Identity theft on the increase

1. Tell the police if you think your identity has been stolen and used fraudulently and get a crime number or incident number.
2 . Always report the loss of key documents – credit cards, cheque books, passport and so on – to the organisation that provided them and to the police. Get them cancelled and replaced.
3. The moment you become suspicious, check your credit report. This is your personal credit history, which is collated and held by credit reference agencies such as Experian. It shows all the loans, cards and other credit accounts in your name – so if you spot anything you did not apply for, you know immediately that someone is probably using your identity to commit a fraud. The easiest way to see your report is to log on to www.CreditExpert.co.uk, the online credit monitoring and identity protection service from Experian. If you would like to take advantage of a 30-day free trial, click here.
4 . If you find anything wrong with your report, use the www.CreditExpert.co.uk to report it to Experian. Their Victims of Fraud team will help you to investigate and put matters right.
5. Contact any lender who has given credit in your name when you know you have not applied for it. Keep a record of all your conversations and correspondence.
6. If you think your mail is being interfered with, contact the Post Office straight away and ask them to investigate. If your post is delivered to a central point, such as the hall of a block of flats, make sure that you always collect it promptly.
7. Take every precaution to ensure that your identity is protected from further damage – for example, shred documents carrying your name and address before throwing them away and contact the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) at www.mpsonline.org.uk to ensure that mail shots are not sent to your previous address. For detailed advice and contact details of useful organisations, visit www.CreditExpert.co.uk
8. As a member of CreditExpert, you will be sent an alert by e-mail or text message whenever there is a major change to your credit report, such as a new application for a loan. Check your report every time you receive an alert – that way you can quickly raise the alarm if someone is trying to use your name to get credit.
9. If you do become a victim of identity fraud, Experian’s Victims of Fraud specialists are on hand to help you sort things out. They can also, if appropriate, add security features to your credit report to obstruct the fraudster and reduce any inconvenience caused to you.
10. Make checking your credit report part of your routine. That way, you will always know if anything is wrong – and can take the appropriate steps to put matters right.

Click here for a free 30-day trial of CreditExpert and a free copy of your credit report.