Someone has tried to involve me in fraud. Any suggestions for next steps?

Someone has tried to involve me in fraud. Any suggestions for next steps?

: andrewducker; August 4th, 2012

A few days ago we got a letter from Littlewoods turning down my application for credit. There were two worrying things about this:
1) I have never applied for credit from Littlewoods.
2) The address on the letter was for the flat directly upstairs.

The incorrect address appears to be the reason I was turned down, as they couldn't link my name and that address.

So I emailed the police*, who told me that I could get a credit report and report any mistakes on it to the credit agency so they could be fixed. Not quite the response I was looking for, so I asked if nothing was going to be done about the people doing this. And their email said to phone up for a proper chat.

So I did. And was told that basically I have no direct bearing on this case. Someone is attempting to defraud Littlewoods, and failing. Which means that Littlewoods might have a case against them, but I certainly don't, as I'm only tangentially involved. The nice man at the other end of the phone _did_ tell me that I could sign up for a month free with the Equifax/Experian credit agency by going to creditexpert.co.uk/, and check my credit report that way.

Which shows that my credit report is completely clean, my credit score is 997 out of a possible 1000, and that I have nothing to worry about. So I emailed their fraud people anyway, just so I have something for my records. And I guess that's where I have to stop, unless anyone has any suggestions for anything else I can do**?

*They handily have an email address for reporting non-urgent crimes. Their contact page also states that they cannot accept reports for crimes over Twitter. I'm somewhat boggled that people would try.
**Short of drilling through the floorboards into the upstairs flat and releasing lighter than air poison gas.

Original post on Dreamwidth - there are

comments there.

( 29 comments — Leave a comment )

alexmc

2012-08-04 07:39 am (UTC)

A few years ago someone tried to pretend to be my daughter and claim a phone on my account to be sent to Walthamstow. Now had it not been caught I would have had to pay for it but their attitude was the same as what you received - I wasn't a victim of fraud - the phone company was.

I think this is a ridiculous policy.

On the off chance that it is your neighbour doing this I would be very careful...

nancylebov

2012-08-04 08:49 am (UTC)

You could drop a note to Littlewoods in case they don't already know about this.

joexnz

2012-08-04 09:00 am (UTC)

1. Keep a log
2. Get regular credit checks, if someone is trying to nick your identity you better keep checking
3. Stop using residential mail, get everything sent to a mail box.
4. If you haven't already buy a shredder
5. Assuming they have your details ready and you just got married, beat them to it and change your name.

Or less paraniodly contact your bank and explain you think you maybe a target, what extra protection can they add to your account, if you aren't happy, move banks. May pay to do that anyway if you are worried

Find out when this type of activity goes from fraud to identity theft and what the legal situation is about identity theft.

poisonduk

2012-08-04 09:20 am (UTC)

I think we get annual membership if equivalent as part of flexible benefits - might be wrth seeing if you can sign up, I considered it once before certain it's about £5 a month.

andrewducker

2012-08-04 10:21 am (UTC)

It's £15 without that, and I've missed the window for this year - but I haven't told them I got married yet, and that may allow me to change some things!

meaningrequired

2012-08-04 10:21 am (UTC)

This is actually the second letter, the first was from Very.co.uk.

Our postman is lovely, and as it said "Andrew Ducker" on the top of it gave it to us/directly to me rather than 1F1. The previous letter was about 6 months ago, so I wonder if they were waiting to hear, and then when didn't (cause we got the letter) tried again with Littlewoods.

It makes me really angry.

joexnz

2012-08-04 02:07 pm (UTC)

would make me really angry as well!

fiona_kitty

2012-08-04 09:32 am (UTC)

Write to the credit reference agency adding a notice of correction to your account.

"I have had fraudulent attempts to take out credit in my name. Any genuine application from me will include a thumbprint of my left thumb.

I have enclosed such a print"

Pete Stevens [ex-parrot.com]

2012-08-04 09:33 am (UTC)

Damn. That was me. Didn't notice Fiona was still logged in...

andrewducker

2012-08-04 10:20 am (UTC)

Not a problem - I'll just reply here rather than there! (I'm amused that I share several friends with Fiona).

I've emailed the credit people, letting them know about it. I'm not going for the thumbprint thing at this point, but I'll bear it in mind.

bart_calendar

2012-08-04 09:52 am (UTC)

To be fair, I think you may have missed the point of the scam.

I think what was happening was that the return address on that envelope wasn't really that store, but rather where whoever is trying to scam you is from.

