[timsha]

We got the letter the other day. we own Disney stock on our own as well as part of our Charles Schwab portfolio. Was not sure if this was legitimate or not. Still want to investigate it before we do anything. We also have fraud monitoring on our accounts, so I may just watch them more closely for a while.

[DisneyTeacher]

I got my letter today. I still want to know from Disney if it's really true and not a scam to get information.

[joseph3947]

Here is The Walt Disney Company response:

Dear Shareholder,

In response to your inquiry, the letter that you received from BNY
Mellon is legitimate. Unfortunately, their archive services vendor was
unable to account for one of several boxes of data back-up tapes that
they were transporting to an off-site storage facility.

As a precaution, BNY Mellon is offering free credit monitoring for a 24
month period. As indicated in your letter, they have engaged
ConsumerInfo.com, Inc., an Experian company, to provide you with their
Triple Alert Credit Monitoring product.

Sincerely,

Shareholder Services

So I guess it's legitimate.

[jk8]

I have had this happen with another company and I did take advantage of the free Experian Credit Monitor offer a few years ago. Luckily nothing adverse happened because of the loss.

[BudgetMan]

It’s a scam by the people that run consumerinfo.com. They go under a bunch of different names and they have a long history of consumer complaints and FTC orders against them. Search for yourself or take a look at these links for more information:

Consumer complaints about consumerinfo.com

Rip-off Report: ConsumerInfo.com Aka FreeCreditReport.com FRAUD ALERT **** ConsumerInfo.com **** Irvine California

Consumerinfo.com Free Credit Report Fraud Fine

Once you sign up for their “service”, you’ll never be able to get rid of them!

[joseph3947]

Originally Posted by BudgetMan

It’s a scam by the people that run consumerinfo.com. They go under a bunch of different names and they have a long history of consumer complaints and FTC orders against them. Search for yourself or take a look at these links for more information:

Consumer complaints about consumerinfo.com

Rip-off Report: ConsumerInfo.com Aka FreeCreditReport.com FRAUD ALERT **** ConsumerInfo.com **** Irvine California

Consumerinfo.com Free Credit Report Fraud Fine

Once you sign up for their “service”, you’ll never be able to get rid of them!

THANK YOU BudgetMan! I hope everyone reads this.

[Daisee]

Originally Posted by BudgetMan

It’s a scam by the people that run consumerinfo.com. They go under a bunch of different names and they have a long history of consumer complaints and FTC orders against them. Search for yourself or take a look at these links for more information:

Consumer complaints about consumerinfo.com

Rip-off Report: ConsumerInfo.com Aka FreeCreditReport.com FRAUD ALERT **** ConsumerInfo.com **** Irvine California

Consumerinfo.com Free Credit Report Fraud Fine

Once you sign up for their “service”, you’ll never be able to get rid of them!

Thanks for the info.. These scammers make me so mad!!

[rlander]

Wait...I'm confused. If consumerinfo.com is a scam, then why is Disney and BNY saying the letter is legit?

[jk8]

I don't know that the 24 month offer is a scam. As will anything you have to read everything you are signing up for. If I recall when I got the 12 month free due to a security breach it stated that after 12 months the service would be gone. I never game them any credit card info. I had a pin number from the letter I received.

So, if you are asked for a credit card number then I would not continue. You should have a pin number or something to that effect.

[Jennatrz]

Oh I am so glad that I saw this. Makes me so mad.

[BudgetMan]

Originally Posted by rlander

Wait...I'm confused. If consumerinfo.com is a scam, then why is Disney and BNY saying the letter is legit?

The letter is legitimate. It’s a deceptive sales tool. They are not doing anything that is illegal, therefore, it’s perfectly legitimate. Disney and BNY can’t tell you that it’s a deceptive sales scam. Experian would sue them for such conduct.

Originally Posted by jk8

I don't know that the 24 month offer is a scam. As will anything you have to read everything you are signing up for. If I recall when I got the 12 month free due to a security breach it stated that after 12 months the service would be gone. I never game them any credit card info. I had a pin number from the letter I received.

So, if you are asked for a credit card number then I would not continue. You should have a pin number or something to that effect.

There are two parts to this scam. First, once you sign up for their credit monitoring “service”, they then compile a list of “customers” (read suckers) and sell the list to various companies. If you search the Internet, you’ll find a number of consumer complaints that state that after someone signed up for the “service” they received numerous sales solicitations via the mail, phone and email. Here’s an example of what happened to one poor guy that signed up:

I had the same qualms as everyone else here. But I registered for the protection after looking at all the websites, etc. Less than 24 hours after I registered, I received a phone call from a private law firm, saying that they were responding to my request for "credit repair" submitted over the Internet.

The law firm had my name, complete address, phone number and e-mail address. I explained that I had not requested "credit repair" and that I had not authorized Experian to do anything on my behalf.

I am OUTRAGED that Experian has released my information. At best it's a breach of privacy--at worst it's a security breach.

I notified BNY Mellon and they said they'd escalate my report to a "supervisory level" and they gave me the FTC hot-line for Identity Theft. Not sure FTC would take this one, but I'm gonna use it as a threat with Experian.

I've contacted Experian twice by telephone and once via e-mail and demanded a full report of what information they transmitted outside of Experian and to how many recipients.

JEEZ! The fixer is leaking information! Isn't it bad enough that we're in this situation to begin with without having to worry about Experian releasing unauthorized and incorrect information about their clients??? They will find that I'll be relentless in pursuing this.

The second part of the scam is that once you have signed up, they make it almost impossible for you to opt out. At the end of the two year “free service” they’ll start billing you for the “service”. If you go to the links I provided you’ll see that consumerinfo.com operates under a lot of different names. The most famous name they use is freecreditreport.com. That company has a long laundry list of consumer complaints. In short, the entire operation is deceptive.

If you’re concerned about identity theft follow this advice:

Call any of three major credit companies to file a credit alert on your SS#, it is free forever.

Call the FTC and file a complaint against BNY Mellon bank, FTC will get you a report number.

Call all of the financial institutions that you have business or an account with and let them know that the bank lost your personal information.

File an identity theft report with your local police station and remember to get a report number.

As for me, I’m just going to ignore the entire thing.