What beats me about identity theft is why anybody would want to be you in the first place, @Stroller. That’s a tough gig.
I didn't know about that option, mate. I'll check it out. The credit card company that had accepted unauthorised transactions on my account have confirmed that they consider them fraudulent and they have refunded my account. They have also added a Cifas notice to my credit file, which is an alert to potential lenders that I have been the victim of identity fraud.
Yes, it can be useful. The idea is that anyone opening an account has to provide the master password as set by you. The downside is that it only works if the bank, / credit card company the crooks are trying to use is registered with Experian.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cermdkj009mo These tossers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and brazen.
Here’s my identity fraud case. As a builder, l would place ads in the local paper, which brings in local jobs. Part of my package, was the inclusion of the News Limited online trade pages, which were Australia wide. I didn’t use this cause l only targeted very local work. As a licensed contractor, l received a letter from the govt licensing board that l had breach building standards on a job in Brisbane. l hadn’t worked in Brisbane for 7 years. As it turned, a career thief had stolen my identity….. He copied my ad and went online with it, Australia wide. He took my name, my license number, took hundred thousands of dollars of people in 4 states. Week after week, non compliance letters came thru from jobs he started then took off, leaving people’s places in turmoil. A person came to me at the front of my house, wanting to break my legs…… he finally realised that l had nothing to do with the work at his house. The licensing board brought in the major fraud squad to investigate. The case dragged on for 16 months, finally went to court. Even though this criminal had done the same thing every year for the past 12 years, all previous cases we not permitted in court. He stole nearly a million off people but hey, he knew how to play the system, got a slap over the wrist and was allowed off yet again. The system absolutely sucks. We innocent get screwed over and over. He goes off on overseas holidays, to come back and do it all over again. It’s a joke. My name, my signature, my business, everything was used & abused but he gets off, l get nothing. He continues to steal people identities, he has judgement after judgement but keeps getting off. It’s a joke. Rant over.
Wow, that is beyond terrible. So sorry to read that. I agree.about the legal system. I often refer to it as the 'injustice system' as it seems.so heavily weighted in favour of the crooks. I hope it is all resolved now. Is there a national crime show there that could help your reputation?
Not sure but at this stage in my career, l'm winding down for retirement. That was two years ago now and as mention, all my work is local and is getting smaller in size of job, thanks mate. Just a really bad experience first hand how wrong the system is. I told the the licensing board solicitor that the legal system is a pantomime and he should be ashamed of himself. He scoffed, titled his head upwards and wandered off for next meal ticket.
My wife has just been subject to a very plausible scam on Facebook Marketplace, which we spotted just in time. A very intricate way to get your bank details…..the scammer was furious when we called a halt to it. Reported of course, but Facebook’s reputation for acting is not good. Their Marketplace seems to be a scammers wonderland. Yet again I am delighted that this place is the only social media I do. Apart from LinkedIn which I really should get away from, it’s turned into something very different from its original purpose and is pretty irrelevant once you have retired. It’s also subject to regular data leaks.
So, after over three months without a phone contract, during which I communicated only via WhatsApp, I decided it was time to sign up to a new provider. I went online and decided that a Vodafone sim only contract would do the job. I duly applied online, was sent a contract and told that my sim would be delivered in 2-3 working days. Five working days later and no sim, I phoned them to find out what was going on. I was then told that I hadn't passed the credit check because there was an outstanding fraud case with O2 and I would have to contact them to resolve this situation! 'I was the victim of fraud', I told him, 'not the fraudster'. I then asked for this information to be sent to me in writing so that I could follow up on it, but was told that this was impossible. When I asked why, I was told that this person was prevented from 'reaching out' to customers. 'I don't want you to reach out to me', I said, 'I want you to send me a ****ing email'. No dice. So **** O2 and **** Vodafone, I've now signed up to a Lebara contract for £2.50 a month!
Sorry to break this to you, but Lebara piggy backs on the Vodafone network, so you are still, indirectly, paying them……
Sorry for late reply RTID, no, there’s nothing. Builders don’t have much reputation at the best of times.
Sorry to hear, Stroller. As it seems, the guilty have all the rights, the framed and the wronged, have none.
Just caught up reading about your ongoing nightmare Stroller. I don't know how you can still talk about it and keep us all informed it shows a strong character. Also Didley's storey. But can you imagine this happening to a person going through a divorce, an illness or a loss of a loved one or any other tragic event, it could just push that person over the edge to do the unspeakable! So this is serious stuff and I wish the authorities would look at this through the eyes of a troubled person. It maybe worth pointing this out. Sorry but i can't help myself for asking, are you sure this is not a case of 'Shutter island syndrome'?
