Identity Theft
Discussion
Some of you may remember about me being declined for a credit card following an experian credit check.
Well it turns out the cnut who rented my last flat opened an account with Nationwide and overdrew it, then got a loan from Lloyds all in my name, using my previous address which I had vacated eleven months previously.
I've been in touch with the police and they won't let me report it as I'm not the victim, the banks are...apparently.
Needless to say, an emails gone off to the chief constable so we'll see what happens.
I'm not holding my breathm
Well it turns out the cnut who rented my last flat opened an account with Nationwide and overdrew it, then got a loan from Lloyds all in my name, using my previous address which I had vacated eleven months previously.
I've been in touch with the police and they won't let me report it as I'm not the victim, the banks are...apparently.
Needless to say, an emails gone off to the chief constable so we'll see what happens.
I'm not holding my breathm
Spooky, and I just posted this:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=214211
It's just too easy
I bought a shredder a while back, just to be on the safe side.
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=10&t=214211
It's just too easy
I bought a shredder a while back, just to be on the safe side.PhillVR6 said:
I've been in touch with the police and they won't let me report it as I'm not the victim, the banks are...apparently.
I'm not holding my breathm
Yep, I wouldn't bother - it's an all-too-annoying-for-the-individual-concerned standard police response to cases such as yours (and as was mine
) Similar thing happened to me about 18 months ago when back in the UK - someone got my name and an old address and then got a forged Portuguese passport in my name, different date of birth, job details with a made up company and fake utility bills. Maybe they found an unshredded address label in the rubbish or merely looked in the phone book.
Long and painful story involving a serious cock-up by HSBC, threats of bailiffs, court summons, police complaints and in the end only sorted by me taking the time to walk into HSBC HQ in Canary Wharf and demanding (nicely) to talk to their Head of Customer Services.....
Anyway I digress. Get in touch with CIFAS the anti-fraud agency (www.cifas.org.uk) and tell them what has happened - they should put your details on a national database which whenever your details are used to open accounts, credit cards, mortgages etc., they will confirm with you personally that you made the application. Being on this does not affect your credit rating. Also worth getting in touch with both Experian and Equifax and filling in a Registration of Fraud (or something similar I think it's called) form.
Look at the identity fraud section of the FSAs website for some further tips.
Neither Thames Valley (where I was living at the time) or the Met (the address being used fraudulently) would give me a crime number, their excuse being that any fraud that did take place (the bu*gers ran up nearly £20k on 2 HSBC credit cards and a cheque account card) was against the bank and not me, so to get a crime # the bank had to report it - I only got a reference number which I was told differed from a proper crime number. Sadly HSBC would always ask for a crime number when I spoke with them so we went around in ever-more annoying circles.
Keep all correspondence in writing and keep a copy. You have to be so bloody minded, a pain the rear and scrupulous to get this sorted.
As to what they did - they approached I think fifteen different credit card companies and banks applying for credit cards and accounts. All but one flagged it up as dodgy (some even before I knew this had happened) and got in touch with me to say yay or nay to the application. One, HSBC (who weren't my bank and never had been or will be) merrily gave the sod a load of credit cards and he went 'wild in the aisles' Supermarket Sweep style. Shows how sh*te their vetting procedures are . I found out from the debt recovery firm working for HSBC that the guy only had my name and an old address - the rest of the details were fake (he had a Portuguese passport yet my surname is distinctly Irish-sounding and that still didn't set alarm bells ringing. When England played Portugal at Euro 2004 I didn't know who to support! ). In my case he reckoned it had the hallmarks of a West African gang fraud.
Hope you get it sorted
The latest, it appears that whoever did this opened the account with Nationwide, and then attempted to get finance with Black Horse but was stopped when they found no record of my name at the previous address they had supplied. So, thats one point being removed from my credit report, Black Horse are also sending me a letter to confirm they have no issues with me.
This only leaves the nationwide accountwhich I am still waiting to hear about.
I've had a reply from the police to say my email has been passed on to the Surrey Police Fraud Dept who will reply in due course.
As I said earlier, I'm not holding my breath.
Phill
This only leaves the nationwide accountwhich I am still waiting to hear about.
I've had a reply from the police to say my email has been passed on to the Surrey Police Fraud Dept who will reply in due course.
As I said earlier, I'm not holding my breath.
Phill
Highway Star said:
Sadly HSBC would always ask for a crime number when I spoke with them so we went around in ever-more annoying circles.
