http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4314871.stm
Nasir Ahmed, 43, IT engineer from London
Nasir Ahmed fell for an increasingly common type of ID fraud.
It started in September 2004 when he received a call at home apparently from his bank.
The caller told Nasir that someone was trying to carry out a fraudulent transaction on his account and that to stop it they needed to confirm his personal details.
Eager to fight the fraudsters, Nasir confirmed to the caller his name, address, date of birth, place of birth - everything, in short, needed to perpetrate a sophisticated ID fraud.
Nasir heard nothing for a month, then on opening his credit card statement he found that more than £11,000 had been taken, mostly to buy flight tickets and travellers cheques.
"It was a real shock and I called my credit card company straight away who agreed to freeze my account and investigate.
"It took them three months to sort this out and credit the account. All that time I worried that they would say that they thought it was me who had spent the money, how would I find £11,000?
"Where does a person go for help? The police said it was a matter between me and the credit card company."
Nasir was struck by the professional nature of the fraud.
"The initial call was very plausible and they even changed my account details, including the password with the intention of carrying on with the fraud.
"I urge people not to disclose any personal details over the phone."
Nasir Ahmed, 43, IT engineer from London
Nasir Ahmed fell for an increasingly common type of ID fraud.
It started in September 2004 when he received a call at home apparently from his bank.
The caller told Nasir that someone was trying to carry out a fraudulent transaction on his account and that to stop it they needed to confirm his personal details.
Eager to fight the fraudsters, Nasir confirmed to the caller his name, address, date of birth, place of birth - everything, in short, needed to perpetrate a sophisticated ID fraud.
Nasir heard nothing for a month, then on opening his credit card statement he found that more than £11,000 had been taken, mostly to buy flight tickets and travellers cheques.
"It was a real shock and I called my credit card company straight away who agreed to freeze my account and investigate.
"It took them three months to sort this out and credit the account. All that time I worried that they would say that they thought it was me who had spent the money, how would I find £11,000?
"Where does a person go for help? The police said it was a matter between me and the credit card company."
Nasir was struck by the professional nature of the fraud.
"The initial call was very plausible and they even changed my account details, including the password with the intention of carrying on with the fraud.
"I urge people not to disclose any personal details over the phone."
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