Benefit Fraud...

PrincessPlaty

I have just found out after contacting Healthy Start that my address had been changed to another persons details and that it was CTC that informed them of the change.
I then contacted CTC who have changed it all back to how it should be and have escalated a complaint.

Have checked my online credit reports and nothing is showing on there.

Have rang child benefit and nothing has been changed with them and they have put a note on their system should anybody attempt to ring up and change any details to the claim.

Im a single parent and im claiming income support and housing benefit, council tax benefit also. Those are the next i am about to call but is there anyone else that i need to get in touch with? My mind seems to have gone completely blank!

Thanks in advance

x

Tehya

Have CTC explained how your details first got changed, it seems really strange. I get the impression that someone at CTC inputted another persons address into your information by mistake. I would speak to them again and ask how this happened as you're worried about it and also ask them who else they informed. They can't say they didn't inform anyone as you've already discovered they'd told Healthy Start.

Think carefully where any other benefits come from or other places that have your financial details and contact them just to put your mind at rest though I think you've covered anything I can think of in your post already.

Good luck,

Tehya

Lou76

PrincessPlaty wrote: »

I have just found out after contacting Healthy Start that my address had been changed to another persons details and that it was CTC that informed them of the change.
I then contacted CTC who have changed it all back to how it should be and have escalated a complaint.

Have checked my online credit reports and nothing is showing on there.

Have rang child benefit and nothing has been changed with them and they have put a note on their system should anybody attempt to ring up and change any details to the claim.

Im a single parent and im claiming income support and housing benefit, council tax benefit also. Those are the next i am about to call but is there anyone else that i need to get in touch with? My mind seems to have gone completely blank!

Thanks in advance

x

Hi Princess, it's possible that someone at the CTC office has changed the details in error.

A few weeks ago I received 2 letters from Income Support, both of which had my address but someone else's name on them. I didn't actually realise this until I'd opened them and the second letter made no sense to me or I wouldn't have actually opened them in the first place.

I phoned IS who said they'd put a stop on any further letters being sent from their department, but couldn't tell me how my address had been linked to another claimant in the first place. They also said they had no way of notifying this person until she contacted them.

The next week another letter arrived and I almost opened it but, when I saw it was from DWP Belfast, I remembered to double check the name first and sure enough it was for this other woman. Through the address window I could see it said "...your claim for DLA." So obviously the address details had been changed on both records.

I sent everything straight back with 'Not known at this address' on the envelope and hoped that would be it. Then last week I received another 2 letters, on different days, both addressed to this unknown woman.

Thankfully she had quite an unusual surname, and thanks to me opening the first 2 letters in error, I knew both her and her Daughter's [really unusual] first names.

I decided to take a chance and see if I could somehow track this person down myself as I was worried that it would affect her claim and/or affect my claim as it looked as though all three of us were living at the one property.

I managed to get a hold of her, well her husband, on Sunday and explained to him what had been happening, thankfully he was grateful to me for phoning to tell him and didn't think I was up to anything dodgy. He was phoning them on Monday to sort it out, so hopefully that'll be the last I hear from DWP on this woman's behalf.

We're both as bamboozled as the other as to how this happened as it wasn't just a slight change to the address, like a house number, theirs is nothing like mine and not even in the same Postcode area. It looks as though somehow someone at the DWP has input my address (with a slight difference in the street address) into a random persons' file.

Hopefully it's been as innocent a mistake as this that's happened to you and it will now be sorted with you contacting them.

PrincessPlaty

The address is actually the address of somebody i know unfourtunatly and the address is over 200 miles away from where i live, and it is quite possible that they would do this also.

I have no idea how they passed the security checks to be able to change the details though, I have moved address changed my name and had another child since i last had any contact with them and as far as i can tell there is no way they could have got them.

Last year when i was staying in a womens refuge the house that i fled from had been gridded (sp?) however when i went back to collect my belongings my tumble dryer and all my bank statements were missing (bank statements have NI number on them) I did report it to the police and the council at the time (they were in attendance when i collected my belongings) and the police told me there was nothing they could do about it. They would also be well aware of my date of birth as the person whose address it is birthday is 3 days before mine. They are also aware of both of my DD's names and DOB's however their names have been changed by deed poll also.

I have rang now in total CTC, Healthy start, CB, CTB and HB i still need to do the DWP and the council have advised me to report it to the police also.

Lou76

That's obviously a totally different, and fraudulent by the sounds of it, situation to the one I found myself in.

