New Halifax C.Card with just a name & postcode

Sillychuckie

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Exactly right ..... it's the main source of genuine ID for fraudsters. But it's random selection at main sorting office level across the incoming mail streams from DVLA etc. A) and could never go together .... unless it's your postman doing it. And that's still a very unusual situation.

Since cards and pins are never sent together... and any loan application would no doubt cause a confirmation to be sent out to the address, I find it difficult to believe that their methods just rely on a random selection.
I agree its a possible starting point, but once they decide to target someone, they would have to continue to interfere in order to make the fraud work (either by picking up other connecting letters, such as the PIN notification... or by simply preventing things that might alert the real person).
There must be more complicated methods for the more sophisticated attempts, especially since one often requires 2 different proofs of address confirmation for many application.

I'll keep doing my bits to prevent fraud (shredding stuff, regular statement checks etc...), but it would have been nice to see the bank take 10 seconds to ask for an ID flash. Oh well, such is life.

SC.

MrsBartolozzi

Did you have to sign the form or anything?
When I opened a new extra basic current account (for Paypal and Quidco money transfers) a few months ago, all I needed to provide were similar details to the OP, but when I signed the form my signature was checked against the electronic one they keep on file, and was told that was all they needed to prove I was me!!
This was the RBS by the way.

MRSB.

Iamthesmartestmanalive

There are also a lot of back end fraud systems

For example if you change your address on a credit card on or very soon after opening its blocked and passed for highly scrutinised fraud checks

Also I very much doubt you went in and went im ))))) i want a credit card, you must have given other info for them to access your records and this could count as security checks

Frankly I think you should stop being so paranoid and trust the professionals who do it every day as opposed to your own amatuer mind which doesnt know what is talking about

Sillychuckie

I signed the credit agreement, sure... but they didn't check the signature against anything.
As for 'Iamthesmartestmanalive', as I made clear in the original post, the only details I gave were my name and postcode. This was enough for them to find my other account on the system and assume I was who I said I was.
All I'm saying is, anyone could have done this pretending to be me.

At least with online applications, they ask for far more personal details (which they can then tally up against your credit reports) to verify you are who you say you are. They should have done this, and, whilst one employee was adamant they had acted correctly, the other admitted they could have made more stringent checks.

Not sure why you are being agressive and saying 'my amatuer mind doesn't know what its talking about'. You clearly haven't been the victim of ID fraud before. When you have, come back to me and see if you are as blas'e.

For the sake of a 5 second "got any ID?" question, and another 5 second "yep, here it is." answer... I can't really see any reason why not to.

bathgatebuyer

Being cynical, but any postman would see the Halifax address on the back of your statements and it wouldn't take much for him or someone within the service to intercept a new card.

I would complain - it's not the actual employee you have an issue with, it's their processes.

Mikeyorks

Sillychuckie wrote: »

I find it difficult to believe that their methods just rely on a random selection.
I agree its a possible starting point, but once they decide to target someone, they would have to continue to interfere in order to make the fraud work (either by picking up other connecting letters, such as the PIN notification... or by simply preventing things that might alert the real person).

An average 80M letters a day transit the PO system. So a fraudster attempting to pick 2 separate items for an individual - would be there a while, before they were successful!

As earlier, they work the input streams from key organisations. Pick up key single items of ID - then create the matching piece by scanning in a base document (such as a utility bill) and overkeying it to match the items they already have.

The only place they can pick up 2 complementary items is by working the output streams - where mail comes together at 'postman round' level. Even the daftest of them avoid that - as it's where the PO investigators put most effort.

thriftymomma

dmg24 wrote: »

They would not change your address without proof of your new details.

That's not true actually, I changed my address simply by walking into the branch and telling the lady at the counter the other day.