Are we being sold the fear of ID fraud? Blog Discussion

System

Ive just used an automated service line to pay my mothers catalogue bill. Hey guess what, i put in my card numbers, put in the expiry date of my card and they didnt even ask me for my name. :mad:

Not feeling comfortable about this, i rang up the catalogue company a few minutes after, and yes it had gone through.

jinkersho

I would like a bit of help if anyone is out there and knows about this stuff. I was on holiday in Majorca last week. My apartment was broken into and my driving licence along with an out of date work pass and current work ID were stolen. Everything is photo ID and has my DOB on it. The driving licence has an old address on it.

Does anyone know how much I may be at risk from ID fraud as a result of this, how liable I would be if someone takes a credit card, etc, in my name and who I can alert to the fact that this stuff puts me at risk and so to be carefull when issuing credit?

Obliged.

System

jinkersho wrote:

I would like a bit of help if anyone is out there and knows about this stuff. I was on holiday in Majorca last week. My apartment was broken into and my driving licence along with an out of date work pass and current work ID were stolen. Everything is photo ID and has my DOB on it. The driving licence has an old address on it.

Does anyone know how much I may be at risk from ID fraud as a result of this, how liable I would be if someone takes a credit card, etc, in my name and who I can alert to the fact that this stuff puts me at risk and so to be carefull when issuing credit?

Oh heck, i would be worried sick jinkersho if i were you as they obviously knew what they were looking for. Did you contact the authorities when you were over there? Now your back, I would contact the DVLA for a start and one by one contact the authorities who issued your other identifying IDs/credit cards etc so they can cancel your old ones and re issue new ones. When my debit card was used fraudulently my bank bent over backwards to help me and even refunded what was taken. I would strongly urge you contact the police. Sorry i cant be any more help than that but i do think you ought to contact the police.

Greenwellies_2

jinkersho wrote:

I would like a bit of help if anyone is out there and knows about this stuff. I was on holiday in Majorca last week. My apartment was broken into and my driving licence along with an out of date work pass and current work ID were stolen. Everything is photo ID and has my DOB on it. The driving licence has an old address on it.

Does anyone know how much I may be at risk from ID fraud as a result of this, how liable I would be if someone takes a credit card, etc, in my name and who I can alert to the fact that this stuff puts me at risk and so to be carefull when issuing credit?

Obliged.

I could be wrong, but I think I have heard people say that you can inform credit reference agencies and then the note can be put on your account.

Best of luck, it sounds like it could be a nightmare. But whatever you do, cover your back NOW, report it, and get crime numbers etc, to prove that this did happen to you and you did report it, before anything serious happens.

Regards

GW

Will.Power_2

I just came across this survey from Equifax
http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=6224
"Equifax, the instant online credit information provider, has confirmed that approximately 1 in 4 UK consumers have been a victim of ID Fraud* despite a new report by Professor Martin Gill finding that all European countries have acted to respond to identity offences... (*Survey of over 700 Equifax customers Autumn 2005)"
I only know of one person who's suffered real id theft, and I know many many more who haven't.
The survey must have targeted a very biased 700 people, or asked some very closed questions to get these results!

anyolename

Hello,
Barclaycard have just tried to sell me their fraud protection and told me that if I did have fraudulent payments on my card I could be liable and they wouldnt pay up.

Is this true??

Thanks.

Voyager2002

clipboard2 wrote: »

If ever I Became a card thief, I'd head straight down to Tesco. Their self service checkouts simply invite you to slide your plastic down the slot. Payment is taken frfom the card. Receipt comes out of the machine. No signature or pin number required. Voila! What could be easier!!

No more. That weakness was pointed out earlier this year, and their machines now require that you enter your PIN number. Since I have a signature credit card, when I pay a bell rings and a member of staff comes to witness my signature.

brookhaven

As regards chip and pin - I am beginning to get very wary of using this. One change in this new system that seems to have slipped under the wire is that if you are a victim of fraud, when your pin number is used, it is you, the customer, who is responsible for the loss - not the bank. Which is why the losses to the banks have dramatically fallen, as they have simply shifted the responsibility away from themselves.

I am told it is relatively easy to buy equipment to intercept the signals from those hand held credit card devices in restaurants etc and read all the relevant card details.

Two seconds in the microwave is enough to zap the chip - so then you have to sign instead:-)