I am a victim of ID fraud!!! So why won't the police do anything?

Question

Someone has been opening catalogue accounts in my name at an address I left 2 years ago, I am now getting debt collection notices, While I can sort this out by proving I was no longer a resident there at the time the account was opened the police say I cannot charge the people with ID fraud, even though they use my name, have cost me my excellent credit rating, made me blacklisted, have caused me sleepless nights and lots of stress. I am scared to open my front door now in case it is balifs. The people are still living at the address and still the police are not going and arresting them so they may be doing this more and more, help me please what can I do?

Jude: thanks for the web page, I'm sure it will be of great help. I feel so helpless at the moment as they are most likly still doing it.

I do know who it is as the people who moved into the house when we left are still there and the catalogue company told us the goods were all delivered to that address and that the account was opened 13 months after we had left, the last order made to that particular company was in December, but how many more different ones have they opened since?

Answer 1

In the UK it is not considered priority crime by the Police as it is not subject to any Home Office / governmental targets for crime reduction or sanction detection / offences brought to justice (cleared up crime in ordinary language)

You can register the circumstances with the credit reference agencies in the UK such as Equifax or Experian to protect your credit rating, you can get the voters register ammended to show that you no longer live there if it has not already been done through your local council and there is also a Fraud alert system that you can register your details with that Experian / Equifax can give you the contact details for.

Another reason why the local police may not be interested is until the people taking out the credit default on anything it will be hard to make a case for any fraud out due to the prospective victims (ie the credit card companies / cataloges) hiding behind the data protection act and delining to assist without Schedule 1 PACE production orders froma Crown Court which the police will not bother with because if the crecit card companmies cant be bothered then neither can the police....

Fraud is not a priority, it could be massively reduced but the cost to the credit providors would be outweighed by the cost of introduction of new measures so its not cost effective, so they dont do it. its just down to profit and loss

Re baliffs you can keep a copy of the letters to Equifax / Experian / your local police and you could also send a preemptive letter to all local baliffs

good luck

Answer 2

First, in many places ID theft is not listed as an actual crime, but sort of lumped in with fraud. For another, it's very difficult to prove, and almost impossible to prosecute successfully, even if most police departments had the manpower and expertise to run down all the people committing this particular crime. Third, despite possible proof that you were not resident there when the orders were made, it's really only your word against the ID thiefs, and they know this. Ergo, you're mostly out of luck.
Let me suggest two things to protect yourself: Pull your credit reports at least every couple of years--from all three major reporters--and check for charges you didn't make. If you don't discover the abuse, you can take no actions to prevent or ameliorate the damage. Also, check out privacyrights.org, which has further information specific to this problem, and a list of things you need to do to fix it.

Answer 3

Unless it is a strict liability offence there are two things a prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt in a criminal trial
Actus resis and Mense Rea
Actus resis is that the person actually committed the crime which could be tricky if a number of people live in the house
Mense Rea is a guilty mind in other words they intended to commit the offence. It is not a crime just to use a different name
So in this case the police would have to be able to prove which of the residents actually committed the offence and that when they did so they intended not to pay and used your name to avoid payment.
Could well be the police or crown prosecution service feel that they do not have a more than 50% chance of proving these things

Answer 4

whilst the company is owed money, it is the company who is the victim and not you - that is why you are feeling so frustrated. You are in a position where you can do little or nothing about something which has touched you personally. It is very difficult. However, the companies are well used to this sort of thing and have their own departments which handle all the investigations etc. Police would have to investigate if the company asked them to but the company wont. They will judge how much money they have lost, how much they might possible get back and how much it will cost to do all the work and make a decision accordingly. Thats why very often, nothing happens.

Answer 5

This happened to us (myself and my husband) 5 years ago, I am so shocked that this sort of thing still happens. The police didn't help us either, apparantly it is the catalogue company or credit card company who are the victims in the eyes of the law (the law is an ***!!) We gave up asking the police for help. In the end we had to go to the credit rating companies directly, and prove that we were who we said we were and that it wasn't us that was responsible for these loans. (we had credit cards, loans and catalogues taken out under our names). It was a pain and a nightmare but we did eventually get the fraudulent stuff taken off our names.

In the meantime, what we did (and this is not exactly legal but we felt we had no choice) was to use my parents' address when we wanted to get credit, we didn't like lying but at the time we were trying to get a mortgage and it was the only way we could get one.

Try going to CIFAS, http://www.cifas.org.uk/ they can help you repair your credit rating.

Answer 6

It makes you wonder really. We recently wanted to move into an apartment and found out she ran the credit check and it indicates we were living at a residence we had not been near in the two extra years it said we had. We get mailings and phone calls all the time for things that don't make sense to be marketed to us.

In your case, I think the police need to conduct a thorough investigation before arresting anyone. In the meantime, if you are sure it's them, it really hurts, but you know in the end justice will prevail. Good luck.

Answer 7

Because it's not something the police normally handle.

First, check whether the laws being violated are state or federal. If federal, the police have no jurisdiction. If state, then it's probably the office of the state Attorney General that would get involved, not the local police.

Answer 8

The companies or people who were ripped off must file a complaint, and if they want to pursue the matter, they will.

Follow the steps detailed on this website to fix your end of the situation:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm

What is balifs?

Answer 9

I had a similar thing happen to me but the company's that were owed the money sorted it out, I don't know about the credit rating as I've had no problems with mine so far.

Answer 10

Put a fraud alert on your credit report. If they try to open more accounts in your name the bank will stop them and report them to the authorities.