Credit file correction after ID Fraud- what do I need to do?

Sammykate

Hi,


I'm a little clueless here and hoping for some help. This weekend I found out that back in July last year someone used my name and an old address I haven't lived at for 5 years to take out 3 mobile phone contracts, which are now £3.5k in debt. I had no idea until I started getting calls from debt collectors. I ignored them at first as I knew I didn't owe anyone anything, but eventually realised something was wrong and it all came out.


Anyway, it's being swiftly dealt with, The phone company has already confirmed it as fraud and closed the file with the debt collectors etc, I'm just waiting on the letter from them confirming it.


I was advised by Action Fraud to sign up for Noddle which I have done, and of course my credit score is a total mess. I have raised a dispute with them on the offending item.


Do I need to also do this with Experian and other companies? Or do they all share data? Or will the mobile phone company in question send notifications to them to remove it from my file? I have never had to deal with anything like this before so I'll admit I'm clueless.


I never even used to check my credit file- lesson learnt there eh.


Also second lesson learnt- don't ignore calls from debt collectors, even if you know you don't owe anything!! It could be an indication you have been a victim of ID Fraud.

Westminster

You should contact all of the credit reference agencies.

When I had fraud at Littlewoods they offered a year of free CIFAS protective registration so maybe you could ask the phone company if they will consider that.

Sammykate

Thank you Westminster- good to know from someone else's experience. I'll contact the other agencies, I notice there is a list at the top of this forum. I did read up a bit about CIFAS so I will check into that. I do feel like the phone company are at least partly responsible here, as they must have so little security checks when taking out accounts. You'd think they'd check the person named actually lived at that address, no?

National_Debtline

Hi Sammykate


When you have been a victim of fraud you should be able to contact one of the credit reference agencies who will then liaise with the other two agencies for you. They will work with you to restore your credit file to how it looked before the fraud took place. The phone company should also be contacting all the credit reference agencies they have logged information with to have it removed.


It's certainly worth checking your credit file with all the agencies in case anything else fraudulent has been recorded. As mentioned above it may be worth registering with CIFAS for a small annual fee. This will make it harder for anyone to take out more fraudulent debt in your name.


You'll find some useful contact details in this factsheet on dealing with fraud https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/dealing-with-fraud/Dealing-with-fraud.aspx. I hope you can get it all resolved quickly.


Best wishes


Susie
@natdebtline


Susie
@natdebtline

Sammykate

Thank you Susie. Good to know they should all speak to each other! I will put it through all 3 just to be sure.

T-G-C

I do not understand the infatuation that organizations have with Noodle. It is nothing more than a gimmick to offer tools, tips and resources to unsuccessfully increase your fictitious credit score.

The littlest benefit I see by using them and not the CRAs directly is the monitoring of changes, although someone with their head screwed on will notice unauthorized differences in accounts and searches without a feed telling them so.

Since the GDPR came into force, CallCredit and Equifax now offer free credit file access on-demand, with no additional marketing on the side that doesn't work. The reason Noodle and similar were previously favored choice, was because they offered free access as opposed to the abolished charges.

You can access them here:

https://www.callcreditstatreport.co.uk/

https://www.equifax.co.uk/Products/credit/statutory-report.html

Experian also offer free access, however unfortunately it is a lengthier process requiring an access PIN being sent to your home address. This is not in the interest of your security, but to encourage people to pay the £14.99 and access their file immediately.