Hopefully the Police can do something about it, the fact that you know who has done this should surely count for something?

I'm sorry I can't help you, I've no idea how these things work. I had hoped it was simply a clerical error like the one I explained. Hopefully someone will be along soon to give you any advice or experience they've had in such matters.

Good luck with that and I hope it's all sorted out for you soon.

Tehya

Oh my what a situation. Well done for rebuilding your life the way you have especially with two young children. Definitely report it to the police. Can these departments give you some kind of password that you have to use each time you ring so this can never happen again?

Hope everything works out for you,

Tehya

Jowo_2

If you suspect your ID has been compromised, look at what CIFAS protection can offer you to see if it suits your needs. This makes it much harder for people to obtain credit in your name because it obliges creditors to go through an extra security step.

Landlords sometimes take this out to protect them from tenants taking out loans in their name at properties they've lived in before.

A pal of mine had a lodger who absconded without paying the rent after a period when mail arriving for other people in the house appeared to be tampered with. Also, there was mail arriving at the property in the names of people that weren't living there that when opened turned out to be application for credit for online shopping sites (rejection letters). The suspicion is that the lodger was also probably applying for credit in fake names, though it can never be proven.

The accounts departments of these places assured my friend that it isn't necessarily an offence to apply for goods/services using another name but it is an offence to receive the goods...They also said since there is no association with the fake name with the property (no credit history/electoral registration) that all requests for credit would automatically be rejected - someone trying it on by speculatively applying for credit using a name that isn't associated with the address isnt going to get very far.

PrincessPlaty

Thanks Jowo i will have a look into CIFAS.

Firstly i contacted the original police station that i reported the burglary to and got the incident number for it, there were also several incidents before that one of which included a text message from my ex's sister telling me he had been in the house! (the police attended late at night and could see no evidence of anybody accessing the property). I explained to them why i wanted the incident numbers and they asked me if i wanted to put in a complaint. Im still not sure what i want to do about that.

I then contacted my local police and reported it to them, it was left as someone would call me back to arrange an appointment to come out and see me and go through everything with me properly. Unfourtunatly they called back whilst i was taking my daughter to the doctors, and the message that was left on the answerphone basically said thanks for reporting it the incident number is such and such we have taken down all the details so that we have a record of it but theres not much more we can do at the moment but if anything else happens to give them a call.

Made me feel like i have been panicking over nothing however i managed to ring everybody apart from the DWP who i couldnt get through to, but will try again in the morning and if not i will ring the jobcentre directly.

I think i have covered everything now apart from the DWP, and CTC are apparently conducting this investigation and hopefully they will prosecute themselves so that something will be done about it. Im just glad i was on the ball and realised sooner rather than later or goodness knows what they could have done

However everyone that i contacted today has put a note on the systems against my NI number so they are aware of the situation and they have all taken my telephone number and have said they will be in contact if anyone does try and do anything else. I guess its just a case of sitting back waiting and hoping nothing else happens now.

Fire_Fox

Did your bank statements have your new name on? Have you changed bank since the statements were stolen? Is it possible your identity here on MSE has been compromised, you have a child's name in your signature and a location listed, I bet you have given out loads of other personal information (I know I have). If the name of your baby, birth date and location are all accurate then more information could be gleaned from the birth certificate. Are you registered to vote and did you definitely tick the box not to be on the public register? Or maybe your Facebook account has been compromised? Presumably you have kept some of the same friends from the past? Do you have an injunction against this person, if so surely this is a breach??

PrincessPlaty

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Did your bank statements have your new name on? Have you changed bank since the statements were stolen? Is it possible your identity here on MSE has been compromised, you have a child's name in your signature and a location listed, I bet you have given out loads of other personal information (I know I have). If the name of your baby, birth date and location are all accurate then more information could be gleaned from the birth certificate. Are you registered to vote and did you definitely tick the box not to be on the public register? Or maybe your Facebook account has been compromised? Presumably you have kept some of the same friends from the past? Do you have an injunction against this person, if so surely this is a breach??

Bank statements were in old name, the account that they were for has been closed and a new account opened elsewhere. My location on here is wrong as it is on facebook, my privacy settings on facebook are as high as they can go, i didnt keep in contact with anyone from the past at all i cut all ties, closed original fb account opened a new one and went through and blocked everyone that was connected to them in anyway. Yes registered to vote 100% sure that the box was ticked too. Yes injunction is in place but that only stops any form of contact with me which they havent actually done so the police cant act upon it.