Identity Theft Check

If you have reason to believe that you have been a victim of identity fraud concerning credit or debit cards, or online banking, or any cheques, you should report your concerns to the financial institution that is honouring that debt for you by extending you credit or cashing your cheques (or whatever).

State your case clearly and give as many details as possible. Every financial institution has some sort of hotline for this kind of thing, just check the back of your statements or online for details.

Wherever possible it should be the account holder who makes contact with the financial institution. Once you have reported the matter it becomes the responsibility of the institution to run its own investigation to ascertain the extent and nature of the fraud.

Where deemed appropriate, the institution will contact the police, logging the criminal activity with these correct authorities and allowing matters to proceed to formal police investigations and/or any arrests

This process only applies to plastic card, cheque and internet banking fraud and was introduced just last year in 2007, in an effort to minimise the red tape and difficulty for consumers to report their suspicions reduce and thereby streamline the commencement of appropriate action by the authorities..

If the suspected fraud does not involve your credit or debit cards, or cheques or online banking, you should still report your concerns to the relevant financial institution and then depending on how they advise you, you may have to go to your local police station to report the crime.

If you have regularly thrown out your Person Identifying Information (particularly if you live in a city or large town) or if you have recently lost or had stolen important personal documents like your passport or driving licence, you should take steps to check to see if you have already been targeted by identity fraudsters.

How can you know if your personal information has been compromised? The British Home Office suggests you look out for any of the following:

- post that you have been expecting from the bank does not arrive

-  you are receiving no post at all

- items appear on your bank / credit-card statements that you know you have not purchased

- you have applied for a state benefit of some sort but you are told that you are already claiming it

- you receive bills, invoices or receipts through the post for products or services you haven’t purchased or asked for 

- you have been refused a financial service, such as a credit card or a bank/private loan, despite knowing you have a good credit history

- you receive a new mobile-phone contract, in your name, but whicjh you have not ordered or applied for

- you have been sent correspondences from solicitors or debt collecting agencies for debts that you know are not yours

- financial institutions that you have not dealt with contact you to pursue an outstanding debt.

- you find entries in your personal credit file from organisations you do not normally deal with

To check your credit rating and to look at your entire credit file, apply to any one of the following agencies. I report costs about £2 and is well worth checking:

Call Credit – http://www.callcredit.plc.uk/

Equifax – http://www.equifax.co.uk/

Experian – http://www.experian.co.uk/

Remember, if you have been contacted by any company or organisation about bills that you know are not yours, be sure to document every conversation you have with these companies, asking for the names of the people speaking to you and reference or case numbers where relevant.

Do not wait for things to sort themselves out. If you are a victim of identity fraud you must be proactive.