Zoe Lorenz-Boser of Edmonton says she got the phone call in October 2024 — and still hasn’t forgotten it.
The 23-year-old mechanical engineer was at work at a construction company. The caller was from a collections agency and told her she owed thousands of dollars on a credit card opened under her name. He said he knew where she lived and worked, she says, and threatened to garnish her wages, seize her car and ruin her life if she didn’t pay immediately.
“I argued to the point of frustrated crying,” said Lorenz-Boser. “Stating repeatedly that this wasn’t my debt. I’ve never opened these accounts.”
Lorenz-Boser was the victim of fraud. Someone — possibly more than one person — had taken out credit in her name at Telus, Shaw and PC Financial and racked up $20,000 in debt.
It was the beginning of an “extremely frustrating” 18-month fight to repair her credit record with Canada’s two dominant credit rating agencies, Equifax and TransUnion.
- Got a story you want investigated? Contact Erica and the Go Public team gopublic@cbc.ca
Experts say her experience is all too common, in part because the corporations are regulated under both provincial and federal laws, making accountability complex.
“You have to get 13 provincial and territorial legislatures and one federal government co-ordinated on this,” said Neil Hartung, a Toronto-based lawyer with expertise in consumer protection and a director with the Consumers Council of Canada. “So good luck with that.”
Neither Equifax nor TransUnion agreed to interview requests. Both said they could not answer specific questions about Lorenz-Boser’s experience, citing privacy concerns — even though she granted both companies permission to speak about her files.
The fight to make it right
Lorenz-Boser filed a report with local police, then called Equifax to dispute the fraudulent debts.
After navigating multiple voice prompts and waiting on hold for about half an hour, she says, she reached a customer service agent and identified debts that weren’t hers.
Those debts were removed — but, strangely, reappeared the following month. She called again. And again.
At one point, she says, an agent removed legitimate debt she had been faithfully paying to build her credit history. Her credit score dropped to the low 500s, considered “poor.” Scores below 660 can make it harder to qualify for loans or favourable interest rates.
After about five months, Lorenz-Boser stopped calling and began filing disputes online. But that presented new obstacles. When she clicked the “start your dispute” button on the Equifax website, her screen went black. She had to call to get the required forms by email. The link to the form remained broken for several more months when Go Public checked — it now appears to be fixed online, but not when accessed via phone.
Other technical issues compounded the problem. The forms would not allow her to enter her hyphenated last name, and contained fields marked optional — but the form would not submit unless they were completed.
“I cannot put into words how frustrated I am with Equifax,” said Lorenz-Boser. “For Canada’s leading credit bureau, their process for helping victims is absolutely abysmal.”
Her experience with TransUnion was also frustrating, she said. Although the online dispute process was more straightforward, fraudulent debt remained on her record despite repeated attempts over a year and a half to have it removed.
‘The system cheated me’
Lorenz-Boser is far from alone.
Go Public has heard from others in similar situations.
“The credit system we have is broken and needs a reboot,” wrote one person, who says they have been fighting for months to rectify an incorrect debt.
“There is no recourse for Canadians to deal with these frustrating institutions,” wrote another, who says he has been trying for three years to fix errors.
Prithvi Patel, of Regina, says his credit file got mixed up with five other people who share his last name. When he tried to get a mortgage just over a year ago, the bank denied him because his report showed multiple outstanding debts that weren’t his.
Because it took Equifax 11 months to correct the errors, Patel says he missed out on a lower mortgage rate — something he estimates cost him $11,000 over a five-year term.
“Losing $11,000 of my hard-earned money … makes me feel like the system cheated me,” said Patel.
Debts often sold multiple times
Hartung, the consumer advocate, says when a debt is deemed uncollectible, it is often sold to another agency — “and the cycle repeats” — meaning, more calls from a new collection agency.
“It is so difficult to make any forward momentum on these things that most people give up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lorenz-Boser was receiving daily calls from collections agencies, at work and on her personal cellphone. The stress became so overwhelming, she put her phone on permanent “do not disturb,” making it difficult for colleagues, friends and family to reach her.
The fear that she might never repair her credit score — or qualify for a loan, credit card or mortgage — kept her up at night.
“It’s just really frustrating and scary,” she said.
Hartung argues that because Equifax and TransUnion control Canada’s credit reporting system, they have little incentive to improve.
“It doesn’t matter to them whether that information is right or wrong,” he said.
He would like federal legislation that would automatically award damages if a credit reporting agency fails to take appropriate steps to correct inaccurate data.
“That would at least signal that they have to do better,” said Hartung.
A spokesperson for Service Alberta said credit reporting agencies operating in the province are regulated under the Consumer Protection Act and the Credit and Personal Reports Regulation and are expected to take “appropriate due-diligence steps” when confirming whether reported debt is accurate.
Equifax told Go Public it contacts the company that reports the information to “verify the accuracy” but would not say whether it independently reviews proof.
TransUnion said it requests creditors to investigate disputes, and that “creditors are responsible for reviewing their own records.” A spokesperson later said the company will request documentation “on a case-by-case basis.”
Go Public gets resolution
After Go Public contacted TransUnion, a spokesperson said the company reached out to the creditors and the disputed items “have been resolved.”
After Go Public reached out to Equifax, an employee called Lorenz-Boser and apologized to her for the year-and-a-half frustration. In the phone call — recorded by Lorenz-Boser — she said the file had been merged with someone who had a similar last name and birthdate and carried significant debt.
“Obviously, we do not love the fact that an error was made,” said the Equifax employee.
Lorenz-Boser finds that explanation difficult to accept. “What are the odds there’s someone in Edmonton with my name, my birthday, who is in a lot of debt?” she asked.
She says it also doesn’t explain why her TransUnion report was affected as well.
Hartung, the consumer advocate, says credit reporting agencies would typically have additional identifiers, such as social insurance numbers, that could distinguish between individuals.
“This sounds to me like someone really wasn’t trying all that hard on the other end to resolve this,” he said.
In the end, Equifax cleared all fraudulent debt from Lorenz-Boser’s file. Her credit score has recovered, and the company has offered two free years of credit monitoring.
“I don’t know if that’s enough, honestly, for how much I’ve been put through,” said Lorenz-Boser. “But I’m happy they took it seriously. The relief is insane.”
Submit your story ideas
Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.
We tell your stories, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powers that be accountable.
If you have a story in the public interest, or if you’re an insider with information, contact gopublic@cbc.ca with your name, contact information and a brief summary. All emails are confidential until you decide to Go Public.
