Date of Birth given to scammer

ad1927

Good evening,

I had a call today from someone reporting to be from my credit card company.

They said there had been fraudulent activity on my account, and had my address and last 4 digits of the credit card.  They told me that they would be blocking my card, which I was happy with in light of there being fraudulant activity.  

The only information I gave during the call, which in hindsight was pretty stupid of me, was when they asked me to confirm my date of birth.  They asked me to confirm my address, which was the address they already had.  

During the call they asked me for my credit limit - which I didn't give, and also for my most recent transaction, for which I gave false information as I was getting suspicious by this stage.  For example, I asked them to provide my e-mail address which was an old e-mail address and not my current e-mail address.

Following the call, I called up my credit card company who confirmed there hadn't been any fraudulant activity - and I asked them to cancel my credit card.

However, I am now concerned that, with the scammer having details of my date of birth and home address that this information will be enough to cause me problems in the future.  

Aside from cancelling the one credit card for which they knew the last 4 digits, is there anything else I need to do to protect my identity?  I check my credit reports regularly so should get alerted to any bank accounts/credit accounts being set up.  



Many Thanks

ad1927

I have taken out the CIFA protection which I think will add extra protection.  

emperormessia

Why would you cancel your one credit card because of a scam call? 

marcia_

emperormessia said:

Why would you cancel your one credit card because of a scam call? 

 Because the caller had information from that card and the OP gave them further information to allow them to use it. It is wise to cancel the card and get a new one sent out. 

dil1976

marcia_ said:

emperormessia said:

Why would you cancel your one credit card because of a scam call? 

 Because the caller had information from that card and the OP gave them further information to allow them to use it. It is wise to cancel the card and get a new one sent out. 

The last 4 digits of the card used to pay for something are printed onto receipts, so should we cancel our card every time we use it to pay for something?

marcia_

dil1976 said:

marcia_ said:

emperormessia said:

Why would you cancel your one credit card because of a scam call? 

 Because the caller had information from that card and the OP gave them further information to allow them to use it. It is wise to cancel the card and get a new one sent out. 

The last 4 digits of the card used to pay for something are printed onto receipts, so should we cancel our card every time we use it to pay for something?

 You don't give away lots of other personal information every time you pay for something 

ad1927

dil1976 said:

marcia_ said:

emperormessia said:

Why would you cancel your one credit card because of a scam call? 

 Because the caller had information from that card and the OP gave them further information to allow them to use it. It is wise to cancel the card and get a new one sent out. 

The last 4 digits of the card used to pay for something are printed onto receipts, so should we cancel our card every time we use it to pay for something?

No - the receipt will only have those last 4 digits.  

The person who called me had my address, my name, an old e-mail address (useless), and one more piece of the puzzle - my date of birth.  

So, it is quite a bit different from someone just picking up a receipt, and seeking a replacement card, whilst a little inconvenient, does seem pragmatic.

propertyhunter

You've done all you can pretty much - perhaps add passwords to your credit files if you want - otherwise just check them regularly. Check your post regularly, in case the scammers applied for credit cards. If anything fraudulent turns up, just call the company to tell them its fraudulent and they'll remove hard searches from your credit report. 

Fingers crossed you will be fine. 

DullGreyGuy

The reality is there is a lot of information on people out there... anyone who's ever been a statutory director of a company will have their month and year of birth available from Companies House. Many people put on social media what day their birthday is, glue the two together and you've got a full birthday for someone. 

Ultimately its about being careful and keeping on top of things like random credit checks appearing, checking card/bank statements. You could go for protective registration with CIFAS but its not used by everyone and does make your own applications more of a headache too.