How can you stop someone opening UK bank/credit accounts in your name?
Jun 10th 2017, 8:43 pm
#1
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Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Roncesvalles, Toronto
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How can you stop someone opening UK bank/credit accounts in your name?
I moved from the UK to Canada more than five years ago. Closed off all my bank/credit accounts with the exception of one (which I regularly monitor / use).
I received an email from a travel company this weekend including a balance of payment invoice for a holiday booked in my name in the UK. Definitely not something I booked.
Could be a coincidence - someone with my name and they've just used the wrong email address. But how can I be absolutely sure nobody has opened any credit accounts in my name since I've left the country? I thought I'd run a credit check via Expedian or similar, but it seems the credit agencies only run checks for people living in the country (as far as I can see) so I've no way that I know of to check whether this might be an issue?
Anyone had similar experience / any ideas how to make sure your identity doesn't get used once you've moved countries?! I don't think it's happened, but I'd have no idea if someone had racked up thousands of pounds of debt in my name while I've been gone.
I received an email from a travel company this weekend including a balance of payment invoice for a holiday booked in my name in the UK. Definitely not something I booked.
Could be a coincidence - someone with my name and they've just used the wrong email address. But how can I be absolutely sure nobody has opened any credit accounts in my name since I've left the country? I thought I'd run a credit check via Expedian or similar, but it seems the credit agencies only run checks for people living in the country (as far as I can see) so I've no way that I know of to check whether this might be an issue?
Anyone had similar experience / any ideas how to make sure your identity doesn't get used once you've moved countries?! I don't think it's happened, but I'd have no idea if someone had racked up thousands of pounds of debt in my name while I've been gone.
Last edited by sonnyjames; Jun 10th 2017 at 8:51 pm.
Jun 10th 2017, 10:52 pm
#2
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Joined: Apr 2009
Location: SW Ontario
Posts: 19,879
Re: How can you stop someone opening UK bank/credit accounts in your name?
I moved from the UK to Canada more than five years ago. Closed off all my bank/credit accounts with the exception of one (which I regularly monitor / use).
I received an email from a travel company this weekend including a balance of payment invoice for a holiday booked in my name in the UK. Definitely not something I booked.
Could be a coincidence - someone with my name and they've just used the wrong email address. But how can I be absolutely sure nobody has opened any credit accounts in my name since I've left the country? I thought I'd run a credit check via Expedian or similar, but it seems the credit agencies only run checks for people living in the country (as far as I can see) so I've no way that I know of to check whether this might be an issue?
Anyone had similar experience / any ideas how to make sure your identity doesn't get used once you've moved countries?! I don't think it's happened, but I'd have no idea if someone had racked up thousands of pounds of debt in my name while I've been gone.
I received an email from a travel company this weekend including a balance of payment invoice for a holiday booked in my name in the UK. Definitely not something I booked.
Could be a coincidence - someone with my name and they've just used the wrong email address. But how can I be absolutely sure nobody has opened any credit accounts in my name since I've left the country? I thought I'd run a credit check via Expedian or similar, but it seems the credit agencies only run checks for people living in the country (as far as I can see) so I've no way that I know of to check whether this might be an issue?
Anyone had similar experience / any ideas how to make sure your identity doesn't get used once you've moved countries?! I don't think it's happened, but I'd have no idea if someone had racked up thousands of pounds of debt in my name while I've been gone.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...-theft-893526/
Do you have an address you can use in the UK? Relative? Friend?
Hope you get it sorted!
Last edited by Siouxie; Jun 10th 2017 at 10:56 pm.
Jun 11th 2017, 2:18 am
#3
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Joined: Nov 2011
Location: Roncesvalles, Toronto
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Re: How can you stop someone opening UK bank/credit accounts in your name?
That's great, thanks Siouxie! Will take a good read through that now...
Jun 11th 2017, 2:26 pm
#4
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Joined: Dec 2012
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 3,263
Re: How can you stop someone opening UK bank/credit accounts in your name?
Get in touch with the company's complaint or customer service department. Do it writing from another email address maybe a work one perhaps??
Explain what's happened and ask what steps they're taking to sort it out.
That's how we started to resolve matters not that you ever really can. š
It can always happen again and in my husband's case it did after a gap of several years. It hasn't happenedā to me (touch wood) but my kids can't even spell my name which I suspect is helpful in this context.
We ran up against similar issues with the credit agencies. My husband did report it online to the police.
Explain what's happened and ask what steps they're taking to sort it out.
That's how we started to resolve matters not that you ever really can. š
It can always happen again and in my husband's case it did after a gap of several years. It hasn't happenedā to me (touch wood) but my kids can't even spell my name which I suspect is helpful in this context.
We ran up against similar issues with the credit agencies. My husband did report it online to the police.
Last edited by Snowy560; Jun 11th 2017 at 2:30 pm.
