that you will know what changes are being reported to your credit file.

Plus, Equifax Credit Watch includes the Automatic Fraud Alerts* feature from Equifax Information Services at no charge. With the Automatic Fraud Alerts feature Equifax will place your free initial 90 day fraud alert on your Equifax credit file and refer your fraud alert request to Experian and TransUnion, Then, every 90 days Equifax will automatically renew your initial 90 day fraud alert.

* The Automatic Fraud Alerts feature is made available to consumers by Equifax Information Services LLC and fulfilled on its behalf by Equifax Consumer Services LLC.

I do not have files at Experian or TransUnion. Will I be able to purchase Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring?

If we cannot locate your file at Experian or TransUnion, then you will not be able to purchase Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring. However, if you have an Equifax Credit Report™, we recommend that you consider Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold in order to obtain a level of identity theft protection.

Why should I purchase Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring?

Your file at each credit reporting company may be slightly different at each one. This is because creditors, lenders, and other entities do not always report to each agency and they typically request a report from only one agency when processing an application for credit. As a result, you could have changes occurring on one file and not the other two. With comprehensive monitoring, you get complete coverage and a peace of mind in knowing that if any changes are made to your credit file at any agency, you will be notified. Acquiring a comprehensive monitoring solution is the best way to stay on the lookout for identity theft.

What types of notifications should I expect to receive?

Using criteria effective in determining possible early warning signs of identity theft, Equifax alerts you by email of certain changes to your Equifax credit file. Changes that result in a notification include:

New accounts opened in your name
Credit inquiries resulting from a company requesting a copy of your credit report
An address change
Bankruptcies and other public records
Some changes to current accounts
Balance increase alerts based on a self-selected dollar amount or percentage

When you receive a notification for an event you do not recognize, you should contact the company or organization listed in the notification immediately.

I've started using a new credit card, but still haven't received an alert about opening a new account. Why?

Most credit card issuers report a new account within 30 days, but some can take as long as 90 days. Also, some smaller issuers may report to only one of three national credit reporting agencies -- Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If your issuer doesn't report to Equifax, Equifax will not receive the information. Call your card issuer and ask which credit reporting agencies it reports to, and how often.

I have a new email address, how can I update it to ensure that I continue receiving my notifications?

You can update your email address by logging into the Member Center and selecting "My Profile". Once accessed, you can update and modify your personal registration information such as: username, password, email address and secret question. Click here to update your email address.

I received a credit file alert from one or two of the credit reporting agencies, but not all three. Why did this occur?

After I got an Equifax Credit Watch™ notification regarding my account balance, I called my credit card company and found that their balance doesn't match the balance on the alert. Why?

Equifax Credit Watch™ sends you alerts based on the information your creditors report to Equifax. Your creditor may have reported your information before you made recent charges or before your latest payment was received.

I got an email notification saying an account was removed from my credit report, but the account is still open and the last activity was just a few months ago. What happened?

Equifax Credit Watch™ works by comparing the information currently in your credit file to the information that was in your credit file the day before. If a bank reports an account number to Equifax as 12345678 one day, Equifax Credit Watch™ will look for that exact account number the following day.

If the bank changes the way it reports the account number -- so that it appears as 01234567, for example -- Equifax Credit Watch™ may send you an alert that the old account has been closed and a new account opened, though in reality nothing has changed. Also, from time to time lenders ask that we remove accounts from our system. This can be a permanent removal or just for a short time. Either way, this would cause this type of alert.

I have Equifax Credit Watch#&8482; Silver or Gold, can I upgrade to Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring ?

Yes, you may upgrade to Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold with 3-in-1 Monitoring. Please contact customer service to assist you in upgrading your existing service. Click here for our Customer Support contact information

How do I upgrade my existing Equifax Credit Watch™ service?

You can automatically upgrade your Credit Watch service from the Member Center. From the Member Center and under available products, look for the Credit Watch service you would like to upgrade to and select the order now button. Your product will be automatically upgraded based on your selection. Or you may contact customer service to assist you in upgrading your existing service.

I have Equifax Credit Watch™ Silver, can I upgrade to Equifax Credit Watch™ Gold?

My credit card is going to expire and my Equifax Credit Watch™ service is going to renew soon, how can I update my credit card?

You can update your credit card information by contacting our Customer Support Center. Click here for our Customer Support contact information.

How do I renew my Equifax Credit Watch™ service?

If you pre-pay for a fixed number of months, your Equifax Credit Watch™ service renews at the end of the pre-paid period. Thirty calendar days prior to your renewal date, we will notify you via email that your service will be renewed unless you notify us that you wish to cancel your service. One year from the date of purchase, we will charge the credit card you provided at the time of purchase for another 12 months of service. Your monthly service will continue until the service is cancelled.

If you purchase Equifax Credit Watch™ on a month-to-month basis, your service will automatically renew (and we will bill your credit or debit card) on the same day of each following month at the then-current rates until you cancel. If you purchase on the 31st day of the month, the renewal date will be the 30th day of each subsequent month. If your renewal date is the 30th, renewal during February will occur on the 28th.