The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is revamping its online consumer complaint portal to address abuse, particularly tied to credit reporting. The agency said it is emphasizing that consumers must exhaust their dispute rights with a credit reporting agency before turning to the consumer watchdog, launching two-factor authentication, and directing resources toward complaints that warrant a substantive response. The CFPB received about 150,000 credit or consumer reporting complaints in 2019, but last year that number exceeded 5 million, which the bureau attributed to credit repair firms misusing the process, social media influencers, artificial intelligence tools, and businesses seeking to boost credit scores. The National Consumer Law Center criticized the changes, saying they make it increasingly difficult for people to seek help and shift resources to discouraging people from disputing errors on their credit reports.