MCO Capital loan

We_Laugh_Indoors

I thought you would all be interested in this article on MCO which has appeared on this is money:

Thousands of people are being hounded by a Finnish loans company for debts they don't owe.
At least 5,000 people have received letters from MCO Capital demanding repayment for loans never taken out. Police believe fraudsters obtained victims' personal details and took out loans of about £300 in their name
A spokeswoman for government agency Action Fraud says: 'If you have received one of these letters, do not pay any money but do not ignore it. It may affect your credit rating and you may find bailiffs on your doorstep if you do not take action.'

Victims should call Action Fraud on begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 0300 123 2040 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, who will pass on the case to police and give you a crime reference number. 0300 123 2040
Action Fraud also recommends getting a copy of your credit file from one of the three credit reference agencies - Equifax, Experian and Call Credit - to see if other fraudulent loan applications have been taken out in your name.
A spokesman for MCO Capital, which has an office in Central London, says: 'Anyone who has been a victim of fraud should write to us confirming they did not take out the loan. We will then write off the debt.'
Leslie Simpson, 68, has received two letters in the past two months from a debt collection agency demanding repayment of a £300 loan with MCO Capital, which is attracting interest of £213 per month.
Mr Simpson has written to MCO, but has received no reply. He says: 'My neighbour received the same letter, so I reckon the fraudsters got our details from the electoral roll.'

link


I have also received a letter from Experian stating that MCO have requested that the credit searches they made be removed from my record. On top of that call credit have contacted me offereing a free credit report.

geomacl

Thanks This Is Money - this report in "This Is Money" was published on 10 October 2010 - it would seem that MCO is still protesting innocence - according to a spokesman in their Central London office??? (Imperial House???)

grahamqat

Hi Alan, glad you found the thread. Like Geomacl says, you have shed light in some new areas which will be a useful input for many folks. It sounds like you got a letter very early on, probably before anyone else had put anything on various forums. Feeling isolated would be scary, as you say it is a comfort to know you haven't been singled out and many other innocent people are also affected by this. I note the last post puts a figure of 5,000 victims of this scam. I estimated it may be nearer 10,000 so it's a big operation. (This thread has had well over 20,000 views to date, there are other threads also on here and many other forums discussing the scam). It seems all you can do at the moment is get the written CRN from Action Fraud. They are advised by police who for a while thought MCO were the victims of ID fraud. Just over a week ago they changed their stance and put a notice to this effect on their AF web-site (Oct 1st statement). This advises no contact with MCO. Some of us had already contacted them and it may be this confirmation that has prompted the second fraud letter.

Anyway, keep posting with any news, hopefully at some stage, the master plan will be revealed.

Prudence2_2

alan_se wrote: »

The first point I’d like to make is that I already had a valid CIFAS Protective Registration in place, plus a password-protected ‘notice of correction’ on my Experian account, all as a result of my 2007 identity fraud problem. The MCO Capital search by-passed all of this. I’ve challenged both CIFAS and Experian on that point. CIFAS stated that since neither MCO Capital nor Gothia are CIFAS members then the Protective Registration doesn’t apply. Experian told me that anyone credit checking with them can choose to ignore the notice – it seems it’s there simply as a warning to the banks etc, and the legit operations would take notice of it, but it’s up to the organisation doing the search.

Thanks for sharing you experience, Alan. It is ridiculous that CIFAS registration only applies to member companies.

What I would like to be able to do is contact the CRAs and tell them that I would NEVER apply for a short term/payday loan and that they are not to conduct ANY searches on behalf of such companies. It is a disgrace that we cannot control how our records are used!

grahamqat

Perhaps one thing worth saying - this scam hasn't cloned anyones ID. AF and others have confirmed that names/addresses have been used. (AF said it looked like someone had worked their way through a phone book), MCO themselves say that they have used electoral lists. Most people have reported that DOB info has been incorrect. Shure MCO wanted to steal your identity, but they've only managed this with a small percentage, most of which applied for loans.

Prudence2_2

grahamqat wrote: »

Perhaps one thing worth saying - this scam hasn't cloned anyones ID. AF and others have confirmed that names/addresses have been used. (AF said it looked like someone had worked their way through a phone book), MCO themselves say that they have used electoral lists. Most people have reported that DOB info has been incorrect. Shure MCO wanted to steal your identity, but they've only managed this with a small percentage, most of which applied for loans.

Interesting comment, GQ - I wonder why AH thought they had used a phone book - do we all live in the same area? I live in the central belt of Scotland.

davidbuk

Prudence2 wrote: »

Interesting comment, GQ - I wonder why AH thought they had used a phone book - do we all live in the same area? I live in the central belt of Scotland.

Well I'm ex-directory and the phone bill is in my partners name which is a different surname to mine so that can't be how they did it. They also had my dob correct.

Mike_the_worried_man

piglets3 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your help. I have rang AF they told me to contact Payday UK. AF have had other complaints relating to Payday UK. Payday UK have logged complaint - their fraud team will contact me in 5 - 6 days! I am going to register with Experian for their 30 day trial, although I am still loathe to do this.

Do take up the Experian 30 day trial but then cancel it at the 25 day point or so. I did and cancelled easily.

Mike_the_worried_man

Re Prudence and David. My son has also been scammed by MCO Capital at this address. However he has not lived at this address since 2000; combination of university and then living in London. Never been on electoral roll here or registered for banking/credit cards even. In effect, apart from schooling he has no financial connection to this address. So we don't know how they have got his details. My wife has not been scammed (received any letters that is). Very odd.

geomacl

Mike_the_worried_man wrote: »

Do take up the Experian 30 day trial but then cancel it at the 25 day point or so. I did and cancelled easily.

How did you cancel Mike? I sent an email to them yesterday but don't know if they acted on it? Thanks