SANTA ANA (CNS) - Orange County-based ConsumerInfo.com Inc., which does business as Experian Consumer Services, has agreed to a permanent injunction and will pay a $650,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement resolving alleged violations of federal law involving consumer rights, officials announced Tuesday.
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The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, concerns emails Experian sent to consumers who had created free Experian accounts to control third-party access to their credit reports.
Account holders may "freeze" their credit reports to make them inaccessible to identity thieves and legitimate potential creditors such as banks. They can also "unfreeze" their credit reports when they require a credit check, for example, to finance an expensive purchase, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The complaint asserts that Experian sent its account holders millions of commercial emails promoting additional Experian services. The emails asked the consumer to confirm whether a car that Experian had associated with the user's account was theirs, offered a service aimed at boosting the user's credit score, and advertised a free scan of the dark web. The emails did not give the recipients notice that they could opt out of future such emails or provide any opt-out mechanism, violating various federal rules, according to the DOJ.
The complaint alleges that the emails implied that they contained important information about the recipient's account, even though they were commercial in nature. The government received many consumer complaints that these emails contained no opt-out mechanism, the DOJ says.
The stipulated order, entered Monday by U.S. District Judge Fred W. Slaughter, enjoins Experian from sending commercial emails that do not provide notice that the recipient may opt out of receiving such emails in the future or an opt-out mechanism. Under the order, Experian is also subject to a civil penalty judgment of $650,000.
"It is critical that consumers have the ability to opt-out of unwanted commercial emails, and such emails should not be misleading in any way," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. "This permanent injunction and civil penalty will provide relief to consumers and help to prevent future violations of (federal law)."
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