Unauthorised Wonga Loan - fraud/ID theft

Big_momma

Hi i have received a letter to my old address from Wonga saying i have taken out a loan which i haven't and they say i have to pay it back soon. I have emailed them twice with no respond and Ive tried to phone them but no one is answering.
The letter does not have any reference number and no one has signed the bottom. It just ends saying best wishes customer care.
At the bottom of the letter it also has a section saying
"Important if you didn't take out this loan, please call us straight away on 0844 842 9109 or email [EMAIL="customercare@wonga.com"]customercare@wonga.com[/EMAIL]."
Those are both the contact i have tried and get nothing.
im not sure who to contact to sort this out as this is clearly fraud.I have never had a loan or credit card i don't know how they have got my name. But i am now scared they are going to take money out of my bank account.
Can anyone help.:mad:

ChopperST

I can see you posted last month about a similar problem. Did you get your credit report like you were advised?

If this debt definitely isn't yours then you need your credit report ASAP to check someone isn't using your details. You can get them online and I'd check callcredit, experian and equifax for peace of mind.

If the debt isn't yours send them a cease and desist letter recorded delivery rather than an email.

nottoolate

their track record

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7yaCHQE7xY

DaveAA

The 0844 number is a revenue share number. Do not call this number from a mobile phone, it will cost 25p to 45p/min. Check sites such as "say no to 0870" for a cheaper alternative telephone number.

Once the Consumer Rights Directive takes effect next year, they'll have to advertise a geographic rate number in place of the revenue share number.

Irisis

Hi Big momma

This happened to me and my husband recently - the new tenants at our old address attempted to get over 20 pay day loans (and was successful with one) using our details! It was a nightmare to mop up our credit files, and Wonga was the worst of all.

They ignored all attempts at communication, and the only way we got it sorted in the end was by contacting Call Credit, the credit agency. We put the case to them, and they in turn put it to Wonga. Wonga didn't reply to them, and Call Credit removed it from our records because of this.

I know your situation is slightly different as someone has actually managed to obtain credit in your name from Wonga, but as a previous poster has said that makes it all the more important to contact all three credit agencies and get a full report if you haven't done so already. You may also wish to contact the police, although in our case sadly they were worse than useless.

Good luck, and I hope it's all sorted as quickly and painlessly as possible for you. There are far too many good people in this boat at the moment thanks to a dishonest, selfish few.

[Deleted User]

Big_momma wrote: »

I have never had a loan or credit card i don't know how they have got my name. But i am now scared they are going to take money out of my bank account.

If you have never had a loan from them, then they can't have your bank account details, therefore, they can't take any money out of your account, can they?

nottoolate

does happen


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/wonga-account-fraud

Tony Saxton is another viewer who had never heard of the loans company. That did not stop the company taking £260 from his account, though. Even after he complained, they still took two further payments (for £508 and £260). Once more, the company admitted that personal details had been used fraudulently. Tony’s bank has since helped him to get his money back.

SnowTiger

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

If you have never had a loan from them, then they can't have your bank account details, therefore, they can't take any money out of your account, can they?

They take payment from a bank account using a Debit Card. There are plenty of cases of Debit Card details falling in to the wrong hands.

Payday lenders generally pay in to a bank account using a Sort Code and Account Number and take payment by Debit Card. There is no quick and easy way for them to ascertain whether the two are linked.

Why do they leave themselves open to abuse? Because those are the quickest and easiest methods available to them. And payday loans have to be quickly and easily available to punters. If they had to wait a week to arrange one they'd probably realise they didn't really need the dosh and the 5,000%+ APR that's attached to it.

Wonga, etc, can probably operate with a fairly high fraud rate because payday lending is very profitable.

aicut

I have had the same thing this week, letter with no account or ref number and no signature. they are in the process of taking £370 from my account which i am currently trying to get lloyds TSB to stop (with no success) otherwise when my direct debits come out i will go overdrawn. Wonga should be brought to justice over this!!

[Deleted User]

SnowTiger wrote: »

They take payment from a bank account using a Debit Card. There are plenty of cases of Debit Card details falling in to the wrong hands.

Yet another reason, I'm glad I don't have a Debit Card.

fermi

Wonga raids 15-year-old's bank account to recover debts after it wrongly granted fraudsters a loan with his details