You may not realise it but your credit report can be a powerful tool in the fight against Identity fraud. (guest post by Neil Stone, Experian UK Social Support team)
Fraud in the UK
Last year alone Experian helped 14428 people who were victims of identity fraud up by 15% on those we helped in 2014. The number of people our Victims of Fraud team has helped has increased every year since it was set up 10 years ago*.
While the majority of people that we helped last year were male, aged between 30-40 and living in the South-East, we found that fraud occurred across all age ranges, genders and all in areas of the country. So we all need to be aware of how we can protect ourselves against fraud.
Chris talks about Experian’s customer services and how they resolved the fraud against him, and the great service he received.
What can your credit report tell you?
Your credit report can help you to detect fraud in a number of ways. Searches that you don’t recognise appearing on your report could be a sign of fraud.
If you are a CreditExpert member we can alert you to certain changes to your Experian credit report, so that you can check that you recognise them. Accounts in your name will also show on your report, along with the name of company they are with, what the type of account is and when it was opened. This can help you to spot any accounts that may not have been opened by you.
You can also keep an eye on previous addresses, for any accounts being opened or searches being made in your name.
If you have changed your name, you can also check if your previous name is still being used by adding an alias to your report.
How else can we help?
If you do find that anything suspicious on your report our dedicated Victims of Fraud team are on hand to help you.
You will be given your own case worker who can contact companies concerned on your behalf and make sure that relevant entries are flagged as disputed on your report.
They can also help you put a password on your report which could reduce the chances of further fraud being committed.
Your caseworker will keep you updated on the progress of your case and let you know when it is all resolved.
*Statistics from https://www.experianplc.com/media/news/2016/one-fifth-of-all-id-fraud-aimed-at-renters/
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