Identity theft

stacey4857

I’m not sure if this is the right place for this but here goes.
My husband was a victim of identity theft about two years ago, they bought furniture from DFS, applied for other accounts etc. He registered with CIFAS, put a password on his Experian account and all has been fine, until yesterday. I got an alert from Credit Karma to say I had a new search on my file, I had a look and it was an 'associate search' for a TSB current account. He hadn’t applied for it so we obviously knew something wasn’t right. He called TSB and someone has opened an account using his first name, DOB and address, the funny thing is, is that they used a shortened version of our surname and they put an incorrect amount of time at our address (9 years instead of months) but TSB still opened the account, they also didn’t request his Experian password or do any other checks even though he is registered with CIFAS. My question is, is there anything else we can do to try and prevent more accounts etc from being opened? It seems the appropriate checks just aren’t being done by lenders/banks which makes me think that we don’t stand a chance.

[Deleted User]

Is the CIFA protection still valid? It lasts for two years, so it may need to be renewed.

stacey4857

Yes still valid, just. It needs renewing soon.

Ben8282

Has anybody noticed how the never previously mentioned putting passwords on Experian accounts has been mentioned on at least 3 threads in the last few days. I think its promote passwords on Experian accounts week.

Now WHY would anybody open a TSB current account in your husband's name using your correct address? WHY? How would they get the debit card and PIN for for a start? Do you believe your postman to be the guilty party? Does somebody have access to your letter box?

stacey4857

I have no idea WHY they would open the account or how they would get access to the pin or card. As I stated it wasn’t his actual name, first name and a shortened version of our surname, they missed 'son' off of the end. No I don’t believe it’s the postman as again as I stated, this started nearly two years ago and we’ve only lived at the current address for a matter of months.

Ben8282

stacey4857 wrote: »

I have no idea WHY they would open the account or how they would get access to the pin or card. As I stated it wasn’t his actual name, first name and a shortened version of our surname, they missed 'son' off of the end. No I don’t believe it’s the postman as again as I stated, this started nearly two years ago and we’ve only lived at the current address for a matter of months.

Exactly. So this all started two years ago when you lived at your previous address but despite the Experian password and the CIFAS, the identity thief has managed to find out your new address and has pursued you to your new address and two years later has started again, making a current account application in your husband's name for no apparent reason, for no apparent gain and even you don't understand why or how he will get debit card, PIN, statements etc as he has no access to your post yet this identity thief managed to get all the other details correct to make this application …..

stacey4857

I’m sorry am I missing something? you’re going to need to point it out to me.

Hasbeen

stacey4857 wrote: »

we’ve only lived at the current address for a matter of months.

So friend or relative then?

stacey4857

Unlikely but if it was then they would of used his correct surname.

stacey4857

Ben8282 wrote: »

Exactly. So this all started two years ago when you lived at your previous address but despite the Experian password and the CIFAS, the identity thief has managed to find out your new address and has pursued you to your new address and two years later has started again, making a current account application in your husband's name for no apparent reason, for no apparent gain and even you don't understand why or how he will get debit card, PIN, statements etc as he has no access to your post yet this identity thief managed to get all the other details correct to make this application …..

I’m still not getting your point, I’m really not sure what you would like me to say, these are the facts regardless if you choose to believe them or not. I have no idea what he or she could gain from doing this as funnily enough, I haven’t done it personally. For all I know they could wait outside my house for the postman. I asked if there is anything else we could do to prevent this and as yet you’ve offered absolutely no advice or info so I’m not really sure why you would use your valuable time to comment.

stacey4857

Experian have said that they don’t know why TSB didn’t ask for their password and TSB have no idea why none of this was flagged up.