They were probably trying to get you to write them a letter with your real address on it, and hoping that you'd sign the letter so they'd have verified your real address and had your signature which they could then use for identity theft.

andrewducker

2012-08-04 10:15 am (UTC)

They have, in fact, used the correct address for both Equifax and Shop Direct (who do Littlewoods shopping). Interesting suggestion though!

bart_calendar

2012-08-04 10:17 am (UTC)

Ok. Sorry for my paranoia. I had to ghostwrite a book on the various forms of identity theft a few months ago and the "denied credit/wrong address" one was one of the ones I found out had been gaining in popularity.

andrewducker

2012-08-04 10:17 am (UTC)

Paranoia very-much appreciated! I'd rather check that they haven't done that than miss it!

meaningrequired

2012-08-04 10:25 am (UTC)

My sort of step father thing (who helps people deal with debts), suggested something similar and had me read the letter out to him to confirm that the text sounded legit. He also suggested that someone could be playing "silly buggers", just to wind us up.

However I think it's likely that they were hoping to get credit, order a load of stuff, not pay for it, and when the deb collector came to the door they'd say "I'm not Andrew Ducker, he's my passport, I'm Assface!" AND as we live directly below (and we all have our names on the doors so the postman can get the right post to the right people) they'd come to us, and Andy could be possibly charged.

skington

2012-08-04 10:44 am (UTC)

One thing to note about Experian: banks and other lenders can take a while to tell them about recent activity. I'd keep on checking creditexpert.co.uk for a month, maybe two, to make sure nothing turns up on your record.

steer

2012-08-04 12:57 pm (UTC)

Slightly off the wall suggestion... you don't know it's your neighbour but it seems pretty likely. Obviously confronting him and accusing him of fraud would be potentially dangerous.

However, if you went to see him, played it dumb and pretended you were terribly worried that you were both victims of a fraudster... say you were getting your credit checked regularly, suggest he did the same in case he was the target not you. Ask if he thinks you should call the police. If he is innocent he'd appreciate the heads up. If he's guilty, he knows you're alert, potentially going to the police. He'd probably at the least pick another target.

You probably wouldn't want to do this but it might just put you out of the firing line.

andrewducker

2012-08-05 08:53 am (UTC)

If I ever bumped into them, I'd do that. As it is I think I see them about once per year.

steer

2012-08-05 09:52 am (UTC)

Well, I was meaning go around specially... after all, it's important because they might be targets of fraud. :-)

Edited at 2012-08-05 09:53 am (UTC)

brixtonbrood

2012-08-04 03:50 pm (UTC)

There's a thing in the Guardian Money section about this today. It's apparently very straightforward: you walk in and say "Hi, I'm Andrew Ducker, of 73 Acacia Avenue [but in this case giving the wrong flat by accident] and here's a [forged or stolen] gas bill to prove it. I'd like to set up a 2 year contract and get a new iPhone for free please. This empty bank account which you won't check too closely will pay for it." You walk out with the iPhone, use the hell out of it until the first monthly bill bounces and it gets locked, and then sell it to fences who can export it." Not quite sure how it works with Littlewoods but presumably similar.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/aug/03/mobile-phone-fraudsters-multiple-contracts

The cops are correct to say that you are not the victim, Littlewoods are. But you do need to keep copies of all correspondence and watch your credit file closely.

andrewducker

2012-08-05 08:53 am (UTC)

Aaah, that makes sense.

But wouldn't they send the iPhone to _me_?

darkoshi

2012-08-04 03:57 pm (UTC)

You can get Experian and the other agencies to set up a temporary fraud alert. That way creditors will be more careful before approving any new loans, etc. in your name. However, it will also make it more difficult for you to open new accounts during that time.
See:
https://www.experian.com/consumer/cac/InvalidateSession.do?code=SECURITYALERT

andrewducker

2012-08-05 08:52 am (UTC)

Thanks!

wolflady26

2012-08-05 10:18 pm (UTC)

Isn't that attempted identity theft? Isn't identity theft a crime?

andrewducker

2012-08-06 08:32 am (UTC)

You'd think, wouldn't you?

wolflady26

2012-08-06 08:47 am (UTC)

*baffled*

del_c

2012-08-06 09:03 am (UTC)

The cynic in me suspects "identity theft" is a made-up crime for when the fraud victim (such as a bank) wants you to take the loss. "So sorry to inform you you have been a victim of identity theft. We will of course do everything we can to help you recover your lost money and bring the criminal to justice."

sandy666

2012-08-05 11:36 pm (UTC)

Someone somehow successfully managed to empty my bank account and open an account for me with the Yorkshire Building Society.

You can add a "password" to your experian account. This means that someone trying to open an account in your name should be prompted for a password. It will be an added level of protection.

free credit score

Roberta Burton

2012-12-01 01:26 pm (UTC)

I guess I haven’t read such unique material anywhere else online.
free credit score (http://free-creditreports.net)

( 29 comments — Leave a comment )

andrewducker

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