大象传媒

Yes - there is someone out there impersonating me all the time. It's disgraceful. I can't sign a cheque without getting sniggering.

I had an identy problem on the under ground once
A guy stopped me an said "can you identifey your self sir"
I looked in a mirror and said "Yes That me alright"
What a pain all this secuity is you must be MAD to want to fly to travel
pip

A topic which we all believe happens to someone else until, of course, it happens to us. Recent experience has shown vigilence by on-line gaming companies in identifying a fradulent account being created, helpfulness by banks in cancelling and re-issuing cards, but a much slower process in terms of actually recouping money taken from your account, and a response by the police to the effect that its really for the banks to deal with. Any ongoing consequences of such an experience remain to be realised with the ID theft having only come to light during recent weeks but the lack of someone able to identify what details someone may have on you or where they have come from or, indeed, who the fraudsters are, is very disconcerting.

My NI number has been used fraudulently by parties unknown in order to claim Working Tax Credits.

pAuL

A topic which we all believe happens to someone else until, of course, it happens to us. Recent experience has shown vigilence by on-line gaming companies in identifying a fradulent account being created, helpfulness by banks in cancelling and re-issuing cards, but a much slower process in terms of actually recouping money taken from your account, and a response by the police to the effect that its really for the banks to deal with. Any ongoing consequences of such an experience remain to be realised with the ID theft having only come to light during recent weeks but the lack of someone able to identify what details someone may have on you or where they have come from or, indeed, who the fraudsters are, is very disconcerting.

In the past week I have had two 'offers' from reputable companies inviting me to take up life cover before a particular date (ie my birth date).
Included is an already half completed form which has my full name, my address and my date birth printed. These three pieces of information are an essential part of an ID package. Can you please highlight this practice on your programme and advise the powers that be about the irresponsibility of such practice
Thank you
Tony Murphy

Yes, I experienced identity fraud last year, in 2006. I lost substantial money in the process. I do not think the authorities can be trusted with anything more than basic information on law abiding citizens. The UK has become more and more state controlled with every passing year, our personal information is bound to fall into the wrong hands sooner or later. Unfortunately with 'New Labour鈥� in power, things are bound to only get worse. May God save us!

I had 拢2000 pinched from my account.When i've heard stories like this in the past ,people have said their banks have gave them a call to see if things are o.k.My bank the H.S.B.C called demanding when i am going to pay the money back.They froze everything,i had to go in the branch to borrow money on a short term loan,even if i needed as little as 拢5.The police wouldn't help saying it was a bank matter.It took mank weeks before anything was sorted.They wouldn't disclose any details of how,where or who had done this and was left well and truly in the dark,which in turn caused stress.

My partner had his identity stolen last year, and did not notice for nearly 2 weeks, by which time they had taken nearly 拢800 from his account, ordered new cards (with new PIN numbers) on his account, they registered no less than SIX mobile phones in his name and he is still desperately trying to sort it all out. The bank have refused to pay the money back as it says the fraudsters used PIN numbers and therefore had access to them. My boyfriend hadn't even ordered them himself!!! I have suffered from this to a lesser degree having had my handbag stolen and my cards used - a new phone was registered on my account and I can say that the police and more importantly the financial authorities were decidedly unhelpful. I was even accused of being the fraudulent party and my own phone stopped and the fraudulent one allowed to stay active!!

In my experience it is very difficult to prove who you are (how come it is so easy for the fraudsters??) and the net only tightens on security after the event, which simply serves to ensure the financial provider treats you, the innocent party, as the suspect. There should be more stringent rules in place as to how to deal with identity fraud.

Whilst banking with Barclays I had the unpleasant experience of 1 penny being taken from my account in Luxembourg, then 1 pound from Italy and then 拢10,000 worth of the same item from Canada - I had never lost my visa card, so to find myself with this dilemma was very strange. Considering I had never been to Luxembourg, or Canada and wasn't in Italy at the time it showed on my statement, it was obvious it was fraud. I had to fight with Barclays that noone had noticed anything, and eventually I got the money back.

In 1999 and again in 2001 my bank visa card was 'acquired'. The first time they requested a change of address, a new card and a new pin all at the same time. Fortunately a bank clerk picked up on this and called me to make sure the request was legitimate. The card was cancelled but I then had a bounced cheque (the cheque book had been stolen) sent to me that I had apparently tried to pay into the account - seems like someone was doing a bit of complex thievery.

