Identity Theft

twiggyaddick

Talk about kick an addick when he is down.

Received a letter from Natwest to my mums address, even though I have never banked with them. Found out someone has taken out an account in my name, maxed it out and now I have the fraud team looking into it.

Has anyone experienced this, what would happen next? What else can I do, I'm worried about my credit rating!

Addickted

No thankfully.

Probably best to let the fraud team do their job. They will be experienced at this sort of thing and will know fairly quickly if you were involved or not.

MrOneLung

I think i read once that on completion of their investigation and confirmation of the fraud, the bank has an obligation to ensure your credit rating is returned to its previous status.

MrLargo

You need to check your credit report. Experian is the main one - http://www.experian.co.uk/. You get a month's free access, but you have to remember to cancel your membership before the next month starts, otherwise they'll start charging you. There are instructions on the website about reporting fraudulent activity, and what to do if you see something on your report that shouldn't be there. I elieve you can put a notice of explanation next to any entries that you believe are incorrect.

Different financial companies use different credit reference agencies - other than Experian there's also Equifax and Call Credit. I'd concentrate on getting the Experian one fixed first and then move onto the others. I think you can also chase up the bank to get your report corrected - as it's them that has accepted a fraudulent account application, I would harass them until they've contacted the credit reference companies and arranged for your report to be corrected.

kings hill addick

Call Credit are the company that the major banks use.

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/

For £2 you can get a detailed credit report. You should do this as Nat West might not be the only institution that has 'extended you credit'.

My wife suffered from this some years ago and, sadly, it went on for years - catalogues mainly but several of them. Getting it all removed was a struggle and all sorts of adverse credit was registered. She had to provide original documents that proved that we weren't living in the property to all of the companies and even then they took a lot of convincing to drop the outstanding money owed.

Fumbluff

I'd check the fraud teams credentials before going any further. Get their mothers maiden names