Payday loan on my credit file... I didn't take it!

Lumeycom

Lumeycom

Lumeycom

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I get the feeling this is going to be a royal pain in the butt to sort and I'm open to advice and suggestions. Seems this is not that uncommon.


I have an equifax subscription having been card scammed a few years ago (someone bought a $2k tv in the USA with a cloned debit card) and I had an email alert that something had changed so I logged in to find that a payday loan with "Payday Express" for, I assume, £500.

The loan is in default having had no repayments made since it was taken on 06/03/2014 with a default balance of £683

I've informed equifax who have told me that I pretty much need to sort this myself. I rang the local police who were not interested as the fraud itself is not against me as no funds have been taken from me nor paid to me.. its just the credit file issue (for now, i expect the debt collectors will catch up soon).


I've not yet managed to speak to "Payday Express" due to their opening hours over the weekend but I'm inclined not to ring them and to correspond in writing as I'm feeling a little untrusting given that they have clearly paid the monies into an account that is not in my name.

I'm basically looking for some advice on how to deal with this as its now down to me to prove it was not me. I also need to get that payday loan totally off my credit file as even a settled payday loan will cause adverse credit issues (I was asked at my last mortgage renewal if I'd ever taken a payday loan in the last 6 years so the assumption is they do not like it)
 
Some companies deal with this better than others. Ideally they have a process set up to deal with this, you can call up and report it, they can see that the application looks funny and they send you a disclaimer to sign and post back. Delete all bureau records of the account. They will probably put in a CIFAS registration that makes future fraud more difficult.

Of course things might not go so smoothly...

Either way, I'd strongly suggest checking your other bureau files (Experian and Call credit) for other fraudulent activity. Most credit accounts will report to all bureaux, but there could definitely be searches that you don't know about.
 
Aye I'm going to sign up for the other agencies today and check there too. Equifax have said they will inform the other agencies of this issue.

Odd thing is there is no application search on my file with respect to this loan, I guess thats how lax they are
 
Nothing showing on experian, in fact there seems to be very little there altogether. Awaiting callcredit log on, their automated emails seem rather slow!
 
My partner had a similar problem about a year ago. Some mail must somehow have ended up at an old address of hers and someone took it upon themselves to take out a loan in her name. Called the company and to be fair to them they sorted it sharpish. All records removed from credit files etc.
 
I had exactly the same, someone managed to take out a Wonga loan in my name using just my name and address (electoral register details), then faked the phone number, email address and bank account, then changed the address once the funds had cleared so I never had any notifications that a loan had been done in my name. Didn't know about it until I was refused a credit card and I went to check my file.

Called Wonga who knew had a procedure for it (worrying enough), a week later it was off my credit file but now I have a mark to show I have been a victim of fraud that stays on for a year.
 
Dis86 said:
My partner had a similar problem about a year ago. Some mail must somehow have ended up at an old address of hers and someone took it upon themselves to take out a loan in her name. Called the company and to be fair to them they sorted it sharpish. All records removed from credit files etc.
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How does this happen, surely the loan has to be paid into a bank account, so how do they manage to create a fresh bank account in someone's name that they can access?
 
^^I don't know if the loan has to be paid in to the account whose name it's taken out under.
The whole thing seems incredibly dangerous to me as it must have been amazingly easy for this person to take it out.
 
From what I've found thus far they will pay into just about any account regardless of the name on it. I cannot find a current account in my name aside from what I already have so I have to assume its gone elsewhere.
 
What a crappy company they are. After a few letters they finally decided to ring me and pretty much flat out accuse me of lying. Kinda felt like they were trying to get me to pay a debt that was not mine.

Eventually got them to send me a witness statement to sign to say it was not me but things thus far are not great.

Reported it to Actionfraud also as required by the payday company who gave me a crime reference number. The chap was extremely helpful but mentioned that there had been over 700,000 instances of frauds like mine this year already! Insane...
 
Seft said:
They will probably put in a CIFAS registration that makes future fraud more difficult.
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Don't let anyone do this to you. It's more annoying than the fraud.

CIFAS shouldn't stop you getting useful things like credit cards, but it does. There's extra paperwork involved for the card issuer and no-one can be bothered to fill it out, so you just get rejected. It's also very hard to get yourself taken off their blasted system, and in the future I expect it to greatly complicate mortgage applications.
 
Lumeycom said:
Reported it to Actionfraud also as required by the payday company who gave me a crime reference number. The chap was extremely helpful but mentioned that there had been over 700,000 instances of frauds like mine this year already! Insane...
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So ultimately the pay day lenders are complicit then. They are clearly not doing due diligence and are arguably facilitating fraud. 700,000 is systemic not a one off.
 
HazardO said:
So ultimately the pay day lenders are complicit then. They are clearly not doing due diligence and are arguably facilitating fraud. 700,000 is systemic not a one off.
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yep payday loan companies are scum. Had the same and it still isnt sorted 12 months later. My credit record is trashed and no one seems to care. Ive now issued court proceedings against sunnyloans. Thank goodness for home legal cover.

They just accuse you of lying in an attempt to get you to pay up and shut up. one of their agents told me "its quicker to just pay it mate" LOL nice try!
 
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petty it might sound but I'm boiling up now as they didn't even include an envelope to return their (rather basic) witness statement in. Small things..

I've found a friend of my father's who had a similar thing and issued proceedings via small claims. They settled out of court rapidly and everything was done and dusted, something I am considering.. I've never even made an insurance claim in my life but I'm so utterly livid with this that I want to drag these idiots through everything I can.
 
Minor update.

They did remove it from my credit file and agreed it was nothing to do with me. I received the most robotic automatic letter off them and didn't even get an apology for their lax attitude to fraud. I've subsequently raised a complaint with the ombudsman and am awaiting an outcome.

Just signed up with noddle (someone elsewhere posted about them) and it seems that someone has tried since to get another payday loan in my name in September. I assume it was not approved however I now have a plethora of searches for payday loan companies on my file.

Gah.. so utterly frustrating.
 
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