Tesco Bank Data Breach ?

LessImpecunious

masonic said:

mebu60 said:

Have now signed up to the Experian offer (with correct mother's maiden name!). 

Nothing exciting in the information they hold on me (which is a good thing!). Newcastle BS did a credit check on me when I opened an ISA with them which is a bit rude! 

Thanks all.

The main value of this service is that you should get an alert when your credit file is searched, so will find out quickly if someone else is applying for credit in your name.

That's what you'd hope... I recently had a free signup to this service with Experian, due to a data breach with my (very large) pension provider. I have begun (recently had a few insurances due for renewal) receiving email and text alerts of searches which arrive c. 10-12 days after the searches were done! I've tried to complain to Experian, and am getting a string of emails which completely avoid addressing my complaint (that there's no point telling me about potential fraud so long after the event) and say that they are removing the searches from my account, so not to worry... I keep replying to each email telling them to refer back to my actual complaint, only to get another email telling me they'll remove a different search from the account... Their FAQs do suggest that some notifications will be sent immediately and some as a weekly summary, but I would have expected them to refer me to this in response to my original complaint if it was relevant - their emails just look like deliberate obfuscation.

My usual conclusion re. late notifications from anywhere is that they are a deliberate ploy (yes, I am paranoid ) to encourage customers to visit the website regularly to improve its visibility/SEO ranking and make them look like the go-to place for their particular area of expertise... Looks like that's working... So I'm now considering contacting my pension provider and suggesting that they're wasting a lot of their/our money by paying for this "service"...

flaneurs_lobster

Are you being informed of "hard" or "soft" searches? Can see the need for more timely warnings of hard searches since these mean an actual application for credit has been made. 

Even so, notifications 10 days after the fact are pretty useless in any context.

LessImpecunious

They are soft searches - but a simple explanation of that in response to my original complaint to them would have been helpful (even if I would still agree with you that there's little point telling me so long after the event). The whole "Experiance" doesn't inspire confidence!

friolento

Would you rather not get notified?

If you want to ensure no fraudulent applications are made in your name, you could buy a protective CIFAS registration. This will ensure extra checks, even if you apply yourself

LessImpecunious

friolento said:

Would you rather not get notified?

No, don't know what makes you think that; I would like to be notified in a timely manner, not 10-12 days later.

flaneurs_lobster

friolento said:

Would you rather not get notified?

If you want to ensure no fraudulent applications are made in your name, you could buy a protective CIFAS registration. This will ensure extra checks, even if you apply yourself

Perhaps the hacked pension administrators should be paying for the protective CIFAS registration, it's £25 for two years. And it doesn't stop fraudulent applications, it flags up to the applied-to organisation that they should take extra care with the application - it's their choice if they take the application forward.

masonic

LessImpecunious said:

masonic said:

mebu60 said:

Have now signed up to the Experian offer (with correct mother's maiden name!). 

Nothing exciting in the information they hold on me (which is a good thing!). Newcastle BS did a credit check on me when I opened an ISA with them which is a bit rude! 

Thanks all.

The main value of this service is that you should get an alert when your credit file is searched, so will find out quickly if someone else is applying for credit in your name.

That's what you'd hope... I recently had a free signup to this service with Experian, due to a data breach with my (very large) pension provider. I have begun (recently had a few insurances due for renewal) receiving email and text alerts of searches which arrive c. 10-12 days after the searches were done! I've tried to complain to Experian, and am getting a string of emails which completely avoid addressing my complaint (that there's no point telling me about potential fraud so long after the event) and say that they are removing the searches from my account, so not to worry... I keep replying to each email telling them to refer back to my actual complaint, only to get another email telling me they'll remove a different search from the account... Their FAQs do suggest that some notifications will be sent immediately and some as a weekly summary, but I would have expected them to refer me to this in response to my original complaint if it was relevant - their emails just look like deliberate obfuscation.

My usual conclusion re. late notifications from anywhere is that they are a deliberate ploy (yes, I am paranoid ) to encourage customers to visit the website regularly to improve its visibility/SEO ranking and make them look like the go-to place for their particular area of expertise... Looks like that's working... So I'm now considering contacting my pension provider and suggesting that they're wasting a lot of their/our money by paying for this "service"...

You get quite a good service for free from the two other CRA's. I usually get notified the same day as I apply for a new account if a hard search is done. I previously had 12 months of Experian's service and from memory they did alert me within a reasonable timeframe of a hard search.

You wouldn't want notification about soft searches, as any organisation can do them at any time for any number of reasons, so seeing one wouldn't be any cause for concern.