Business ProfileforSantander Consumer Inc

On Mar 1 2023 I found a fraudulent credit inquiry (hard inquiry) on my Equifax credit report that was dated Jan 31 2023. I immediately phoned Santander Consumer to explain it was not me who was applying for credit. I am a victim of identity theft (starting in Dec 2022) and had a fraud warning with both credit agencies where they instructed lenders to contact me prior to doing a credit check/extending credit. I filed a police report with Calgary Police Service regarding the identity theft as well as notified them of further credit inquiries. When I contacted the company Mar 31 2023 they told me someone was using me as a co-applicant for an auto loan. The contact number they listed was ************. Someone who said her name was ***** applied and said she was my daughter in law and listed her employer as ******* *****(?). The company said the applications were being reviewed and that they have now been cancelled. I disputed the credit inquiry with Equifax and on Apr 14 2023 the reply from Equifax was: "The following items were confirmed as valid, accordingly no amendment will be made: DATE Creditors Name Contact Number 2023-01-31 SANTANDER CONSUMER ***** ******** Your dispute request is now formally closed. If you have any questions related to this request, please contact the creditor(s) directly." Since this email in Apr 2023, I have contacted Santander Consumer on a number of occasions (by phone and then today by email) asking them to contact Equifax to have the fraudulent inquiry removed as the information Santander provided to Equifax was that it was a valid inquiry. This fraudulent credit inquiry continues to sit on my credit report which affects my credit. The response Santander provided me today was "Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do on our end.  I would contact Vancouver Auto credit as they are the ones who provided us with the information and follow up with the credit bureau as well." I need Santander to remove the fraudulent inquiry.