Identity theft: ‘They stole my life’
Identity fraud is on the rise. Vicky Powell, a journalist from London, tells how she was targeted by criminals who intercepted her mail, stole her driving licence and applied for credit cards in her name...
Iwas curled up on the sofa when a text message pinged on my phone. It was 29 September last year and my bank was thanking me for cancelling a card earlier that day.
I rang them straight away. I hadn’t cancelled my card. They didn’t seem concerned, even suggesting another customer, cancelling their credit card, had given an incorrect digit and cancelled mine by mistake.
I thought no more about it. If Lloyds wasn’t bothered then there was nothing for me to worry about. Was there?
But I was about to discover someone had stolen my identity, wreaking havoc on my life…
It’s only now, five months later, that I’m beginning to feel that I’m through one of the most stressful times of my life.
A week after that puzzling text, I got a letter updating me on my Barclaycard application.
I hadn’t applied for one. I realised, with dread, that I was being scammed.
I knew I had to act fast. Keying in ‘someone is applying for credit cards in my name’, Google threw up information on identity fraud.
All advice told me to contact Action Fraud, the national fraud-reporting centre. They advised me to set up a credit report account to see if any more applications had been made. They suggested Credit
Karma, a free service, and paid-for sites, such as Equifax and Experian.
I tried Credit Karma but, after keying in my details, an ominous message flashed up, ‘An account already exists in this name’.
This suddenly felt serious. Someone was going to a lot of effort to pretend to be me.
Next, I set up an Experian account – and it was an eyeopener. It revealed my credit score, existing credit cards, my mortgage company and showed which organisations had done searches on me.
I would be searched many times over the coming weeks as credit card and current account applications came in thick and fast. Sainsbury’s Bank, HSBC, NatWest – the list went on.
As soon as I cancelled one fraudulent account, another one opened. I came to dread notifications on my phone. My credit rating plummeted due to all the searches and the fraudsters always seemed two steps ahead.
I asked what details the person had given to open one current account, but I was
told that as I hadn’t opened it, it was a breach of Data Protection laws to tell me.
Yes – it’s not easy to get information on accounts taken out in your own name, using your date of birth and address!
To get any information, you have to visit a branch in person with two forms of ID.
At one HSBC branch,
I gave the advisor a credit card that had been delivered to my home by courier the previous day.
He said he didn’t want to worry me... but HSBC had not sent a courier to my home.
I went cold.
So, who was the man, in leathers and motorcycle helmet, who came to my door and asked me to sign for the card? It seems the card had already been copied before arriving to me. The fake courier wanted something even more valuable to the thieves – a sample of my signature.
Unfortunately, the current system is stacked in favour of the criminals; my dealings with the banks has showed that.
All they need is your name, address and date of birth and they can screw up your life. If you’ve lived at your address for years, then all the better.
They can apply online for credit cards and current accounts in your name and they don’t need to show any ID. Astonishing, isn’t it?
The criminals also reported my driver’s licence lost, a replacement sent the next day gave them perfect ID for pretending to be me.
I have no idea how they were intercepting my post. My mail hadn’t been redirected – all my ordinary mail was coming through – my gardening magazines, and charity letters, for example.
But the letters with financial information – PIN numbers, cards – weren’t. The only one that got through was the Barclaycard – which sparked the whole investigation.
I don’t know how I was chosen, but I’ve been told
I was a victim of a wellorganised criminal gang who max out credit cards for cash.
The current accounts are used to launder money and to take out loans.
In total the thieves applied for six current accounts and seven credit cards in my name.
I know they managed to get money using my identity. I don’t know how much, it breaches those pesky Data Protection laws to tell me! But I can imagine it’s thousands.
The past few months have been a nightmare, but I count myself lucky.
I haven’t lost anything – I’m not liable for the money because it was flagged up early on.
If that Barclaycard letter hadn’t slipped through I wouldn’t have known and the outcome would have been far worse.
Many people only discover they’ve been defrauded when the criminals have maxed out the cards, drained the loans and banks and debt agencies contact the victim wanting money back.
Before this, ID fraud was the stuff of TV dramas and films; it didn’t happen to ordinary people like me.
But it does – and it can happen to you just as easily...
‘He told me that HSBC had not sent a courier to my home. I went cold’