Littlewoods

iwanttosave_2

towseriv wrote:

Cant suggest anything for this situation. But could he not set up further checks like those who have been victims a I.D, Fraud have to go through? Would/ Could stop it in the future

I didnt know there was ways of doing that, how would you go about doing that?

Quasar

How about the Citizens Advice Bureau. They will probably tell him/you the same things you have said, but may be able to either offer some legal advice, or point him in the right direction at minimal expense.

However, at the end of the day he needs to take drastic action against his grandson. By brushing off his behaviour and not wanting aggro, he is not helping the lad grow up into his responsibilities, but is keeping him at an adolescent stage. He needs to see this before he can do anything, and I think you have your work cut out for you, wanty.

edit WHY? beat me to the CAB suggestion...

redhot

I sympathise with you wanty - there is another avenue you can try. You don't say how old your grandfather is but if he is retired and you have concerns he is being finacially abused then you could refer him to social services. They will be able to support your grandfather and advocate on his behalf and provide your grandfather with support and possibly act as a mediator between your grandfather and his grandson to tackle this behavoiur. It's less drastic than going to the police and maybe enough to scare your cousin into stopping what he is doing. Fell free to pm me.

iwanttosave_2

Thank red, will think about that, he is, well will be 70 next week, he has got a bit on his plate as it is, and I think that he might see social sevices might also be a bit to far. But one to really think about.

WHY?_4

Just had a thought

Can he speak to equifax about having a CIFAS warning put on his credit file


see

http://www.cifas.org.uk/protective_registration.asp

hope it helps

iwanttosave_2

Thanks will have a read of that

davek1

hi iwanttosave

hopefully i might be able to help you here. i am employed as a fraud investigation officer and spent a good number of years as a police officer.

the first problem you have is that your grandad isn't the victim. In law the victim in this crime is littlewoods or whatever companies the person opens an account with as it is they that have been decieved and not your grandfather.

I would suggest that a letter written to Littlewoods fraud dept explaining the position and your grandfathers age. tell them you are prepared to help however you can. this might mean giving details of the cousin to them so they can deal with it.

Secondly your cousin has committed an offence of obtaining a pecuniary advantage contrary to the theft act of 1978. It is highly unlikely that catalouge companies will take action against the individuals as this often results in adverse publicity for the companies concerned as their anti fraud methods are dreadful. i think it was mentioned earlier that no signed credit agreement was made well this is not good for the company as they then have little in the way of evidence available to them when prosecuting as they have no way of knowing who actually completed an on line application.

Your grandfather could ask for help from a solicitor and take out a county court injunction prohibiting your cousin from using his name for fraudulant purposes. However this will cost and is likely to be fairly expensive.

If your grandfather has in any way been threatend by your cousin then he must contact the Police as this constitutes assault. i agree with the comment regarding contacting Social Services all such departments have a team dealing with and protecting vulnerable adults a group which your grandfather would fall into.

Whatever else you do write to the fraud dept of any companies your cousin has taken out accounts with and make it clear what has happened. You may also need to obtain a copy of grandfathers credit file and insert a note explaining any defaults bad credit etc, which you are allowed to do.

Apologies for the bad news but if i can help please pm me and i will do what i can if only find you some cintact details for the various fraud teams concerned.

Good luck

Dave

alice's_mum

I would try phoning this number 0151 235 2222 it's the liverpool head office. ask to speak to some one about a catalogue account that has been opened fruadulently. They obviously should do checks to make sure the person opening the account is who they say they are. I've found with Littlewoods it's much better phoning this number as you get a bod with a brain who can make decicisions rather than someone on "customer services".

I used this approach after waiting 6 months for a replacement remote control. It then came within days along with a much better dvd as the one in the original package was end of line.

HOpe this is some help.

GingerSte

There have been many good ideas up there and I can't add anything, except to say "DO SOMETHING!". If neither you or your granddad do anything then this situation will just continue. It won't get better, only much worse.

Mind you if your cousin's Job Seeker's Allowance is being paid into your granddad's account...

iwanttosave_2

Thanks everyone, some fantastic suggestions. Alices mum, will try that first to see if that works, then if not it will be a letter to the fraud department as davek1 suggested.

Thank you so much, has been very helpful