Phishing - been caught - What to do?

JuanDavienarey

I feel rather foolish this morning. Yesterday, Saturday evening, I had just picked up a curry and opened a bottle of beer, after finishing the popadoms, pakora etc. I discovered that the main course order was wrong. The other half phoned up to complain and we had a mini argument and momentarily the "red mist" descended as I was annoyed the evening had been disrupted. At this time, the laptop was still on so I logged into my email and saw an email from Egg. It said that I had a new message from the Egg Centre. At that point, not thinking straight, I logged in via the email (as I said not thinking straight) more or less straight away after I hit the submit button I realised what I had done and cursed my stupidity. I phoned Egg's emergency number which routed to an Indian Call Centre. I cancelled my cards and put a block on the account. I then logged onto the account and managed to change my password. I checked it again this morning and still managed to gain access. Being a Sunday, all non-emergency call centres and consumer advice lines are closed. What I'm worried about is that my login details, DOB & mother's maiden name are now out there and someone could be taking full advantage. My question is, is there any site I can contact or phone to flag up possible fraudulent activities using my details? thanks, Duncan

benf90

The 'block' on your account will only affect your cards I think. They will most likely send you new cards etc. The login details for the website are separate which is why you've still been able to login.

As long as you have changed your password for Egg then you should be ok in this instance. If you want to be extra cautious then you can ask Egg to change your mother's maiden name on their system (it can be anything you like, as long as you remember to use the 'new' name instead of the old one). They should be able to do this during the week.

If you haven't already, make sure you have the latest version of your web browser - the latest versions have features that can help warn of phishing websites (not 100% effective but better than nothing).

Also, to be on the safe side, it's worth running an anti virus scan on your computer. If you haven't already got an anti virus program, get one for free now:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/free-anti-virus-software

In terms of your details being used elsewhere I suspect the best you can do is change the passwords for your other accounts (if you have used the same password), keep an eye on your statements and then get a copy of your credit files in a few weeks. Alternatively, you can use the free 30 days' trials you can get.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/credit-rating-credit-score#files

izools

If you are worried about identity theft, you can contact CIFAS and ask them to put a "Protective Registration" marker on your credit file.

Any credit applications made in the next 13 months will be referred and the creditor will do extra checks / ask for extra ID etc to make sure it is in fact you.

It doesn't affect your credit score, it just stops automated decisions from being made

JuanDavienarey

Thanks for your replies Guys. I use Firefox so I will have to look into setting up the phishing filter. izools that is exactly the info I'm looking for so many thanks for that. It's going to cost me £14.10 to register but it is a small price to pay for piece of mind. I'm still extremely annoyed at myself at being caught out.

again, cheers Guys!

bonzer

The Phishing filter is turned on by default in Firefox, so probably that specific site wasn't on the list of known phishing sites.

You can report a site in the Firefox help menu "Report Web Forgery", which may help someone else. Also there are a few organisations that collect phishing e-mails and try and get the sites taken down e.g:

http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/report_scam.html

RobertoMoir

Oh and consider anger management courses if "the red mist" happens to you over a poxy dinner and causes you to make mistakes like this.

Yes I am being serious. No I'm not trolling or being sarcastic.

td_007

JuanDavienarey wrote: »

What I'm worried about is that my login details, DOB & mother's maiden name are now out there and someone could be taking full advantage. My question is, is there any site I can contact or phone to flag up possible fraudulent activities using my details? thanks, Duncan

As long as your login details are secure, the online banking bit is safe. DOB and mothers maiden name is relatively less important though in some case the combination is used for phone banking. So if that is the case then make sure you change it.

Rupert_Bear

Sounds like he the op has been subjected to the Vindaloo course with Egg!

James

If you're worred about ID Theft, here's something that's Free to enroll into and unlike CIFAS Protective Registration reaches ALL lenders. (Click here).

There is also a new website ACTION FRAUD, brought to you by the National Fraud Authority, The City of London Police, to name but two. It's basically a one stop shop. You should be able to get all the practical help you need.


If you give them a call, maybe you'd like to discuss your experience on this forum.

Hope this helps