The second time I received a statement showing substantial (i.e. over the threshold) cash withdrawals from a bureau-de-change at Victoria. I rang the bank (rhymes with 'not best') and eventually got to their security section. They said they knew about the bureau but hadn't yet acted to stop them. I questioned them further about why they were giving my card to people who weren't me. It transpired that while the security people wanted more checks on i.d. the bank marketing people vetoed it on the basis that it would put barriers to new custom. 'What can I do' I asked. Change your bank I was advised! Since taking the advice I have not had any problems.

I was astonished at the total lack of security by a credit card company, allowing an ex partner to obtain a card on my account. All she did was to write to the company, ask for a card for herself, ask to change the billing address, and put my name at the bottom of the letter.

When I eventually discovered this (after several thousand pounds worth of debt was run up), I was treated appallingly by the card company.

Even though the Police (who were quite good) arrested and issued a caution to the person responsible, the company repeatedly threatened me with court action, collection agencies, constant letters, etc. During my dealings with them, they failed to follow even the most basic security procedures that they had put in place (ie asking for password details when I called them).

It took several months for them to finally accept that the account was used fraudulently, and refund the money which I had been forced to pay to "keep the bailiffs from my door".

Yes, I have been the victim of identity theft a couple of years ago.

Someone tried to set up a bank account with the Halifax in my name, but as there were various discrepancies in the information the fraudster provided the Halifax contacted me. I was able to convince them that the application was bogus but they refused to provide any information to me that the fraudster had provided to them, thus making it impossible to trace the culprit.As usual they cited the Data Protection Act for their stance.

Two mobile phone accounts were subsequently established in my name with "3" and on both accounts several hundred pounds worth of calls were made to Afghanistan and Pakistan. I explained the circumstances to "3" and they wrote off the amount eventually although it took some time to sort out.

The police were not interested -its a "civil matter" ie. the normal get rid of the work tactic that they employ.

I had difficulties with Capital One, after receiving a baliff on my doorstep with regards to a debt I knew nothing about, I took the case back to court myself to have the ccj over turned only for 2 further debt collection agencies to harass me with telephone calls and letters for the debt that I didnt accrue
in the first place.
Not only was it distressing and time consuming the attitude of the baliff made me feel like a criminal and when I contacted Capital One direct they refused to discuss the matter.

Just before last Christmas I went to pay my cafe/restaurant bill with my credit card. The cashier had to get me to the phone as the security people at the bank wanted to speak to me. Apparently they had noticed an abnormal spending pattern and were blocking my payments. A twin of my card had been used abroad and though the two sums mentioned were not outrageous, security suspected it was not me. The card was then cancelled after I had get clearance to pay the restaurant - talk about embarrassing!

I gave info. to the bank's security that although the card had not been out of my possession, it might have been cloned by someone at the head office of a well-known petrol filling station, a branch of which I had recently used. This was because I had read in my local paper about others who had an unresolved problem with the firm over cloned credit cards. I heard no more about it, but months later, there has been another recent report in the local paper about card anomalies at the same place! Suppose the firm was "hacked" in some way...imagine a percentage of customer cards at many branches in the UK(franchises?)being cloned over a long period....I wondered whether my bank's security people had looked into the matter or had just issued a new card and had ignored my comments. The fraud overall might be too big for them to deal with - and that's just one issuing bank.

At the end of February we discovered that we had been the victims of identity theft. Somehow, my husband's debit card details had been copied and by the time we discovered it, the purpotrators had made thousands of pounds worth of internet purchases. We were absolutely frantic but Barclays Bank was marvellous and we were not held responsible for the losses.
It did however, have devastatingly tragic consequences.
Several days later, my husband who was only 55 but had heart problems,, suffered a heart attack and died in my arms. He was so worried about it all and I can see him now, with his head in his hands saying this is going to kill me'. He was right.
I consider these evil people responsible for his death and they might just as well have put a gun to his head and shot him. Not only have they destroyed my husband's life they have destroyed mine too.
The law needs to come down on these criminals like a ton of bricks so no more peoples' lives are wrecked. They are simply evil

I had a bank card stolen in the post before it ever reached me in 2004. I didn't lose any money, but it cost me a huge amount in time and stress.

Among the many frustrations:
- My bank accepted new direct debits without recognising that the signatures did not match my genuine signature.
- Four false mobile phone accounts were opened - but contacting two mobile phone companies to cancel them and stop the bills meant navigating a maze of horrendous call centres with half hour queues. The automated billing systems kept churing out massive bills meanwhile.
- I ended up in the silly position of accessing my credit file and seeing the address that the fraudsters wanted a new credit card to be sent to - yet the companies involved were not privy to this information or interested that I had it. The police told me they had no reason to pursue the fraud unless the mobile phone companies sought a police investigation which was unlikely as the sheer scale of fraud meant that my case was small fry.
- When I applied for a mortgage 2 yrs later it transpired that two mobile companies had not in fact updated my credit file to remove the debts incurred despite assurances.
- 3 years on and I still can't get a false 'linked address' removed from my credit file - an address which was given to falsely apply for a credit card in my name.

