natwest account opened fraudulantly (not by me)

jrmerchant

hello, i am new to moneysavingexpert.com and wonder if i am posting in the right spot.

i have moved 3 diff houses in my 2 years stay in england.
the first house i left in the month of may 2008.

any way i recently decided to check my credit report online and it shows up under this heading "[URL="javascript:obToggle(11);"]CIFAS - The UK's Fraud Prevention Service[/URL]"

Name used: [removed] Date of birth used: [removed] Address Used: 15A, WATLING AVENUE, EDGWARE, HA8 0LQ Date information was recorded: 24/06/2008 Members Name: NATWEST BANK Members Address: BRANCH NETWORK, 5TH FLOOR, ABBEY HOUSE, 282, FARNBOROUGH ROAD, FARNBOROUGH, GU14 7YT Case Reference: [removed] Product Type: Personal - Current Account Type of Case: First Party Fraud - Opening an account or other facility for a fraudulent purpose, or the fraudulent misuse of an account or facility. Reason for Entry: Refer to CIFAS member

this shows up as me opening an account with some kind of fraud in mind.
i have removed certain details from the text paisted.

well i have moved out of my old house in the month of may and this account seems to have been opened in june.
i have tried conatacting the fraud line amteen times to get this checked as it has brought my credit score really low.

but they just keep giving me the runaround. the fraud line says "go to a branch" the branch says "call the fraud line" the customerservices keep transfering me to all random departments who transfer me further.
any way all this has not solved my issue and has cost me £24 till now in phone bills to no avail.

if any one has any suggestion i will do it to get this issue sorted once and forall.
i am appaled with the service natwest is giving. no wonder i am not a customer. (technically i am a customer who attempted fraud and thus reported to CIFAS.)

i believe i am a victim of ID theft. but i have no clue what it can be used for.


thanks
junz

Mister-D_3

Sorry to hear about that, on the surface it would seem that you were a victim of ID theft. When you moved out did you have your mail redirected?

I am not sure how you would go about sorting this aweful mess, I am certain that someone wil be able to offer some advice soon.

naijapower

To dispute or query any CIFAS marker, You need to contact the provider/lender who registered the CIFAS. I know you have tried ceaselessly but they are the only ones that can help. If no joy, consider making a formal complaint addressed to the Chief Executive and copy all heads/directors. This definitely works..tried and tested

V.Lucky

Just wondered if you have Identity Fraud insurance on any of your current accounts? If so, claim and let them deal with it. A few free and most fee paying current accounts now give this insurance.

sutton111

If you need any other information go here.

TRaven

Do all the details of the CIFAS warning tie up to you. CIFAS is placed on an individual, but is listed against the address so shows for everybody living there.

I know somebody who had a CIFAS warning on his credit file. His name and address, but a different date of birth. The reason: his son had applied for something and had given false salary details resulting in the CIFAS. Nothing he could do about the warning since it was valid against his son, but he was able to get a notice put on his CR to state the CIFAS was nothing to do with him and made sure to disassociate himself from his son.

Have a look. If the name or dob do not tie up be sure to query it with the CRA as not being a part of your file. If it does tie up then I'm afraid Natwest is the only one who can remove it.

If they refuse make a formal complaint and then complain to the Information Commissioner.

naijapower

The strange thing about CIFAS is that despite the fact that they encourage lenders not to decline but to proceed with caution, 9 out 10 of them; if not all lenders tend to decline people with CIFAS marker

System

A 'first party' fraud entry at CIFAS means that Natwest are claiming that the OP was a customer of theirs under the quoted name at the quoted address at the quoted time, and did something naughty (such as using a cheque guarantee card to back a cheque, at a time when there were no available funds in the account). This is entirely different from a 'third party' fraud, eg using someone else's name and address to ask for a loan, claiming to have just moved from that address.
To dispute the CIFAS entry, the OP must follow the procedure here:
http://www.cifas.org.uk/default.asp?edit_id=606-59

jill2002

I know it's a pain to have this registered against you, but don't forget it also works the other way - if the fraudster tries to open another account in your name, then that also will get stopped and checked out. So this could be stopping you having further problems.

I have seen a few customers with CIFAS registered and once it can be established that it is a third party fraud i.e. not you, then the application proceeds. In fact I haven't had one rejected yet.

James

The most efficient way to prevent this happening and to protect yourself if future is to try the system described in the link below.

East of Scotland Fraud Forum click here.

debsy42

Sounds like a 419'er :rolleyes: