Help

[u/Medium_Ad1449]

So I’m trying to login into my family’s credit bureaus but I get blocked most of the time specially on Equifax and TransUnion whether it says that the account is suspended or it doesn’t simply allow me to login.
Do you guys have any tips on how to get around that?
ps. I live abroad currently, so could me not being in the US currently a problem?
I also tried using vpns

[u/inky_cap_mushroom]

I think u/ElectronicClassic250 might have had some experience with this

[u/Medium_Ad1449 → u/inky_cap_mushroom]

Gracias

[u/ElectronicClassic250 → u/inky_cap_mushroom]

Experience, yes. All the answers, no.

[u/Bill___A]

There are not family credit reports there is one per person

[u/Medium_Ad1449 → u/Bill___A]

I know, I am talking about logging into my brother, father, and sister’s credit bureau accounts

[u/og-aliensfan → u/Medium_Ad1449]

Out of curiosity, why aren't they accessing their own reports? Do you have authority to access their reports?

[u/ElectronicClassic250]

It sounds like there are several different things going on, but they could all be related to the fact that you are not in the USA. I'm a US citizen, but I live and work in Canada. Although I left the US before ever establishing a credit history, I may need to return some day. A couple of years ago, I started the process of opening some US credit card accounts with the primary purpose of building my credit history. I have a State ID card from my home state, but I found that I needed two other things.

One is a valid US cell phone number that can receive verification codes. Some financial institutions are very picky and require a true US phone service, not some gimmicky app or VoIP service. I was able to set up a Tello account, and activate it as a second line (with an eSim) on my Canadian phone. However, there have been regulatory changes in the US since I set up my line and Tello no longer advertises the ability to set up service from outside the US. You may be able to work around that, and it's a popular topic of discussion in r/Tello . Unlike most other carriers, however, Tello does not require that the bulk of your usage be within the US. There are also a couple of new app-based services that claim to have worked around the banks' blacklisting, but they might not be reliable.

I also found that some US financial institutions have some sophisticated techniques for blocking access by consumers outside the US. Experian (the credit bureau) is the most severe in that regard. Standard commercial VPN services like NordVPN or WindScribe will NOT work. I found that I needed to set up a hardware based VPN with a device at my US home, so that I could appear to banks and credit bureaus as if I were actually there, at my home address. The problem is that the commercial VPN services are usually operated from data centers and all their US endpoints are concentrated in a few IP blocks, so it is very easy for anti-VPN services to blacklist their locations. There are now some commercial VPN services that offer "residential address" endpoints, and I've seen reports that they do work. You might try one of those.

If that doesn't work, I would suggest looking at WireGuard or Tailscale. But you would need to be able set things up at a permanent US address, and you would have to get some compatible hardware. There are no ongoing fees involved, and the cost of the hardware could be less that the fees you pay for a year of a commercial VPN service. But, you need a certain level of technical expertise to be able to work through all the details.

I'll end with a bit of a story about my specific experience opening an account at experian.com . I found that I needed to use our VPN and an incognito browser to be able to start the process. During the application process, Experian sends an SMS message to the cell number that you provide. Not only must the cell have a genuine US number and not be a VoIP line, but the phone must have data service with a US IP address. They test this by sending a link that you have to click. Experian then checks the IP address at which you clicked. I have to connect my phone's WiFi to the VPN to get around that check.

I also learned that I must use the VPN if I want to access my Experian report through annualcreditreport.com.

I had to work all this stuff out for myself (with the help of my partner who's an IT person). Few of the banks or credit bureaus will help you as they immediately sense the potential for fraud. Any error messages you see will be deliberately vague, or even misleading. They will never tell you what you did wrong.

Even once you manage to get around all the systems that try to prevent access from outside the US, there are still lots of other places where access to services can get blocked.

We moved our US home last spring. Since then I've been unable to get my Equifax reports through ACR, despite having updated our address everywhere - and having corrected an error at Equifax. From the experience of others, it seems that if you touch your personal data, Equifax blocks ACR for some indefinite period of time. (I don't understand why, as I still have full access to their CMS.)

You will need a lot of patience to get through this - and you need to very careful and precise about what you do.

I'm happy to try to answer any questions.