Fraud….

[Housey]

I will keep this high level as it is a public forum. I got a letter out of the blue this week from a household name insurer and finance company referencing our car. The letter was from said companies financial crime team. I had no association with the firm and they were asking for proof of ownership of our car suggesting they felt we might have been an innocent party but could we help…

First thing I did was fire said letter into the dealer we bought the car from. They were super helpful and pulled a new HPI on my car to find in July someone had taken out a large chunk of finance on my car! I checked my and my partners credit files and it wasn’t in our name so someone had managed to convince the finance house they had bought the car and then secured cash on it!

I paid cash for the car so there was no finance on it. This it turns out makes it easier as you can’t put more finance on a car with finance on it. I’ve missed loads of details but suffice to say it is getting fixed and quickly but what a palaver. You buy your car, take it away as the new owner and then this happens. I share for experience and to say be wary what you share online!

 

[Diddums]

Fraud and scams are absolutely rife nowadays sadly. You'll probably find that this was assisted by someone within the finance company, bypassing some checks.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the heads up. As someone who buys their cars outright, it’s worth being aware.

 

[Housey]

Fraud and scams are absolutely rife nowadays sadly. You'll probably find that this was assisted by someone within the finance company, bypassing some checks.

I had a fraud on my O2 mobile some years back. It is why they paid for my phone for a few years. Woke up to an email congratulating me on my 10 new iphones, bad loads of other people added to my O2 account, all of their details visible etc etc

Internal fraud as I told them but had to go to CEO office to get it fixed and my credit record adjusted!

 

[Diddums]

I had a fraud on my O2 mobile some years back. It is why they paid for my phone for a few years. Woke up to an email congratulating me on my 10 new iphones, bad loads of other people added to my O2 account, all of their details visible etc etc

Internal fraud as I told them but had to go to CEO office to get it fixed and my credit record adjusted!

Shocking isn't it.

This documentary was quite interesting, they interview the people working at the insurance companies who push things through the system, it's blatant fraud and I suspect it's a lot more prevalent than people realise.

 

[Hodders]

I was the victim of financial fraud about 10 years ago.

Someone managed to take out finance on a new kitchen with nothing to pay for 2 years. It was only when they tried to take the 1st payment that I got letters. It was quickly cleared up but the ease with which credit had been taken out in my name is terrifying.

I spoke to some of the credit agencies to make sure my record was OK and asked them to just mark my file with "do not allow credit until further notice". They said that I could not do that, but I could PAY THEM to mark my account at elevated risk of fraud.

 

[adam cool dude]

I had a fraud on my O2 mobile some years back. It is why they paid for my phone for a few years. Woke up to an email congratulating me on my 10 new iphones, bad loads of other people added to my O2 account, all of their details visible etc etc

Internal fraud as I told them but had to go to CEO office to get it fixed and my credit record adjusted!

I had the same someone had taken O2 contracts out from Argos in my name. It was back in early Facebook days and I can only assume they used my details from Facebook. Dob etc was easily obtained back then. All sorted in the end but not a nice feeling.

I have less than 50 friends on Facebook now and no other social media. For the better if you ask me.

Like others have mentioned it wouldn't surprise me if most of them are inside jobs.

 

[Nasher]

My wife got a bunch of letters though the post last week. With a letter from the post office explaining they had been recovered in a police raid as part of a fraud investigation. They were from 2017! The guy had somehow stolen them from the post.

I also had to replace my DD card last month because someone tried to use the details to subscribe to uber premium.

But yea, most will be inside jobs, card details skimmed etc. Might start going back to cash :/

 

[Rroff]

This documentary was quite interesting, they interview the people working at the insurance companies who push things through the system, it's blatant fraud and I suspect it's a lot more prevalent than people realise.

Early 2000s I interviewed for a large re-insurance company which had offices in Tower 42 - didn't get the job which was probably a good thing as the entire department I'd have been working in got done for fraud not long after - and not small stuff either sentences were like 10-12 years or so.

 

[Gibbo]

I own all my cars outright.
So are you saying people try to get a cash loan secured against a car they do not own?

Surely they’d need the V5 to do that or is it just far easier?

 

[Nasher]

Checks should happen. But there are even celebrities who have been fraud victims. Either because of inside jobs or incompetence. E.g. Quite a while back someone managed to withdraw money from Bill Bailey's account and buy a house.

 

[jpaul]

I paid cash for the car so there was no finance on it. This it turns out makes it easier as you can’t put more finance on a car with finance on it

this is like the housing scam too - where if you own it you should put an alert on it at land registry in case they try and sell it from under your feet.

 

[HoneyBadger]

this is like the housing scam too - where if you own it you should put an alert on it at land registry in case they try and sell it from under your feet.

Yeah, we’ve recently done this also as I’m mortgage free. You can sign up to a free alerting service too so that if anyone does a search, it tells you. Less of an issue if you have a mortgage because you have more protections from the bank/building society.

 

[Housey]

I’ve removed images of my car where I can.

 

[aaronyuri]

Gentlemen, those of your stating you own vehicles/houses outright are lining yourselves up to be victims like the OP.

Don't share information online that can highlight you to be a target.

 

[Housey]

I own all my cars outright.
So are you saying people try to get a cash loan secured against a car they do not own?

Surely they’d need the V5 to do that or is it just far easier?

Well the V5 sits in a file in my office so it seems they didn’t.

 

[Rroff]

Gentlemen, those of your stating you own vehicles/houses outright are lining yourselves up to be victims like the OP.

Don't share information online that can highlight you to be a target.

One of the reasons I've always blanked the numberplates on my photos - often it gets indexed / searchable and makes it all too easy for anyone up to no good even if the chances are reasonably low.

 

[Diddums]

my office

 

[Housey]

Yes that’s it, some wet wipes on the sofa arm and considering upgrading to a corner.

 

[ChocAndGray]

Whilst it won't stop what has happened in the original post i.e someone taking finance out against a car that someone else owns.

You can make it more difficult for people who attempt to commit fraud using your details by password protecting your credit file. No one can carry out a credit search against you whilst locked.

Or apply for cifas protective registration which costs £30 for two years.

The above does make it inconvenient when you are applying for credit as it means you won't get an instant decision, but it makes it extremely difficult for anyone to obtain credit using your details.