Fraudalent Loans and possible identity theft - help!

thunderb0lt

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, sorry if it isn't this seems like the most relevant to my problem.

I need advice regarding some fraudalent loan applications done in my name and the possibilty of identity theft. Sorry if this is a long post.

I received a call at my work place from Payday UK regarding my loan application. I was busy so took a note of the number, googled it and called back when I was available. I told the person I hadn't made any loan application with them. She then asked for date of birth so she could check the system. I refused to disclose this. She then said the application would be put on hold, my case would be passed onto the fraud dept and they would get back to me within 5 working days.

I thought nothing of this. Well, nearly 10 working days had passed when I received a letter from another loan company, this time Payday Express regarding a loan of £250 saying that they assume loan payment to be deffered as I have made no communication and they have attempted to do this with my debit card details.

Again, I have made no loan applications with said company. This freaked me out and I remembed the Payday UK application thing, I decided to call them. Well, it turns out my details wern't passed onto the fraud dept as they were "busy".

The next day I received a call from MEM Consumer Finance LTD saying that the loan application with Payday UK would not be processsed and I would have to complete a witness report to get the credit check removed. I have since received this witnesss report, it basically wants me to confirm personal details such as occupation, date of birth, telephone number, email. Is this safe to disclose, although they already have telehone and address.

Ok, back to Payday Express, I called them and said I hadn't made an loan application with them. Again, they wanted my date of birth, I refused.

The next day i received a letter from them advising that the case is being dealt with fraud dept. The first step of investigation is for me to go to local police sation. Here's a quote:

"The first step of the investigation is for you to report this matter to your local police sation and obtain a Crime Reference Number/Incident Number. Whilst some forces will actively contact the potential financial victims of a fraud to help in ascertaining if a crime has been committed, others may not. it is however, essential that a report is made so that we can liase with them throughout this investigation."

I did just that, went to police letters along with letters, explaing the situation. The officer said, this is between you and the company, how does she know that I haven't taken a loan with these companies.

Well I said my concern is that the letter is requesting me to report this and get an incident report and the fact that identity may have been stolen, Payday UK called me at work, I never disclosed this to anyone. She asked if I had lost property, passport, money, drivers licence etc..I said no. She said I need to liase with these loan companies and not police. I found her to be very unhelpful. I am thinking of reporting via website rather than police station.

I have since ordered the £2 credit check for both Experian and Equifax, I would have do Call Credit too but need to print off application for the paper check rather than instant check.

I hope this all makes sense, what I need advice on is how to get out of this mess.

Any help/advice is fully appreciated.

Thanks in advance

thunderb0lt.

[Deleted User]

does your household insurance offer help with indentity theft?

WhiteHorse

Write to Payday stating that the application made in your name is fraudulent. Keep a copy and send it recorded delivery.

There is some evidence that a crime has been committed. Insist that the police take a crime report, if they refuse (usually occasioned either by laziness or a desire to fiddle the crime figures), note the identity of the person with whom you are dealing and then threaten to make a formal complaint.

Immediate action is essential.

thunderb0lt

Thanks for the replies so far.

I live with my parents, don't have household insurance as they are council tenants. I did go to my bank, Barclays to check whether any direct debits or standing orders had been made. Thankfully none have. I made a request for no Direct Debits to be processed unless I give written authorisation, the guy said it's not possible, all he could do is put a message on the notepad saying that they should be aware as I have been contacted the dodgy companies. I asked the guy whether anything could be done, he said as I have a basic bank account I'm not covered for any fraud, I need to upgrade my account to the the next level up which costs £5 to be covered...hmmmm.

I guess I will have to write to both PaydayUK and Payday Express to confirm I have never made any loan applications with them.

I will have to go back to the police station also.

thunderb0lt

I am in the process of writing a letter to formally confirm that I haven't made any loan applications with these companies.

This is what I have written so far:

Dear Investigations Department,

Re: Fraudulent loan application Reference ******

Further to your letter dated 20/07/10 I am writing to formally confirm that I have never made any loan applications with Payday UK, MEM Consumer Finance or any of it’s brands or associated companies.

Please find attached the completed witness report statement.

I want to write something requesting that they release and destroy any information about me under the Data Protection Act. Ay suggestions on how what to add/amend to this letter.

Thanks in advance

smileyface26

I hope you're sorting your way through this?

In answer to you request that you want the companies involved to remove your data, this is covered by the seventh principle of the Data Protection Act. Whereby individuals shall be entitled, where appropiate to have such data corrected or erased.

Whilst this sounds good and these companies can remove your data, you should consider the implications of this. For example, if they remove the data, how could they spot, or stop any more potential frauds in your details?

I think its also important you discover at what level your details have been comprimised. Is it your full name, full address, exact DOB? Unfortunately, although these companies have got your details and it would seem applications have been made without your knowledge - but for them to be able to help you, you have to give them a bit more detail. Which I know seems odd - but without that you are, in my opinion, stuck between the rock and the hard stuff.

