Fraudulent activity from 2020 has now appeared as a default on my credit file!

sourcrates

milkyjoeboosh said:

I received a letter from the bailiff on Saturday morning, stating that I have 7 days to resolve this or they will be visiting my property!

Thank you again! I haven't slept for worrying...

Just to clarify, what do you mean by bailiff????

In order for a bailiff to be involved this would have to have been to court, a CCJ awarded, and you have failed to pay what the court ordered.

Now if non of that has taken place, the letter would have been from a debt collector, threatening a doorstep visit, not a bailiff, a very important distinction, and a different situation entirely.

eskbanker

milkyjoeboosh said:

ACI are saying, quite ridiculously, that this isn't sufficient as the debt they're now chasing could relate to a different credit agreement that I took out with PerfectHome (even though the company names, dates and fake address all match with the details Perch have added back on to my credit file, and are now chasing). They initially suggested I contact PerfectHome, asking for proof the account had been closed/was fraudulent, but they entered administration in 2022, which is why Perch now have this, so I have no way of giving ACI what they're asking for. I don't think ACI have realised that the very same fake address has been re-added by Perch, which surely proves it's the same fraudulent debt from 2020, and so maybe I call and bring this to their attention and see if they change their tune? If that fails, time to draft that letter to Perch, I guess...

Unfortunately, most of my communication with PerfectHome back then was done over the phone.

Basically, Perch Capital have a added fraudulent credit account and a fraudulent linked address, from October 2020, back onto my credit file and are chasing me for the debt (even though it was all handled at the time... or so I thought...)

I don't know what the current status of PerfectHome's administration is but would assume that the debt collection must have been initiated by someone there, so it's perhaps worth trying to contact the administrators:

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/perfecthome-enters-administration

My understanding of the usual process to dispute debts is that sending a 'prove it' letter should be the first port of call, putting the onus on the chaser to demonstrate that the debt is legitimate, i.e. it's their responsibility to prove that you do owe the money rather than yours to prove that you don't.

All of these companies are compelled to share all personal data with you, under the Subject Access Request provisions of the Data Protection Act, so that may be another route to try, in terms of teasing out the facts of what happened in 2020 and since.

milkyjoeboosh

I've managed to get some further information from Barclays. It looks like that was from separate fraudulent activity at the time - the fraudster had also used my details at Wayfair! I didn't even know about that one. The fraudster used the same address for both stores!

milkyjoeboosh

sourcrates said:

Just to clarify, what do you mean by bailiff????

In order for a bailiff to be involved this would have to have been to court, a CCJ awarded, and you have failed to pay what the court ordered.

Now if non of that has taken place, the letter would have been from a debt collector, threatening a doorstep visit, not a bailiff, a very important distinction, and a different situation entirely.

Ah. Sorry - a door step visit. I thought they were one and the same thing. I've not been in this situation before, so will do some googling...

milkyjoeboosh

eskbanker said:

I don't know what the current status of PerfectHome's administration is but would assume that the debt collection must have been initiated by someone there, so it's perhaps worth trying to contact the administrators:

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/perfecthome-enters-administration

My understanding of the usual process to dispute debts is that sending a 'prove it' letter should be the first port of call, putting the onus on the chaser to demonstrate that the debt is legitimate, i.e. it's their responsibility to prove that you do owe the money rather than yours to prove that you don't.

All of these companies are compelled to share all personal data with you, under the Subject Access Request provisions of the Data Protection Act, so that may be another route to try, in terms of teasing out the facts of what happened in 2020 and since.

Thank you for the clarification! I did try to contact PerfectHome using those details on Friday, but all points of contact were dead.

I really appreciate you both helping me.

RAS

Sorry but where do bailiffs even register in this situation

Is there an unpaid CCJ with court follow up? 

Exactly which company?

milkyjoeboosh

RAS said:

Sorry but where do bailiffs even register in this situation

Is there an unpaid CCJ with court follow up? 

Exactly which company?

Sorry - that was my bad (naively, I thought they were one and the same thing). I've been threatened with a visit.

milkyjoeboosh

ACI have agreed to close the account and update the credit agencies accordingly! Result!

It's been a stressful week, but I can't thank @sourcrates and @eskbanker enough for your help/advice.

sourcrates

milkyjoeboosh said:

ACI have agreed to close the account and update the credit agencies accordingly! Result!

It's been a stressful week, but I can't thank @sourcrates and @eskbanker enough for your help/advice.

Pleasure, glad its sorted for you.

milkyjoeboosh

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but this still hasn't been resolved. All ACI has done is zero the account and close it. They've left the fraudulent account, defaults and address on my credit file. They seem to be unwilling to remove them. I've been dealing with this for 2 month now, and Equifax have said I need to get ACI to remove the information... I've been trying!

What can I do!? I'm so stressed out as I need to remortgage in the near future, and my perfect credit score is now sitting at "Fair". How can I make ACI remove the fraudulent data from my credit file?

Thanks