Current account fraud 13 September 2022 at 7:17AM in Budgeting & bank accounts 44 replies 2.4K views

emm12345

Hi,

I pay for experian & equifax accounts to track my credit score. Last night I received an email from equifax saying that a new search was recorded. Initially I thought that maybe it’s a mistake but logged in to check just in case.. I’ve noticed that a hard search for hsbc account was showing for 11 Sept. I also noticed soft searches for clearscore & credithubble. So someone accessed my CRA info..
rang hsbc & they confirmed that account was opened in my name and said that they’ll investigate. They were not able to give me more info so have no idea if someone took out a loan in my account… Any advice? 

TadleyBaggie

Wait for HSBC to complete their investigation?

Oh and stop paying Experian and Equifax, you can get the information for free.

Daliah

Definitely stop paying for access to your credit files as you can get that all for free: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/

It's good you spotted the issue, and you should rightly be concerned that somebody was able to open an account in your name. They weren't likely to do this with data from your CRA files but they know all your "vitals": name, DOB, address at a minimum. 

As you have flagged the issue with HSBC, that's likely to be the end of this particular issue but you need to keep an eye on your credit files. You can also pay for a protective CIFAS registration to reduce the risk of further occurrences. https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr

As an extra precaution, you could run antivirus and MalwareBytes, and also change your existing passwords.

[Deleted User]

Your credit score is 100% a gimmick, no-one but you ever sees it. Stop paying for this nonsense

All lenders score you using their own internal systems that you will never see

emm12345

It’s freaking me out as a current account opening requires passport & proof of ID. HSBC fraud department will take 14 working days to look into it. My main worry is that hsbc will place CIFAS marker that will in turn affect my mortgage application. We have exchanged contracts but might need to re-apply/extend offer date and this is terrible timing. This & the fact that someone can so easily impersonate me has caused me an extreme stress. Going to try going to the branch to see if they can tell me more 😬

binao

HSBC have failed in their duty of care in permitting ID fraud.

If you raise an official complaint with HSBC and mention compensation for stress, your time, mortgage problems, etc  you will see real high speed action.

Good luck 

Daliah

emm12345 said:

It’s freaking me out as a current account opening requires passport & proof of ID. HSBC fraud department will take 14 working days to look into it.

They may well have confirmed the ID electronically (CRAs and Electoral Register), which is the normal way banks do this. Passport and othet proof of ID is only needed if electronic verification fails. Stop freaking out. It’s been stopped. If HSBC give you a fraud market for it (highly unlikely), complain

Daliah

binao said:

HSBC have failed in their duty of care in permitting ID fraud.

If you raise an official complaint with HSBC and mention compensation for stress, your time, mortgage problems, etc  you will see real high speed action.

Good luck 

How exactly have HSBC failed in their duty of care? How were they meant to notice the application was fraudulent?

oldagetraveller1

Isn't it a shame that the MSE link refers to "check your credit score"?

"Alternatively, read our How to check your credit score for free guide below or check out our Credit scores guide for tips on how to improve your score."

marcia_

 I've read a marker placed on your file should indicate you as a victim not perpetrator of fraud. This should stop it happening again. 

Ebe_Scrooge

oldagetraveller1 said:

Isn't it a shame that the MSE link refers to "check your credit score"?

"Alternatively, read our How to check your credit score for free guide below or check out our Credit scores guide for tips on how to improve your score."

I agree that it's a somewhat misleading headline.  But in fairness, the introduction does state:

"

IMPORTANT: Your credit history impacts your creditworthiness but you DON'T have a uniform credit score or credit rating

Don't fall for the misconceptions, as in the UK, there's no one credit rating or score that is a market-wide judge of your creditworthiness, and there's no blacklist of banned people.

While individual credit reference agencies may give you a score, that is simply their view of your history, sometimes as a means to sell you that verdict as part of a subscription service.

Yet the agencies just collect data that they share with lenders. It's lenders that make decisions whether to give you credit and each lender scores you differently and secretly, and their scores are far more important. "

The bottom line - the score that the CRAs give you is as much use as a chocolate teapot, but the individual score generated by a lender is very important.  Just a shame that no-one will ever know what that internal score is, as it's confidential and commercially sensitive.