Identity theft

[SneakySimon]

I used to work in fraud department and typically it was one of the following (in order of commonality)

1. Moving house - lots of people don't set-up mail forwarding so there post goes to old house - where I have lived for 3 years we still get previous persons bank statements / replacement cards etc - keep rerturning them but to no avail.
2. Interception - either dodgy postmen or people in the bank - we had a few oiks selling customer details - both in UK and India - since they have ALL your details, they can do a lot - some even changed the customer address, requested a replacement card and pin then a week or two later would change the address back to customers.
3. Relations with a grudge
4. Skimming - don't ever let you waiter take your card away from you!! One restaurant had a secret camera above where the customer enter the pin so would skim the card and then know the pin number!!

Go straight to Experian - they have the best info help etc - since they are who supply it to us and are trustworthy.

[gingerjedi]

To be honest I think you have nobody else to blame but yourself if these things have happened to you.

Let me give you some advice. get a shredder and shred all your posts, don't ver pay by plastic when they have only carbon paper machine and don't buy anything online.

Security over wire is pretty good in general but there are security holes often at the hops in between.

You are passing judgement on me without any facts.

I shred everything, I've only ever used my card on secure well known websites or via chip 'n' PIN yet it's still my fault?

[MarillionFan]

You are passing judgement on me without any facts.

I shred everything, I've only ever used my card on secure well known websites or via chip 'n' PIN yet it's still my fault?

Oh. By the way, when this happened somebody also went to a post office and put in a mail redirect. Just be aware of that.

[Ravello]

To be honest I think you have nobody else to blame but yourself if these things have happened to you.

Let me give you some advice. get a shredder and shred all your posts, don't ver pay by plastic when they have only carbon paper machine and don't buy anything online.

Security over wire is pretty good in general but there are security holes often at the hops in between.

WGJS.

You have no clue what you're talking about. Regarding your 'advice':

* Shredding all personal documents is pretty much de rigeur these days for anyone who is remotely security conscious.
* Carbon paper machines are few and far between but actually pose a pretty low risk anyway as they don't capture security number on the back. You were (until chip 'n' pin) far more likely to come a cropper through card swipe add-ons (e.g. an extra inch of swipe nearly un-noticeable on a standard card swipe) which read all the details on your mag stripe.
* "Don't buy anything online" is crass and is advice akin to "if you don't want to get run over then don't leave the house" - it might work but is ridiculously over the top. For the uninitiated better advice would be don't buy from retailers you've not heard of but anyone remotely clued up knows the signs to look for when considering whether or not to buy online - if in doubt then don't.

If you're still confident it could never happen to you I have a challenge for you: PM me your full name (name and surname) and one other item of information that is in the public domain or that you might happily mention over coffee to a colleague - i.e. the town in which you live, football team you play for, golf club at which you're a member etc. etc. I'll post in general every bit of information I can access about you with the exception of the details you provided in the first instance.

[TheFaQQer]

WGJS.

You have no clue what you're talking about. Regarding your 'advice':

Didn't Clarkson make some similar comment about how hard it was to have your identity stolen, so published some details to prove it couldn't be done.

And then someone set up a direct debit to a charity from his bank account

Edit: Yep - £500 to Diabetes UK

[xoggoth]

Apey Logies for bringing this to top again but various sites say shred even envelopes with name and address on.

Why? This is basic info that every Tom, Dick and Harry unsolicited mailer already has and which, for companies, has by law to be included on websites etc, so what purpose is there in trying to conceal it?

[Ravello]

Apey Logies for bringing this to top again but various sites say shred even envelopes with name and address on.

Why? This is basic info that every Tom, Dick and Harry unsolicited mailer already has and which, for companies, has by law to be included on websites etc, so what purpose is there in trying to conceal it?

Plus any old scrote with a phone book...

[cojak]

HSM is a trolling sockie FFS.

I don't know who are the biggest ejits - him or you lot for being taken in by him!

[SueEllen]

Didn't Clarkson make some similar comment about how hard it was to have your identity stolen, so published some details to prove it couldn't be done.

And then someone set up a direct debit to a charity from his bank account

Edit: Yep - £500 to Diabetes UK

Anybody I give a cheque to, or any one I give my bank account details to for a BACs payment can do the same.

[Sysman]

Anybody I give a cheque to, or any one I give my bank account details to for a BACs payment can do the same.

And yet that doesn't work in Europe. I see folks who are happy to publish details of bank accounts on web sites for paying in, and they don't suffer from fraud.

It seems to me that the UK banks need to get their act together on this issue. US banks possibly more so.

I know most folks in the UK are dead set against ID cards, but over here they work well.

And you need that ID card to open a bank account or do mail redirects. If the address doesn't match, then they won't do it.

And to address (pardon the pun) the issue of mail going to an old address, your letterbox here has your name on it*, and if your name isn't there any more, the postman simply won't deliver.

* a few folks from the UK that I know don't really like having their name on a letterbox outside their place of abode, but the system seems to work well.