Identity Fraud

garsynewell

Hi all hope you can help with an issue I am having with AO and their finance partner Newday.

So, last year I had my identity stolen and some fraudulent accounts were set up in my name. One with the TSB, one with Next Retail and one with AO. I thwarted the TSB application as all the documents were sent to me and I obviously informed them straight away. The Next and AO ones I only noticed because I started getting unpaid account letters, I checked on my credit file and accounts had been set up on the same day and purchases made on finance in my name. Next were brilliant and recognised it was fraud straight away and had the account shut down within 48 hours. AO have been a nightmare !

AO's finance is handled by a company called Newday. I spoke to AO and they said they would investigate, I also spoke to Newday and they said they would investigate as well. In the meantime I logged the fraud with Action Fraud.

This is where the problems begin. The item that the fraudsters ordered was an iMac and Newday spoke to DPD, the courier company, and they said they had evidence that the item had been delivered to my property even though I didn't order it. I requested this evidence and they provided me with a photo of the "delivery". The photo is of my doorstep with the package outside with my foot in the picture. There is no signature for the item, just the picture.


The package was rejected as the name on the delivery was not my name or anybody who lives at my property and obviously I was not expecting a delivery from AO. However, the delivery driver has logged it as delivered and signed for by under the name of Sparrow, there is nobody here with that name. Newday and AO are insisting that this picture is proof enough that the package was delivered and are holding me liable for the debt and of course this is destroying my credit score. I have even got a picture of the delivery notice because AO, by mistake, sent somebody to pick the iMac up, which I don't have. But the driver let me take a picture of the delivery note and lo and behold the name is not my name, it is under Andrew Sparrow and the phone number on the delivery note is not my phone number. Yet they still will not accept it.

I have made official complaints to Newday and AO both have been rejected both stating they have evidenced the item has been delivered. I have referred the case to the Financial Ombudsman but they have informed me its going to take at least 9 to 12 months to even start an investigation.

I have spoken to the police and whist they have agreed that its fraud and it looks like its part of an elaborate scam they are unwilling to open an investigation as this is what Action Fraud is for. Although Action Fraud seem to be doing nothing and AO and Newday don't seem to care that Action Fraud have been informed.

Of course one of the other problems I am having is everything is electronic from the setting up of the account with AO to the finance with Newday so there are no physical signatures anywhere and because it was setup under a fraudulent e-mail and phone number I have no documents.

So, my question is, where do I go now, I've pretty much hit a brick wall ? Is there any legal route I can go down ?

The frustrating bit about this is I have spent hours and hours on this with phone calls, e-mails, letters and I am getting nowhere. I am the victim in all this yet AO and Newday are basically calling me a liar.

Sorry this is long winded, any help or advice as to where I can go now would be much appreciated.

Thanks

amazonwebservices

Action Fraud are useless.

I don't see how this is an elaborate scam if it went back into the hands of the delivery driver who "lost" it.

Raise an official complaint with AO stating clearly what you've stated here.

If they knock you back or 8 weeks passes, make a complaint with the FOS.

nyermen

OP has already referred to FOS, sounds like they've done the processes (although someone more experienced can confirm).

What doesn't make any sense is that they claim they've delivered a package to an Andrew Sparrow, but why is the finance in your name if so.  That should be a red herring immediately. 

They can easily do an identity check to confirm no such name exists at the property (and quite frankly, a new.account being setup, billed to one person at an address but delivered to a different name, should have been an immediate flag).  That said, there's clearly something odd with the DPD driver / delivery, but that should be their problem not yours. 

You may have to keep all correspondence, continue disputing the debt (make sure you insist all contact is by post so you have everything in writing), and have your day in court sadly.

garsynewell

amazonwebservices said:

Action Fraud are useless.

I don't see how this is an elaborate scam if it went back into the hands of the delivery driver who "lost" it.

Raise an official complaint with AO stating clearly what you've stated here.

If they knock you back or 8 weeks passes, make a complaint with the FOS.

Yep already done but FOS have said it will take at the least 9-12 months for an investigation to even begin.

Yes I agree Action Fraud are useless I have spoken to them a number of times and they really are not interested, they even say on their website that they do not have investigative powers. They are just an information gathering organisation and these companies seem to know this hence why saying that you have reported it to Action Fraud makes no difference whatsoever. This is why I went to the police and although very understanding and informative, they just refer you back to Action Fraud.

It was the police who said it was an elaborate scam and they said they are aware of a number of scams like this occurring. My question to that is why are they not doing anything about it ?

garsynewell

nyermen said:

OP has already referred to FOS, sounds like they've done the processes (although someone more experienced can confirm).

What doesn't make any sense is that they claim they've delivered a package to an Andrew Sparrow, but why is the finance in your name if so.  That should be a red herring immediately. 

They can easily do an identity check to confirm no such name exists at the property (and quite frankly, a new.account being setup, billed to one person at an address but delivered to a different name, should have been an immediate flag).  That said, there's clearly something odd with the DPD driver / delivery, but that should be their problem not yours. 

You may have to keep all correspondence, continue disputing the debt (make sure you insist all contact is by post so you have everything in writing), and have your day in court sadly.

Agree, it really doesn't make sense and should have rang alarm bells with AO that the delivery name was different as soon as the order was placed.

I can guess what has happened and the DPD driver is definitely part of it. They have done the order in a different name, they try to deliver the item which the majority of the time will get rejected as its not in the name of the person who lives there, take a sneaky photo to "prove" that it's been "delivered" and walk off with a brand new item with AO and Newday accepting that is has been delivered, and of course because of COVID and no physical signatures it makes it all the easier. 

Judging by conversations I have had with AO it looks like the fraudsters have my name, address and date of birth. Thats it. Yet they have been able to open an account with AO, purchase an item and get finance on that item. It is scary what they can do with a little bit of information. I suppose the one thing I do have is I now have a CIFAS marker on my credit record so any credit applied for have to go through stringent checks. This was provided free of charge by Next Retail, who, as I said, were brilliant in all of this.

I'm just wondering if it worth getting some legal advice now. I have kept all the correspondence but even that has been a pain in the backside as I requested that any correspondence between myself and Newday be conducted over e-mail so I have a paper trail and they refused saying they don't work that way and queries are dealt with over the phone !