1st Credit - at it again but with new tactics

fermi

Copy of the OPs first post.

Personal details that could be used to identify removed.

I wonder if anyone could help me?
My husband started receiving letters from 1st Credit a couple of years ago claiming he owed £375 for a debt to CashEuroNet. He responded following the guidance given above, there was brief lull and then their solicitors started to send correspondence which resulted in a few letters back and forth finally getting one back from them which said that if they weren’t able to obtain a copy of the credit agreement within 40 days they would close the matter and take no further action.

18 months went by and nothing....... until at the end of May 2011 we received another letter from 1st Credit claiming the same debt and offering a discount to settle within 7 days (or 30 or 60). Yet again we wrote and said they have an error in the records as we have never had any debt or agreement with either company and requesting that they confirm that the matter is closed.

To our surprise, within a couple of days, a further letter arrives from 1st Credit enclosing a credit agreement bearing my husband’s name and address (odd that weren’t able to provide it before!) but the letter goes on to say that ‘in light of this document and its contents we deem the outstanding balance of £*** is your liability and due and payable in full. Please contact our office today.....’ etc

The alleged credit agreement is for a payday loan (short term of 30days) and contains some interesting information – like an APR of *****% (not a typo). It is supposedly for a loan of £*** and has two payment due:
**** 2008 and ****** 2008 (I assume this is what they are pursuing now)

There is no signature on the agreement but there is a section which says:

“By completing your details and clicking “I AGREE” button below you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by the Payday Loan Term and Conditions set out below.
Signature(s) of Debtor(s):”

Then my husband’s name and address are typed in, and it continues...

“I AGREE: √
(*** VERIFIED ****)
{**********************************************}
Please note that when you click the ‘I Agree’ button above, we authenticate the above electronic signature”

We’re at a bit of a loss as to how to respond to this – can you have a Credit Agreement without a signature? We have definitely never ever applied for this. Is it just a try on? How should we respond?

JM

fermi

When was the loan allegedly taken out?

You can have a valid loan agreement that is agreed electronically online. i.e. without a physical signature.

If this is not his, then he needs to report it as fraud, as clearly his details could have been used to obtain the loan by someone else.

http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/report_fraud

Once he has a crime number, then he could dispute it with 1st Credit and demand that they provide proof of where the money was paid to. Presumably the monies would have been paid to an account that has nothing to do with him?

mbamick

Hi JanieM

They sent exactly the same detail through to me. It was easy for me to show that the letter was inaccurate because I'd moved house a couple of months beforehand.

Had I not moved home, I'd have stated that there the document didn't show my signature - because I hadn't taken out the loan.
I'd have invited 1st Credit to provide evidence to show which account the funds had been paid into, and to deonstrate that it was an account controlled by me. I'd have then reiterated that the transaction had nothing to do with me, and that I'd involve the Police if the company continued to harras me for a debt which had nothing to do with me.

JanieM

Hi,

Thanks for the posts

The alleged agreement is very precise about the point at which the loan was 'signed' and agreed being 5:19PM on March 21, 2008 - which was a Bank Holiday Friday. We've been here 10 yrs so unfortunately the address details are correct

JM

Xbigman

You need to very strongly deny this is your debt. As stated above tell them that they need to supply full details of the method of payment (to you), bank details, sort code, date, etc. Tell them its because you will pass this information onto the police to investigate what is a clear fraud. Then tell them if they can't supply this information then you are prepared to defend this debt in court.




X

iwillbedebtfreeinmylife

Hi, i am having a simlar problem with 1st credit, but the difference being i have only just noticed after paying them for 4 years, that it is not actually my husbands debt . I have just sent a sar, and im hoping they will realise just with that!! ( i know im hoping!!) would be very interested to see how you get on with this, as i think im in for a long battle ahead of me. Good luck!!
are 1st credit known for doing this?

JanieM

Hmmmm.... that was interesting – just come off the phone from the actionfraud people as recommended by Fermi and have been informed that identity theft, which is what my husband has been a victim of, is not a reportable crime and therefore they will not record it or give me a crime reference number - I can ring the local police and they will give me a incident number to prove that I tried to register it but it will not be investigated.

Their advice was to ring 1st Credit (don’t think we’ll be doing that!! Letter will be fine) and tell them that they are now the victims of fraud (having bought the debt from CashEuroNet who were the original victims) and that they should to report it and investigate further. They also suggested that we should offer to prove that the money was not paid to us (but not to give them the full bank details).

I’m slightly amused by the irony of what we need to say to 1st Credit but not quite sure how to word it – I’ll have a look round the net but does anyone know if there are any standard letters for doing this?

JM

fermi

Identity theft not a crime? Not fraud?

I think that the person you spoke to needs to read their own website.

http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/node/190

Application fraud

Application fraud is when fraudsters open an account using fake or stolen documents in someone else’s name.

It happens when identity theft has occurred.

If fraud has been committed, report it to Action Fraud.