Steps to take if you have been a victim of fraud
Although levels of identity fraud are still relatively low in the UK in comparison to other mainstream crimes, the rate of occurrence is on the increase.
What is identity fraud?
There are two stages to this crime. The first stage is called ‘identity theft’ and this occurs when a fraudster compromises your identity usually through the theft of personal documents or information. The second stage is called ‘identity fraud’ and this is where your identity is used by the fraudster to obtain money, goods or services – such as a banking or credit facility.
There are many different ways in which a fraudster might use your identity to commit fraud. In some cases, this may not involve the opening of a new financial account, but instead they ‘take over’ one of your existing accounts. This is often detected by banks who recognise that a fraudster has done this.
Indicators that you are a potential victim of ‘identity theft’
- You receive a call from a person purporting to represent a company
that you have a relationship with. They ask you for personal information
to ‘confirm your identity’. Before giving it, ask yourself
whether they are genuine, are their questions reasonable? Did you provide
this sort of information when opening the account? It is always worth
phoning them back on a telephone number that you have confirmed as relating
to the real provider of the services
- Personal documents are stolen from you – such as in the theft
of a handbag, briefcase, luggage, or in the course of a burglary
- Your personal information is stolen from your rubbish bin – thieves usually leave a mess behind them but if they’re clever you may not realise you have been ‘bin raided’
Indicators that you may have been a victim of fraud
- The recent inclusion of names on the electoral roll of persons who
have no connection with your current address
- A decrease in the normal level of post delivered to your address
- Delivery of post that indicates that you have made recent credit applications
or enquiries - this would not include direct mail offers that are typically
delivered to your address
- New accounts appearing on your credit report that you or other members
of your household have not opened
- Searches made of your credit report information that are obviously
not the result of a credit application or enquiry made by you or a member
of your household
- Your credit report may show links to addresses with which you have
never had any connection
- The appearance of credit information in a name unrelated to your address
- If you suspect a problem with your accounts (particularly if any of
your credit cards, charge cards or forms of identification are lost
or stolen and you have reason to believe these have been misused), it
is important you tell the organisation that issued the missing items
as quickly as possible
- If you know that any of your identity documents have been stolen,
you should report this to the police station in the area where the offence
was committed
- If you know that information about your identity has been compromised,
check with the Post Office to establish whether a mail redirection facility
has been placed upon your name and address
- If your post is delivered to a central delivery point, ensure that
you always collect it promptly
- Check your credit report for accuracy at least twice a year or better still, have your credit report monitored.
CreditExpert is an online service offered by Experian that monitors
your credit report and alerts you to key changes
Click here for a free 30-day trial and a free copy of your Experian
credit report
Take special notice if any unexpected information appears. Contact Experian
and ask them to investigate.
Experian also produces a series of free consumer guides, called Credit
Crossroads, under its consumer education programme.