The cynic in me says that if the bank doesn't report it, in their eyes it didn't happen - so they can merrily report to the board/shareholders/city that their fraud rate is at an all time low
pdV6 said:
Sadly HSBC would always ask for a crime number when I spoke with them so we went around in ever-more annoying circles.
The cynic in me says that if the bank doesn't report it, in their eyes it didn't happen - so they can merrily report to the board/shareholders/city that their fraud rate is at an all time low
That is exactly right! I was working at a rather high-profile financial publication at the time and talking to one of the journos about it, they said exactly the above - it's not worth their effort chasing it up - it's a drop in the ocean to them they can just write off and have a better looking stat in their annual report
I'm not going to let this lie, see below for the latest emails.
Dear Mr Howard,
Your e-mail to the Chief Constable has been forwarded to me as the detective sergeant for the Commercial Crime Team (Fraud Squad).
Having had my own identity used by someone to commit fraud, I understand and sympathise with your situation. However, the advice you have been given that the banks are the "victims" is correct as it is they who have been defrauded in this situation.
The police will not normally accept a complaint of crime from a third party (except obviously in a murder case) as it is vital that evidence is provided by the person who was deceived and thereby suffered a loss in order to prove an offence has been committed. It is therefore a decision for the banks concerned as to whether they wish to make an allegation of crime to the police.
We recognise that does not mean that you are not yourself a victim of the fraud in the same way that the family of a someone who has been murdered also suffer as a result of the crime. We therefore use the word "complainant" rather than "victim" to describe the person who the crime has been committed against.
What you can do to ensure that you suffer as little as possible as a result of the fraud is to ask Experian to remove any entries from your record which relate to fraud. They are obliged to do so under the Data Protection Act.
I hope this is of some help.
Detective Sergeant
Commercial Crime Team
Dear Mr ******,
Thank you for your reply, however I still don't accept that the person who's identity has been used is not a victim. I have recently discovered that the perpetrator was unable to secure the loan, therefore the bank was not a victim as it lost nothing. However I was, I lost the ability to take out a credit card and have had to take time and trouble to put things right, in the same way as if tangible property had been vandalised.
I don't accept the analogy of a family member suffering through association, it was my name and my date of birth that were used, the perpetrator was stealing my credit rating, this was all activity directly involving my identity and reputation.
Furthermore, ignoring the incident leaves this person free to try again and sends out strong signals that this is a victimless crime that is not taken seriously - something that is especially disturbing given the increasing links between fraud, organised crime and terrorists. The police have a duty to protect the public and prevent crime, your response to this incident suggests they are failing in both these responsibilities.
Regards,
So thats where we are now, I'm still not holding my breath.
Phill
Dear Mr Howard,
Your e-mail to the Chief Constable has been forwarded to me as the detective sergeant for the Commercial Crime Team (Fraud Squad).
Having had my own identity used by someone to commit fraud, I understand and sympathise with your situation. However, the advice you have been given that the banks are the "victims" is correct as it is they who have been defrauded in this situation.
The police will not normally accept a complaint of crime from a third party (except obviously in a murder case) as it is vital that evidence is provided by the person who was deceived and thereby suffered a loss in order to prove an offence has been committed. It is therefore a decision for the banks concerned as to whether they wish to make an allegation of crime to the police.
We recognise that does not mean that you are not yourself a victim of the fraud in the same way that the family of a someone who has been murdered also suffer as a result of the crime. We therefore use the word "complainant" rather than "victim" to describe the person who the crime has been committed against.
What you can do to ensure that you suffer as little as possible as a result of the fraud is to ask Experian to remove any entries from your record which relate to fraud. They are obliged to do so under the Data Protection Act.
I hope this is of some help.
Detective Sergeant
Commercial Crime Team
Dear Mr ******,
Thank you for your reply, however I still don't accept that the person who's identity has been used is not a victim. I have recently discovered that the perpetrator was unable to secure the loan, therefore the bank was not a victim as it lost nothing. However I was, I lost the ability to take out a credit card and have had to take time and trouble to put things right, in the same way as if tangible property had been vandalised.
I don't accept the analogy of a family member suffering through association, it was my name and my date of birth that were used, the perpetrator was stealing my credit rating, this was all activity directly involving my identity and reputation.
Furthermore, ignoring the incident leaves this person free to try again and sends out strong signals that this is a victimless crime that is not taken seriously - something that is especially disturbing given the increasing links between fraud, organised crime and terrorists. The police have a duty to protect the public and prevent crime, your response to this incident suggests they are failing in both these responsibilities.
Regards,
So thats where we are now, I'm still not holding my breath.
Phill
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff