Credit rating poor due to fraud 26 July 2018 at 12:50PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Credit File & Ratings 5 replies 746 views

Jesslouisewood

So a £3000 loan was taken out fraudulently in my name back in October. I’ve contacted barclaycafd partner finance 3 times about this and they haven’t sent me the correct forms to fill in. They then get a debt collector Onto me so I have given the the debt collector a crime reference number. I’ve now seen that my credit rating is poor as a result of the fraud. I call Barclays today and they said they will send forms today but I have to wait for a decision. They won’t improve my credit score until then and apparently they weren’t told about the crime ref number I gave to the debt collector by the Barclays collections team. I told them I need a good credit rating to get a new job cos I work in finance. But no budge. I’ve just been told an application for a job in banking has been refused due to my poor credit rating. Is there anything I can do?! This is awful.

System

You could write to the CRAs and ask them to put a note on the record stating that it is a fraudulent application however there's a risk of a CIFAS marker which would royally stuff you. Unfortunately it is just going to take time.

[Deleted User]

I would speak to the company as there is no such thing as a credit score or credit rating - it's made up by the CRA's

macman

It's 9 months since the fraud-when did you discover it? Surely a written complaint to Barclays should have been made before it got to the stage of DCA's calling on you?

National_Debtline

Hi Jesslouisewood and welcome to MSE,


If you are dissatisfied with Barclays response you could escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service and ask them to investigate. Explain that you raised this issue with Barclays and a debt collector over 8 weeks ago and the matter is yet to be investigated. Explain that this is now having an affect on your employment situation and you need it resolving ASAP.


Hopefully, that will help speed things up. Please be aware that if the ombudsman concludes the matter to be fraudulent, then your credit file should be corrected. However, if for any reason you are deemed liable, the debt will remain on your credit file, plus the debt would need to be repaid. Best of luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

T-G-C

Can I ask what is causing the problem on your credit file? Are you referring to the impact that the £3000 loan account has had with other lenders (or employment) or a CIFAS fraud entry?

If you didn't commit the fraud, CIFAS should work in your favor, with something like protective registration to prevent this happening again in the future. If someone successfully obtained such a substantial amount using your details, I would take proactive measures for the future.

Do you know who committed the fraud? If so, I take it you have reported them to the police, if not, I take it they are investigating who? I can't see a £3000 loan being sent out through instant decision / instant payout, didn't Barclays require some form of physical or scanned ID to validate the loan application or something similar?