Contact Royal Mail if you suspect your mail has been stolen, or someone’s set up a mail redirection you didn’t authorise. Identity theft is a harrowing experience for the individuals whose identity is taken over or stolen. Keep your personal documents in a safe place, preferably in a lockable drawer or cabinet at home. Phone: 0800 121 4752       Web: www.equifax.co.uk/ask, Callcredit Leave this site. Remember to keep a record of all your actions, including the people you’ve spoken to and when, and keep copies of all letters you send and receive. Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime. Download this chart Figure 10: Following a short-term rising trend, Crime Survey for England and Wales overall theft offences have decreased to similar levels seen three years ago Contact the police. Obtain genuine documents such as passports and driving licences in your name. Simply delete them. This is increasingly important because identity fraud and identity theft … If you’re not sure how to do this, ask a computer specialist or someone you trust. The latest breaking news, comment and features from The Independent. You can do this by looking at the address, as below. If your UK, business, charity or organisation is currently under cyber attack and data is potentially at risk please call 0300 123 2040 immediately and press 9. For further advice and information on identity theft, you can go to: We use cookies on this site to give you a better, more personalised experience. If you receive an unsolicited email or phone call from what appears to be your bank or building society asking for your security details, never reveal your full password, login details or account numbers. If you think you’re a victim of another kind of identity fraud, you must report the matter to the relevant organisation. Be even more vigilant about regularly updating passwords, keeping contact information current and accurate, checking account activity, and making sure nothing seems suspicious. You can also report and get advice about fraud or cyber crime by calling. Undoing the damage after you’ve been a victim can be time-consuming, costly and stressful. Identity theft can happen to anyone of us at any time. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. You can then contact the lenders directly or use our support team to help you query all … You can contact any one of these credit reference agencies and receive support in resolving credit report problems caused by identity fraud. Be extremely wary of unsolicited phone calls, letters or emails from your bank or other financial institution asking you to confirm your: Regularly check your bank accounts and chase up any statements that you don’t get when you expect them. As a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report. Depending on their advice, you should then alert your local police force. Action Fraud also offers support for victims, as well as tips on prevention. Once information is blocked, companies can’t report the debt or try to collect it from you. According to CIFAS (the Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance Scheme) and their annual Fraudster report on fraud in the UK, there were 174,523 incidents of identity fraud in the UK in 2017. It will also show what credit accounts are set up in your name. Never reply to unsolicited text messages, even to get them stopped. If you think someone is misusing your bank account details, report it to your bank immediately. 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