Lloyds Fraud Team - I keep getting picked on!!

diamonds

GingerBob wrote: »

Yes and no. Yes, it is an abuse of your personal data, but no you don't have to explicitly authorise a data rape on credit information held about you by the CRAs. Very many organisations can access data, even credit-related data, about you held by the CRAs without your consent, and almost as many can write data about you to the CRAs' files, again without your consent. Most financial organisations will have you believe that your consent matters, but actually it doesn't.

They done a credit check, not a soft check...

diamonds

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

It would have been an AML check not a credit check - and the T&C's allow them to check at any time they want.
The T&C's of all banks that I know also allow the bank to refuse to make a payment or act on an instruction from an account holder for a whole variety of reasons

So if I was you I'd not take @diamonds "advice".

Again, it is stated a credit check not a soft check like what this site does to evaluate your chances of a product.


To who thanked you for that^ post think what I posted is poppycock: when a government dept issues guidance multiple MSE users presenting I know 'nothing' is misleading the board and its users that you think your opinion/s on me and the matter at hand is above a government dept Information Commissioners Office guidance, this behaviour is most unhelpful to the board in general.

Because you want someone to be wrong en mass does not mean they are.

YorkshireBoy

diamonds wrote: »

They done a credit check, not a soft check...

TheGardener says they did, but we know they didn't because TheGardener wasn't applying for credit.

It was simply an ID/AML enquiry, that no-one else (but TheGardener, the CRA, and the bank who made the enquiry) will ever see!

diamonds

https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/credit/



Do companies need my consent to carry out a credit search?

The DPA doesn’t actually require these companies to have gained your consent before they can carry out a search of your credit file ***as long as they have a legitimate reason*** (for doing so and) ***you have been told that this search is going to take place***

masonic

diamonds wrote: »

Do companies need my consent to carry out a credit search?

Irrelevant if it wasn't a credit search. As others have stated, not all searches of a credit file are credit searches.

GingerBob_3

masonic wrote: »

Irrelevant if it wasn't a credit search. As others have stated, not all searches of a credit file are credit searches.

But to answer your question, Diamonds, no they don't. Companies can smack you with a (hard) credit search and report you to the CRAs without your consent. Typical here, are the water companies. Recently they've taken it upon themselves to assault their customers with a hard search and report their accounts to the CRAs; all without any consent. I recently heard from Northumbrian Water that "we will carry out a credit search so that we have a good picture of your finances". Unbelievable!!

ChiefGrasscutter

Well as the utility companies are in effect extending credit to their non-prepay customers by letting them have and use the product before they have paid for it I'm not surprised or shocked.
All sounds like good business practice to me when you have customer numbers in the millions.

GingerBob_3

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

Well as the utility companies are in effect extending credit to their non-prepay customers by letting them have and use the product before they have paid for it I'm not surprised or shocked.
All sounds like good business practice to me when you have customer numbers in the millions.

Not me. I'm not on a meter, so I can't build up a massive debt. But you're missing the point - they do the search and reporting without consent. So all the waffle we hear such as "you will have agreed to .... that search" etc. is meaningless.

diamonds

The poster said they were credit checked, I posted Information Commissioners Office a gov dept guidance.



You can contest/object when are told a credit check will be happening, ie make clear you remove your consent - that does not need to be adhered to but best practice would be to do such when dealing with personal data as per DPA legislation.

If a bank employee is of immediate concern about monies/laundering/terrorist/fraud the first contact should be police who in any investigation can flout the DPA seeking evidence of any criminal activity, not a credit reference agency.


The post said they entered branch as a measure they knew how it may be looked at from a fraud/laundering via a online transfer, if they walked into branch with a account card (signature on record) to do such transfer the bank did not have a legitimate reason to do a credit search - the bank already knew the customer held that money.


They were not applying for credit, a bank transfer out is not a legitimate reason for a credit check. They were not advised such was going to happen.


The bank staff obviously have poor training. Thus we ALL are put at risk by this banks behaviour/s.

User should pursue a complaint against the bank for breach of DPA to the ICO.

Ballard

I should start by saying that although I have worked in a few banks none of them were retail and I wasn't involved in any areas that checked credit agencies.

I would, however, suggest that checking the file isn't a bad place to look to see whether the customer has recently obtained a lot of credit or opened new accounts. Should this be the case then it might indicate that their customer has had their identity stolen. It's not conclusive by any means but it could potentially stop a fraud.

Your point about reporting to the police is almost correct but the employee should report to the MLRO and it's their job to contact the police.