The wild guesses are- You do not rave about the routes, screaming about your credit card passwords and other financial details.
However, you may fall into a hacker’s trap unknowingly. It is unfortunate.
It indicates identity theft if you have been facing constant loan repayment calls or credit card bill payments that you hardly remember taking.
Identity theft happens when someone steals personal details like bank details, address, name, and profession. These fraudsters may run a large number of debts in your name. Too much usage may impact your credit score too.
It may eliminate you from acquiring minor financial assistance from the bank. It is scary.
Hackers can use your credit from student loans and mortgages to high-interest guaranteed loans for the unemployed. Credit card debt frauds are too common to witness here.
At this moment, one could hardly think of any possible solution. Act immediately.
The article discusses the apt move when someone steals your financial identity.
Are You a Victim of Identity Theft?
The consequences of losing your financial identity to someone else might be horrible. To act early, you should be aware of the potential signs. An identity theft victim might exhibit any of the following signs.
- Is your passport missing for months? Someone might be using the information for the loan.
- Are you not receiving credit card statements? Someone is intercepting the mail.
- Are you facing delinquencies in your credit report alien to you?
- Have you been denied of state benefit claim owing to a double application allegation?
- Are you receiving letters and calls from solicitors and lenders for debts that are not yours?
- Are you receiving any goods or items at your doorstep that you have not paid for? Chances are someone failed to intercept the products before they arrived.
- Is recycle bin tampered with often? Someone may have been searching for receipts to steal information.
7 Steps to Recover Lost Money Legally
Anyone can face these above situations. The wise thing is to remain conscious and decide the next best move immediately. Here are steps to recover money quickly:
1) Call your Lender and inform
As soon as you encounter something suspicious, call the lender. Make sure you are informed if someone opens an account or takes out a loan in your name. Remove the loan from your credit report and freeze the account. In the case of student loans, seek forbearance.
It will halt your payments for a while. You may require to submit a legal police report. The identity theft report will help you avoid filling repayments for alien loans and safeguard your student loans. By submitting a legal report, the creditor will begin the investigation.
Never wait a moment. If you delay it, the lender may not help your recover the sum. If necessary, you can also call the school the fraudulent person who took the loan. Ensure clarity on both ends. They will flag the information and prevent anyone from taking a loan in your name.
2) Email your lender regarding a fraud loan
If you believe a loan has been sold to a debt collector, send a letter to the original lender. Never interact with the debt collector directly. First, seek a letter from the lender and then ask for clarification from the debt collector. In the letter, ask the collector to put the information below aptly:
- Seek an official letter stating complete clearance from alien debt.
- Ask the debt collector to agree to the agreement not to sell any loan to a third party in your name. If it has already been sold, inform the respective fraudulent person, confirming your no-participation.
- Remove the debt from all UK credit agencies.
- Ask them to ensure closure on any emails and calls regarding repayment of these loans.
3) Cancel the Debit Card if stolen
A debit card helps access money directly from the respective bank. If you happen to lose your credit card, cancel it. Call the bank and cancel it right away. The bank may send you a new credit card with a checking account number remaining the same. Make sure to act quickly. You may not get the amount if you delay the process by 15 days. You may not recover any.
4) Ensure password authentication on accounts
Contact credit reference agencies if you are receiving letters regarding account opening in your name or credit card application unknown to you. Explain your situation as a victim of identity theft. If required, submit the police report. You can also submit the letter from the creditor acknowledging the identity theft.
Ask for clearance on the total credits in your name. Seek removal on applications that you never applied for. The credit reference agencies may analyze the matter deeply. They may contact the companies listed in the credit report and filter out the wrongly opened accounts or credits in your name. It may slightly improve your credit score too.
You can contact Experian to add a password authentication system to all your accounts. It is legally known as – a “Notice of correction” password. On activation, the credit reference agency will ask for a password whenever you apply for the credit.
The Royal Mail Customer Enquiry could assist you if someone stole your details from an email.
5) Activate a fraudulent alert on your account
The wise move will be to activate a fraudulent alert on your account. Inform the credit bureau to activate it. Upon this, the creditors and lenders will receive a notification every time an action is taken. The alert will help them verify the identity of the person issuing a loan in your name.
In this way, the person would not be able to access the account for long. Password authentication will enhance the account’s security further. However, you will have still a lot to manage on your end.
6) Monitor your credit reports regularly
Financial thefts occur owing to negligence over bank statements. Post fraud steals some moments off your swamped lifestyle. Identify and monitor the credits in your name. Identify how many of these are legal and unknown.
Report the unknown ones quickly to the lenders. You may send the report to the credit bureau for further investigation. Monitoring accounts regularly will help you keep a tab on financial outgoings. Moreover, it will help you check pending loans and pay them off quickly.
7) Apply immediately for Cifas Protection
To prevent any further problems, sign up for Cifas Protection. Cifas Protective Registration provides identity theft protection for anyone who stands the risk. A person whose financial information has been stolen, duped of credit card theft, or who leaks personal financial information can be considered in this regard.
The Cifas Protection remains active for 24 months unless the person requests the removal. Having Cifas Protection will not impact your credit score or further loans. The main purpose is solely to protect your financial identity.
It implies if you are confused about whether or not you can take loans for bad credit and no broker under this, apply unhesitantly.
How To Reduce The Risk Of Identity Theft?
You can reduce the risk by:
- Storing your passport, driving license, and credit card transaction receipts safely.
- Destroy old and not-in-use documents
- Re-direct all your mails by contacting Royal Mail. It will prevent your tenant from accessing financial information when you leave
- While buying online, check for authenticity and privacy policy.
Can you get the money back?
You may be able to get your money back if you have not compromised the account’s security. It is not guaranteed. The authority may cancel the refund on the grounds of negligence on your part.
