Help, my identity has been stolen!

Information & help with identity theft

For many people who discover that their identity (‘ID’) has been stolen, it can come as quite an unpleasant experience. As well as resulting in unnecessary stress, the worry and trauma that can stem from a thief who has taken and is using your identification to acquire finances, or commit fraud is an upsetting time for anyone.

First alerts of a situation where ID theft has occurred to you could come in the form of threatening debt collector letters for money, accounts that are unknown, or suspicious looking bank statements and credit card records. When identity is stolen, it can also damage credit rating, thus impairing your financial record.

Thieves who use another person’s identity can leave unpaid bills on your record, which could cause an application for credit to then be rejected on the basis that these have not been paid.

Check credit records

To ensure you don’t become the unwilling victim of an identity thief, it is vital to inspect your credit report at various and frequent intervals throughout the year. Indeed, studies that have been undertaken by credit bureaus indicate that those people who do not keep a close eye on their credit history can often take as long as a five hundred day period to actually become aware that a crime has taken place. The inconvenience of setting the record straight could then lead to around three hundred hours being wasted.

Identity theft can obliterate a credit history, giving ruthless thieves who use your profile to steal and fraudulently gain financial benefits, an ability to ruin a lifetime’s history of careful credit management within a relatively short time.

Don’t ignore any suspicions you have, report these immediately to the police and where personal identities have been stolen by a thief, it is vital not to manage this in isolation. By seeking police assistance straight away this alerts authorities and may lead to possible action. When reporting issues to the Police, always obtain an incident and crime record number, this is your proof that a formal report has been made and is also useful to give to other organisations such as insurance companies or agencies within the credit referencing sector. Police.uk offers an online service where you can find a local police force web site.

Informing credit referencing companies (such as Experian, Equifax and Call Credit) as quickly as possible is also essential who may also offer further advice. Obtain an up to date copy of your credit report immediately if you are yet to do so. This can either be achieved from a one-off purchase by contacting credit agencies directly or through a regular credit report accessing service. Many have online services which can offer instant access via the internet to credit records (you can often be authorised through an electoral roll record and other financial details). Some credit referencing businesses online also offer a free trial of their services, enabling a credit record check for free.

Your individual credit report will hold and list in detail all expected mortgage information, loan repayments, bank account records and other credit based accounts, such as those for a mobile ‘phone for instance. By scrutinising this thoroughly, it is possible to spot anything that might be untoward such as unexplained credit accounts that you have no knowledge of, higher than expected balances on current credit products or similar. If things don’t add up in the manner expected, then it is quite possible a thief has been using your identity to engage in criminal and fraudulent acts.

Get Communicating

Ensure that you get in touch with the businesses and organisation based services that have been conned by the thief. To ascertain what fraud has taken place, use an up to date report of your credit to establish what the thief has been targeting and how it has been performed. Stay calm and explain to credit providers that an identity theft has occurred.

It is likely you will be asked to evidence this to credit service providers, so ensure you have all the details to hand. Proving your current address is not the one listed on a fraudulently set up account, or detailing the history of a credit card use in advance is useful. Partnering this up with information on your whereabouts when the credit was spent will help to convince financial services you were not responsible for any resulting account use.

Victims of Fraud services will assist you further with relevant advice and most importantly the means to begin to undo the damage that a thief has caused your credit history. It can also be beneficial for your credit report to be enhanced with further security measures to help stop an ID thief in their tracks, or at the very least make it a much trickier process. For further advice and support, the FSA have an online service for those who have been on the receiving end of fraudulent issues.

The three credit reference agency ‘Victims of Fraud’ services can help manage the identity theft on your behalf. Remember, after making contact with just one of the agencies, your information will automatically be given to the other two companies and you will be entitled to receive support and help from all three organisations.

The agencies involved in credit references will be able to give advice and support on how to prevent further identity theft breaches and any other precautionary measures that should be taken, such as ‘CIFAS Protective Registration’. CIFAS creates a password protected option on your credit profile which lenders must always ask when any future applications for credit services are made in your name.

Credit reference organisations then directly communicate with lending services for you with a view to undoing the subsequent damage and ultimate restoration of your credit record. During this process you should be updated periodically with information and details. At any point you can also get in touch with the agencies via their current communication methods, such as telephone, e-mail or postal contact.

Equifax

Web: Equifax

Contact Equifax through their web site at https://equifaxuk.custhelp.com and use the ‘Ask a Question’ menu item, detailing your information within their online form. Ensure that the ‘I am a Victim of Fraud’ selection is chosen, which is located under the section of ‘Information is Incorrect’. Complete the User ID details by entering your e-mail address contact details.

Telephone: 0800 121 4752

Experian

Web: Experian
E-Mail: consumer.helpservice@uk.experian.com
Telephone: 0844 481 8000

Callcredit

Web: Callcredit
E-Mail: vof@callcreditgroup.com
Telephone: 0870 060 1414

Watch the post

Many identity fraudsters will steal a person’s identity by placing an interception on postal deliveries, stealing mail before it reaches its proper destination. Communicating with the Royal Mail and other postal providers is important, and particularly so if the source of the issues has not yet been recognised.

Ask the post office to thoroughly look into the problem and always ensure that your post, parcels or deliveries are not left in an insecure location. Consider a lockable post box if you live in flats or other shared, communal mail areas and that your letter box is properly secured to prevent a thief from snatching post.

Finally, remember your identity is valuable so always remember to safeguard it correctly and properly to prevent potential identity theft or a reoccurrence of the same problem.

In the event of any losses, never fail to report a possible theft. Passports, driving licences, or bank and credit cards are exceptionally valuable to an identify thief. Make sure that when you dispose of personal documentation or important data it is always destroyed first either by incineration of by use of a shredder and keep any personal details safe and secure online.

We also recommend that you never store any personal or sensitive data in an unencrypted fashion on computers or related equipment (for example storing a bank account number and password in a plain text file). If technological equipment is stolen, the thief will have an easy head start in stealing your identity, don’t make their life easy.