At every stage sorting this out took hours of my time because companies, credit agencies and my bank each seemed ill-equipped to manage the fall out of the fraud.

between february and march last year, i was victim of a bank fraud to the tune of 拢2100, the very fact that my bank claimed all my banking details were used in these transactions make me believe that, i was victim of ID theft. Though the matter was reported to the police and the bank, nobody till today has tried to tell me where the ID theft actually occured and worse, the bank with the support of the financial ombudsman, has refused liability in the matter. Could there ever be an investigative body capable of tracing those engaging in such activities? I hope so , except if the new body would not be a new empty ombudsman.

The only time I have had a serious problem was last October. I had been making enquiries on a balance transfer only to find that the Bank had stopped my card as some 'person' had attempted to steal 拢500-00 out of my account, how they had got access to this I as still in the dark. The one good thing that came from this was the speed that the Bank showed in blocking the theft so I wasn't the loser.

my husband and I were very alarmed at the slack way the Tax Credit office dealt with our personal details. They telephoned us (cold-called, one evening) - then proceeded to ask us for details of our NI number, address and bank account - which together would have been very useful to any fraudster. We had no idea whether they were who they said they were (they were so preoccipied with insisting they receive OUR details that they had no conception that WE didnt know who THEY were!! When we insisted we would not give details like that over the phone, and would only deal with them in writing, they became quite shirty, but in the end had to conced to our request!

Again what is the point! You wouldn't accept my comments on being able to afford Affordable housing!!!!!!!!

I had three fraudulent transactions made on two different credit cards. The first time the card was cloned in a restaurant I had been to.Over six hundred pounds was charged to buy a computer. The computer company was not interested even though they knew where they had dispatched the goods. The second two transactions were made about an hour apart in a distant country I had never visited. The credit card company did not ask the buyer for proof he/she was the card holder even though as they admitted,they were suspicious of the transactions, yet let them go through unchallenged.
It was much easier for the thief to spend my money than it was for me to recoup it.
Why don't they put photo IDs on credit cards and tighten up the procedures for purchasing over the phone or internet insisting all deliveries be made to the cardholder's address.

The first I knew that my cheque book had been stolen in the post was a 拢1000 debit on my current account. Nat West did not take my complaint seriously for quite a while and I had to do all the running between police and bank, and spent hours over weeks on the phone. The Police were supportive but the bank treated me like a criminal, even when it was quite obvious that the signature on the cheque in no way resembled my own. After months the money was reimbursed but I was still charged interest on the overdraft! Whilst this is not compete ID fraud, it left me wondering how difficult it must be to have to prove your case with real fraud.

Hi Yes I have have been the victim of identity theft to the value of 拢10,000.
This was done by someone using my credit card on approx 5 plus occasions in one day placing online bets.

I do not have any reference to any credit cards on my PC but do very occasionally buy things online.

According to my CC company they claim not to process any unusual transactions. So why did they not stop the above. Or was it an inside job???

One doesn't suffer from that kind of thing.

Have you had problems with identity theft?

Unfortunately, I have had a individual steal my credit cards. My father and I, while repairing a cousin's car on the highway, gave a hitchhiker a ride. We went out of our way, because the young man was cordial and needed a ride. The credit card company alerted me after about $500.00 US Dollars were charged.

Thankfully, I did not have to pay for the charges the thief had charged.

Yet, the hardest note to contend with, was that the person found out that the police were after them and just before they were charged, committed suicide.

That is something hard to live with. If, I had of had, the forethought and not given the gentleman the benefit of a doubt, he would not be dead today.

A year and a half ago someone tried to buy over US$3,000 worth of jewelry in Kansas City, Mo. using my Debtit Card data, but did not have the card.

Wells Fargo Bank computers flagged the transaction as not normal, for me, and refused to honor the transaction. Might have been different if had been computer equipment they were trying to buy, but lucky for me they went for a high value, easy to carry, purchase.

But it resulted in cancellation of the card and issue of a new card, which left me without a debit card for a little over a week.

In todays world where one carries a debit card and little cash, life, I found out, without my debit card was different to say the least.

I am thankful that Well Fargo Bank keeps such a good eye on debit card transactions. Computers do good as well as bad.....

I was a "victim" once when my post was intercepted and accounts opened and loans taken out in my name. The only company to spot it was the local video club. It wasn't a hassle to sort out though but I was surprised how many companies didn't check they had the correct date of birth when these applications were made.

