credit reference agencies, fraud, identity theft etc

Squareclean

Is it worth it to keep monthly subscription to both Experian and Equifax while having credit to keep an eye what changes are done on my credit file just to make sure that nobody is committing fraud on my account, using my details, taking out loans in my name etc?. Are there any better and cheaper ways to protect oneself from fraud? Thank you.

marcia_

Squareclean said:

Is it worth it to keep monthly subscription to both Experian and Equifax while having credit to keep an eye what changes are done on my credit file just to make sure that nobody is committing fraud on my account, using my details, taking out loans in my name etc?. Are there any better and cheaper ways to protect oneself from fraud? Thank you.

Your credit score is not real, it means nothing. Each bank and credit provider makes their own assessment 

try free credit records apps. I use clearscore https://www.clearscore.com/

There is also cifas https://www.cifas.org.uk/pr for protective registration.

 Do you have a particular reason to think you might be a victim of fraud?  

fatbelly

You shouldn't pay for credit reports.

Monthly checks can be done via credit karma/ clearscore.

If Experian want to price themselves out, just do an annual statutory report

MEM62

There are no compelling reasons to subscribe to either of those organisations - and why would you when all the information is available free of charge?   

steven141

If you are paying for both of these it may be worth subscribing to checkmyfile.com this is the only way to subscribe to all 3 they have a 7 day free trial and then £14.99 a month but if you only want an update once a week you can go to cancel and they will offer you the report for £9.99 a month with a weekly update. Otherwise it’s best subscribing to ClearScore (Equifax) and Credit Karma (TransUnion) for free and then getting the annual free Experian statutory report. 

marcia_

steven141 said:

If you are paying for both of these it may be worth subscribing to checkmyfile.com this is the only way to subscribe to all 3 they have a 7 day free trial and then £14.99 a month but if you only want an update once a week you can go to cancel and they will offer you the report for £9.99 a month with a weekly update. Otherwise it’s best subscribing to ClearScore (Equifax) and Credit Karma (TransUnion) for free and then getting the annual free Experian statutory report. 

 No idea why anyone would pay that given you can get the free.

Squareclean

Thank you!

Do these free sites also show in their free reports if there is some suspicious activity coming up. The other day I had my debit card used by an unauthorised person and there was a trace on Experian that somebody had probably used my card to do something, but I don't know what. There was a connection with a bank that I never had any affiliation with. No loan or credit was taken, though, and I also cancelled this debit card with my bank but still there was some trace that somebody had used this card. My bank blocked this card and let me know through the fraud team that there was some suspicious activity.

How to counteract such situations apart from the obvious like never share your details with anyone you don't trust - which I did on that occasion a few years back but now I'm trying to be cautious.

Thank you very much for any tips.

Nasqueron

Squareclean said:

Thank you!

Do these free sites also show in their free reports if there is some suspicious activity coming up. The other day I had my debit card used by an unauthorised person and there was a trace on Experian that somebody had probably used my card to do something, but I don't know what. There was a connection with a bank that I never had any affiliation with. No loan or credit was taken, though, and I also cancelled this debit card with my bank but still there was some trace that somebody had used this card. My bank blocked this card and let me know through the fraud team that there was some suspicious activity.

How to counteract such situations apart from the obvious like never share your details with anyone you don't trust - which I did on that occasion a few years back but now I'm trying to be cautious.

Thank you very much for any tips.

Clearscore and Credit Karma are the free front end for Equifax and Trans Union - they show things like applications for accounts etc. Debit card use is not reported unless you have open banking and let them monitor your bank account but the cards I use normally have alerts in app when I spend so it's not necessary to use open banking. 

The fraud stuff happens sadly, you did the right thing and the bank followed correct procedure.

If you are really worried and believe you are at risk, apply for a CIFAS protective register which is £30 for 3 years or something like that and adds an extra step of security