Credit cards and these damn credit agencies are a cancer on society. I don’t know anyone at this point who hasn’t been a victim of identity theft because of these aholes and their shenanigans.

Been a while, but in several US states where the free report was mandated, they also allowed a request to be mailed in, of even faxed. Old school, but I would be surprised if they don't still have some of those methods, and probably don't require web form consents to privacy invading terms.

guessing they're using the carrier's data for verification. name, address, phone number, socials and at least partials of credit cards, bank accounts. whatever relevant that they have.

this is all data the credit bureau has on you already

Write them a physical letter. Tell them phones are against your religion. You are amish now.

They won't automatically use your phone bill to bolster your credit but they will use it as a form of authentication. That's the infuriating part to me. Miss a payment? Your credit score can drop. Make every payment on time? Nothing.

There is a way to request it by mail, the phone thing is just a quicker way for them to verify you are who you say you are because they ALREADY know all the information, they just want to make sure YOU know the right phone number. If you use the wrong number they might give you an alternative option, or it will eventually tell you the only option is by US mail.

Pretty much anyone who has your phone number can use that information to look you up in a database, experian just spells it out because they get hacked so often its a liability for them to store any information at all, In a normal functioning society such a company would fail and never be taken seriously, but in capitalist america they get to decide if you're worth lending money to, WHAT A COUNTRY!!!

I'm not really sure what you expect to be able to do with your credit report, but you should request it through https://www.annualcreditreport.com/. That's the legit source.

What's experian?