Credit card users: are you facing an identity theft crisis?

Act quickly! You do not want your valuable information to get into the wrong hands.

12:21 27 November 2013

When someone obtains your personal information and uses it to gain access to your account that is called identity theft. If you fall victim to this type of fraud but still possess your credit card, you will not have to shell out money for any charges you did not authorise. If you no longer have the card, the most you might have to cough up is £50.  However, evidence that you acted without reasonable care (for example writing your PIN down on the card) could prevent you from getting your money back.

What should you do if you think your identity has been stolen?

• Act quickly! The person who stole your information won’t be wasting any time. Get in touch with your credit card company without delay, jot down all conversations you have with them, and save copies of any correspondence.

 

• Report it to the police officials, and obtain a crime reference number.

 

• Discuss with the credit reference agencies to ascertain whether any loan applications have been submitted in your name. If so, get that sorted out and stop the application from going through.

 

• If you believe that someone has acquired your information by getting access to your post, or has falsely applied to forward your mails to their address, speak to the authorities from the Royal Mail

 

• Get in touch with the UK's Fraud Prevention Service CIFAS at www.cifas.org.uk. For a little fee, they will see to it that you are informed if someone uses your name to apply for credit.

Take measures to safeguard your information. Don’t get duped into giving personal information over the phone. Don’t carry written personal pins, SS numbers, etc. with you and you should be able to fix the problem if somebody messes with your account.