A Quebec economist's credit rating is down due to identity theft

Economist and columnist of the Journal de Montreal Francis Gosselin has been facing a real test for a year. After suffering identity theft, he saw his credit score deteriorate and now has to go through the cross process to correct this situation.

• Also Read: His credit rating was damaged to $107

Last year, Mr. Gosselin learned that a man had used his personal data to buy a phone for $1,400, without making monthly payments.

However, this situation continued for several months because the economist did not know that his identity had been stolen.

“The moment the phone is purchased, the moment the missed payments and the file ends up in collection, it can take months, even a year,” he explained to LCN Now.

Francis Gosselin found out about the situation almost a year after buying the phone, but his troubles were far from stopping there.

“For a year, I have been trying to fight against TransUnion and other organizations to correct the facts,” the economist said.

“I have a very bad credit score and I'm an unusually organized person when it comes to personal finances,” he says.

It is very difficult to recover the facts. Mr. Gosselin had to make several calls and other steps to remove the errors in his file.

“I feel guilty until proven innocent, which is somewhat antithetical to our legal system,” he declared.

After doing some research, the economist learned that in many other countries, like Equifax and TransUnion, credit scores are administered by government agencies rather than private companies.

“I saw a report on Consumer Reports that about 30% of the files had errors. One out of every three makes mistakes, which I find unimaginable! ”, says Francis Gosselin.

“I think there needs to be a real reflection on how we treat this highly sensitive private data of Quebec citizens,” he said.

To watch the full interview, watch the video above.