Mum's receiving somebody else's mail - possible identity fraud

Okell

BoGoF said:

How on earth can it be ID fraud if the named person is not the mother. ID fraud is using another persons details to obtain credit etc.

If the mail is addressed to someone else the correct advise is to return to sender as 'not known at this address'. 

Well the OP and her mother don't know what's happening, do they?

Neither do you or I.

Now you might be the world's foremost expert in ID theft scams and you might be able to reassure the OP that her mother has nothing to worry about.

Or it might be that this is an ID scam that you aren't aware of.  (I understand they can be quite tricky and play a long game...)

I don't know and neither do you.

The sensible thing to do is for the OP to open the correctly delivered mail and to make an assessment of why this is happening.

There might be a totally innocent explanation.

Or there might not be.

I don't think that sticking your head (or your mother's head) in the sand and just putting "return to sender" is a good idea.

Of course if it escalates to bailiffs etc you'll be on hand to sort it out...

BoGoF

Okell said:

BoGoF said:

How on earth can it be ID fraud if the named person is not the mother. ID fraud is using another persons details to obtain credit etc.

If the mail is addressed to someone else the correct advise is to return to sender as 'not known at this address'. 

Well the OP and her mother don't know what's happening, do they?

Neither do you or I.

Now you might be the world's foremost expert in ID theft scams and you might be able to reassure the OP that her mother has nothing to worry about.

Or it might be that this is an ID scam that you aren't aware of.  (I understand they can be quite tricky and play a long game...)

I don't know and neither do you.

The sensible thing to do is for the OP to open the correctly delivered mail and to make an assessment of why this is happening.

There might be a totally innocent explanation.

Or there might not be.

I don't think that sticking your head (or your mother's head) in the sand and just putting "return to sender" is a good idea.

Of course if it escalates to bailiffs etc you'll be on hand to sort it out...

No need for all the drama.

So they phone up these companies and then what? Are you the customer? No, well can't speak to you.  Best case scenario is that they note the phone call that the person doesn't live at the address, exact same as returning the mail as 'not known'. OP has already said they won't speak to them.

Maybe you should look at what ID theft is instead of putting worst case scenarios out there and scaring people. If it were in their name then different matter.

marcia_

Okell said:

Floyd_Pink said:

Return to sender and pop them back in the post with not known at this address.

Well that's no help is it?

The OP has done the right thing by opening the mail and trying to get it sorted out.

The last thing her elderly mother needs is the possibility of bailiffs etc turning up trying to enforce a debt against "Mr Smith" because they've ignored obvious warning signs.

(It's a widely held misconception that you can't open mail that has been correctly delivered to your address but is addressed to someone you don't know.  It isn't an offence unless you intend to cause the addressee some sort of detriment.  In these days of identity fraud I'd advise anyone to open any mail correctly delivered to their address but in the name of someone unknown to them.  Why take a chance?)

 But she can't sort it. Phoning the companies will not get results as the letters are not in her name so the company won't discuss it with her. 

 They should however take note if letters keep being returned. 

RefluentBeans

OP does you mother have accounts with these companies (Barclaycard or Scottish Widows)? It may be worth, if she does, telling them that someone at this house is vulnerable etc. At the very least, if they send in a debt collection agency (and the debt collection agency isn’t aware someone who resides at the property is vulnerable) then you can have that as a defence. 

Ultimately, if you are concerned, the best people to speak to will be someone like Action Fraud/the Police. They are more likely to be able to figure out what’s going on. Like you say Barclaycard or Scottish Widows won’t be wanting to give you information on someone else’s account (I wouldn’t want my landlord to be able to call up my Bank and say ‘I own this house, tell me about RefluentBeans account please’). But if the police (or Action Fraud) get involved they’ll at least be aware of the scams etc. 

Additionally, as others have said you can get a credit check to see what her credit score is looking like. No need to pay for one - quite a services do free ones now. 

Sarahspangles

If the fraudsters are spending someone else’s Scottish Widows pension and have opened a Barclaycard in his name on the back of this new address then it does sound like identity fraud.

I’ve tried returning mail to sender, addressed to multiple previous residents, and most organisations appear to take no notice, it keeps coming. After a couple of years in this house I rang each sender informing them that in future I’d simply shred the letters.

born_again

MCT56 said:

If it was me I'd send them a letter by recorded deliver explaining your concerns and spelling out that no-one of that name has ever stayed at your relatives house. Ask them not to send anymore correspondence as it's very concerning. The last thing you want is debt collectors turning up unannounced, if you can prevent it. Keep a copy of any correspondence. 

Recorded delivery is just a waste of money.. Any large organisation does not sign for each letter. It is bulk signed by RM.
As it would be attached to no account. it would not go anywhere.

Send the original letter back is the way forward.

powerful_Rogue

RefluentBeans said:

OP does you mother have accounts with these companies (Barclaycard or Scottish Widows)? It may be worth, if she does, telling them that someone at this house is vulnerable etc. At the very least, if they send in a debt collection agency (and the debt collection agency isn’t aware someone who resides at the property is vulnerable) then you can have that as a defence. 

Ultimately, if you are concerned, the best people to speak to will be someone like Action Fraud/the Police. They are more likely to be able to figure out what’s going on. Like you say Barclaycard or Scottish Widows won’t be wanting to give you information on someone else’s account (I wouldn’t want my landlord to be able to call up my Bank and say ‘I own this house, tell me about RefluentBeans account please’). But if the police (or Action Fraud) get involved they’ll at least be aware of the scams etc. 

Additionally, as others have said you can get a credit check to see what her credit score report is looking like. No need to pay for one - quite a services do free ones now. 

Just a slight correction.

user1977

RefluentBeans said:

Ultimately, if you are concerned, the best people to speak to will be someone like Action Fraud/the Police. They are more likely to be able to figure out what’s going on.

They might offer some general advice, but they're very unlikely to do more about the specific issue (especially as, on the face of it, we don't even know there is fraud involved).

TELLIT01

Tell her not to open any mail not addressed to her.  Put it back in the post with "Not known at this address".  There is no need to anything more than that.

born_again

powerful_Rogue said:

RefluentBeans said:

OP does you mother have accounts with these companies (Barclaycard or Scottish Widows)? It may be worth, if she does, telling them that someone at this house is vulnerable etc. At the very least, if they send in a debt collection agency (and the debt collection agency isn’t aware someone who resides at the property is vulnerable) then you can have that as a defence. 

Ultimately, if you are concerned, the best people to speak to will be someone like Action Fraud/the Police. They are more likely to be able to figure out what’s going on. Like you say Barclaycard or Scottish Widows won’t be wanting to give you information on someone else’s account (I wouldn’t want my landlord to be able to call up my Bank and say ‘I own this house, tell me about RefluentBeans account please’). But if the police (or Action Fraud) get involved they’ll at least be aware of the scams etc. 

Additionally, as others have said you can get a credit check to see what her credit score report is looking like. No need to pay for one - quite a services do free ones now. 

Just a slight correction.

End of the day, the report is on the person, not the address.