My name and address has been stolen to setup a fraudulent Laybuy account,

DanWilliams81

Hi all.

I am being chased by a debt recovery firm over a £320 debt made with Laybuy. I have never heard of Laybuy until this summons came through, never used them, never used their app, but says I have an account with them which was setup on November 26th 2023.

The thief has made 4 separate orders from that date, and the first decline date was December 31st. Since then it has been stewing and got sent over to debt recovery. I contacted them today and they've put a stop on the account, but I have since received no response from Laybuy. I have warned them that if there is no response by Friday 12th, the bank fraud teams and the police will be contacted. I have also demanded to know what the 4 orders were in terms of items.

But here's where it gets very strange. Laybuy only allow personal accounts to be setup by app, so someone's phone will have surely left a trace. Nothing has come through on any of my emails, nor on my phone. I check my Internet Banking everyday, and no alerts exist for fraudulent activity. So how has someone used my name and address, without my phone number or an email address linked to my account to setup an account with a company like Laybuy? Have they redirected the delivery and if so, to whom and where? Surely the courier used got a POD. 

My biggest question is how have Laybuy honoured this account in my name and address with nothing verifying who they are? Is this a concerning glitch in this new digital anti-fraud ID system that fraudsters have already found loopholes to exploit?

Where do I stand in this? Have Laybuy blatantly and criminally violated my rights here?

Thanks

Daniel

p00hsticks

DanWilliams81 said:

 I have also demanded to know what the 4 orders were in terms of items.

I don't think you can both claim the account is nothing to do with you but then expect them to tell you what was ordered (or where it was sent) - it's either your account and they can tell you about it or it's not and they can't. ..

I'd also suggest that if you are using your real name (and possibly your year of birth ?) as a username for this forum then for security reasons and to help prevent such types of fraud you change it - the MSE team will do it for you if you ask. (You can contact the MSE forum team via forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com or send them a message by reporting your post) 

Nasqueron

Why are you giving them a deadline? Report it to action fraud immediately if there is a fraudulent account in your name and tell the company to remove all trace of your account from your credit record

TheValleyBoy

Hi Everybody

I appear to be in exactly the same boat as Daniel, above. I recently had a letter from a debt collection mob, alleging that I owed money to LayBuy....who, equally, I had never heard of.

I protested and the debt collectors replied promptly to say they are closing the account, and asked me to contact LayBuy, which I have done.

Now LayBuy want me to supply my full name and date of birth and to lodge a complaint with the Police.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

I'm rather wary of supplying that info to LayBuy!

Best wishes

TVB

Nasqueron

TheValleyBoy said:

Hi Everybody

I appear to be in exactly the same boat as Daniel, above. I recently had a letter from a debt collection mob, alleging that I owed money to LayBuy....who, equally, I had never heard of.

I protested and the debt collectors replied promptly to say they are closing the account, and asked me to contact LayBuy, which I have done.

Now LayBuy want me to supply my full name and date of birth and to lodge a complaint with the Police.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this?

I'm rather wary of supplying that info to LayBuy!

Best wishes

TVB

If you don't support a police report for fraud they will just claim you are trying to skip out on your debt. You could equally report it to action fraud yourself and give them the crime reference details

Nadrojxoxo

Hi All, 

I'm in the situation as Daniel and TBV, my personal details were used to create a fraudulent email address that was used on 4 LayBuy purchases. Experian won't remove the defaulted accounts until LayBuy contact them and of course that hasn't happened. 

It's odd because the debt was sold to a debt collectors, so my belief is that it's the debt collectors responsible for contacting Experian? But my knowledge in this area is severely lacking. 

Now with LayBuy in administration, I'm concerned it will remain on my Credit Report (which it has damaged significantly). Any thoughts on the best process in this instance? 

I've hired a Cyber Investigator as I believe I know who used my details, but they've already noted how poor LayBuy's security is. 

Feel free to share anything you think may be of guidance  thanks! 

Kind Regards,

sourcrates

Firstly its not a summons, its just a debt collection letter, from a 3rd party debt collector, who will be working on behalf of the client company, lay buy.

Now that they are in administration, sooner or later there loan book will be sold to realise assets.

If you suspect fraudulent activity, and this goes for anyone, not just the OP, report the matter to Action Fraud, get a crime reference number, and quote that to anyone who writes asking you for money.

As for removing fraudulent information from your credit file, you must first complain to Lay buy, although whether they will still respond or not I don`t know.

You have the option of escalating to the ICO, which may be your best bet at a resolution here.

Teapot55

The results from a search on Companies House may be of interest:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search?q=Laybuy