In relation to the witness letters the companies have sent you - it would be interesting to know what they will do with your data? What purpose have they asked for your occupation.... again, this is covered by the 4th principle of the Data Protection Act.

As for the police, at best you will get an incident number - which isn't a crime number. I would take the name of the officer, location of the station and their collar number and record this on your paperwork. The fact is, you have made the effort to report this (which if you were lying - you wouldnt!) and knowing that the police don't always crime / log these type of incidents, the companies should accept this.

Fiddlestick

thunderb0lt wrote: »

I asked the guy whether anything could be done, he said as I have a basic bank account I'm not covered for any fraud, I need to upgrade my account to the the next level up which costs £5 to be covered...hmmmm.

Utter tosh!

What he is referring to will be some "Privacy Guard" product or something where someone does exactly what you are doing yourself right now - contacting people and sorting out the mess.

This is an additional service and has nothing to do with fraud - a criminal offense has been committed and it has nothing to do with whatever sort of bank account you have and don't let them tell you otherwise

thunderb0lt

Thanks for the additional replies guys. Having read stuff that was posted both here and HUKD forums, I decided I would go to a different police station. Just to my luck the officer there was the same officer I saw at the other police station on a different day. So I went to her and explained that I had seen her at the other police sation and that I had contacted the loan company and said the police were unwilling to give an incident reference number for this. She said the same spiel as before. I showed her the letters again, she then referred to the seargent who came back and said the same stuff. I asked why does it request me to obtain a reference number from the police in order for them to investigation. He replied with something along the lines that there's not enough information for them to investigate. I then requested that they write me a letter that I can give back to the loans companies saying that I went to the police station and that the police refused to give me an incident reference number. They did this for me.

I have since finished and sent off the letters to the loans companies with the police letter attached. In the witness report I supplied everything apart from my email. Let's see how this pans out.

Still waiting for my credit report to come from Experian and Equifax but it hasn't been 7 days yet. The funny thing is that the day after I ordered these I received automated call from Barclaycard requesting me to confirm these transactions.

Thanks for reading.

thunderb0lt

Hello all, just an update and advice needed really.

Well I sent off letters to both companies coonfirming that I had never taken out any loans. From the first company I received a letter saying further to my recent commuincation they can confirm that someone has used my information to impersonate me and they are investigating. They said they will remove the credit check from my file. They mentioned nothing regarding my request under the Data Protection Act for them to disclose the information they hold on me but they did say that they have flagged my name with CIFAS and that I should pay CIFAS £10 to find out the information that CIFAS hold on me.

The second company called me to confirm they had received my witness report, they would remove the check from my crediit file. When I asked about my request to release information under the DPA she said no, she said this is not my information as it is a fraud case and that I have no right to request such information. I said regardless, whether fraud case or not I would like to know what they hold about me. I asked how long they would hold this information, she said 7 years.

I said would she able able to put all this in writing. She said yes. She then called back 5 minutes later and said that she would not be able to write such a letter I would have to raise a complaint with the complaints department.

I just want to know whether what she is saying is true. Should I just let my request to release the information go as both companies claim that the would remove the credit checks or should I continue to pursue with this.

Thanks.

catherine12345_2

Hi there. I'm going through exactly the same as we speak. I got hold of my Experian credit report online and then emailed their fraud team with the fraudulent transactions. They have said that they will contact the loan companies involved and keep me posted. I too had trouble getting a crime number but managed to get an incident number. The police explained to me that the victim of the crime is the loan company and therefore it is they who must contact the police for a crime number. Interestingly, loan company insisted on a crime number but as soon as I rang them with an incident number and told them that I was at the station and would they like to discuss it with a police officer, they agreed to accept an incident number.

Also, google the National Fraud Reporting Centre and give them a ring. The guys who man the advice line are BRILLIANT and will give you loads of good advice.

Good luck

RuthnJasper

Hi Thunderb0lt, just been reading your thread and wanted to extend my sympathies. What a horrible thing to happen to you; I do hope you get this sorted out before too long (same goes for Catherine12345!).

I agree with Fiddlestick - even though you have the most basic account with Barclays, they really should have procedures in place to deal properly with a fraud reported by one of their customers. After all, this could affect them as well in the longer term. I looked on the Barclays website, which had this to say:
Protect yourself from online fraud

Want to know how you can protect yourself from online fraud? Here are some of the most common scams and how you can avoid them.
If you think you've fallen victim to online fraud on your Barclays account(s), call us straight away on 0845 600 2323
Mobile and telephony fraud

Want to know how you can protect yourself from telephony fraud? Follow our tips and you'll be well on your way to avoiding the scams.
If you think you've fallen victim to telephony fraud on your Barclays accounts, call us straightaway on 0845 755 5555

*******

I hope you don't mind me having looked for this info. for you - I just think you've been treated really shabbily by the Police and Barclays when you are the victim here. Why not try giving the above number(s) a call? - You might get better advice than you received in the branch, where the staff are generally less "specialised" (sad to say).

Good luck anyway - I really hope you get to the bottom of this. x