I've had no personal experience of identity theft. However, on one occasion I was at Notting Hill Police station a woman discussed her experience with me. The woman complained to a civilian receptionist that she hadn't received any mail for several days. On complaining to the local Post Office, she was told that her mail was being redirected, without her knowledge or authority, to another address. The woman was brave enough to have visited that address and to remonstrate with the people concerned before visiting the police station to report the matter. What surprised me was the fact that it appeared so easy for someone else to approach the Post Office and arrange for someone's post to be redirected. I've no idea what checks and balances the Post Office normally operate, but on this occasion it clearly wasn't sufficient to prevent fraud.

I have not had my ID stollen but I have absolute proof that one of the credit reference agencies either passed on my (unique to them) email address or had it stollen from their "secure" database.

Either way it is not good, when such databases carry massive amounts of personal data.

I had lengthy "discussions" with the agency .... but they could never explain just how this unique email address was in the possession of a spammer ......

How I do this is to allocate an email address exclusively to anyone who could possibly pass it on to a third part (quite common practice).

ie A.Company@Myaddress.com

and collect the emails by using Admin@Myaccount.com where all problematic emails appear.

In the case above the email was only ever used ONCE so the likelyhood of being captured by a third party in incredibly small.

Watch out for "free Lotto". it is the biggest identity theft scam going yahoo and Scotland Yard ought to investigate them and shut them down

I had a 拢2000 laptop charged to my Credit Card. It appears that someone found a receipt I had dropped in the street. The Person went to the shop of the recept, the shop did a credit check (not very carefully) and cleared the sale.

It took a significant amount of time to prove I was not involved. I was suceessful, I was lucky the person had made another trasaction and I was able to prove I could not possibly have been involved.

Others may not be so lucky.

Someone hacked into a (locked) website I had used about a week previously to purchase an item over the net. The website e-mailed me within 24hours of the security breach and advised me to contact my credit card company, which I did. About a month later my card was refused. I contacted the appropriate number where I was told that a stop had been placed on my card as they had noticed a strange transaction, not typical of my spending habits, using my card.
I have not had to pay the amount but instead have completed various forms, confirming the transaction was nothing to do wih me. I recognise that identity theft is a very serious issue but, like the guy before me on the comments page, was pleased that my company had systems in place for spotting this.

Last year my Credit Card details were stolen presumably when purchasing diesel at a local Bath garage? The first I knew was when the Fraud Dept of my bank (First Direct) phoned and asked me one evening if I had used my CC in a Portuguese supermarket that day! When I assured them I hadn't moved out of Bath they told me a purchase had been made with my CC No: for 拢1600 or more across in Portugal!
Then again in Oct last year my friend purchased an air tkt in my name for a return visit to Mumbai. The CC No was given to a Call Centre in Delhi,used by E-BOOKERS the travel company concerned, and within two days of using the Card someone had purchased several air tkts in Brussells with that CC no: amounting to hundreds of pounds. We wrote several letters to E-BOOKERS complaining - but no reply was ever received from them! Sincerely, Paan Ming-to.

I had a call from an internet company querying credit card details. They confirmed they had my mobile number and my address. Someone had ordered TWO bathroom suites, but not using my card, and they were not going to be delivered to my address.

I am amazed that someone has taken my mobile number and made a note of my home address.

As a precaution I cancelled my mastercards and am now using the new reissues. Scary!

Dear,
the theft is not agood idea of geting money,that is why in Islam order someone whom stole ,must be punished by choping hand off so that next time you dont still,and if someone see's you say this man is a theft,thanks best regards.

I had a problem with someone "acquiring" my credit card details, apparently from an on-line purchase I had made with another company.

I was only alerted to the problem by the eagle eyed accounts department who had received an order for a computer server priced at over 拢1,100 to be delivered to my home address. The order was in my name, but shewn as a limited company.

The guy in accounts said that the delivery address would probably have been changed, once the order was confirmed, but fortunately it didn't come to that. On checking with my credit card company, 2 small transactions of about 拢30 each had already been paid by them - used to test the system worked, according to their fraud section, so they are aware of the problems.

They required me to report the matter to the police, who took absolutely no interest whatsoever, other than logging it with an incident number.

I am very grateful to the guy in accounts, and for their system of checking that made them query the transaction and subsequently to disallow the order!

I am also very aware now of how easy it apparently is to steal another identity.

Nationwide were recently fined over the theft of a laptop from a staff member containing information on about a million customers. They refuse to tell me exactly what details of mine were compromised. Their pledge that I would lose nothing can only apply to my business with them, and ignores the fact that the information might be sold on to identity thieves and identities faked from it could turn up anywhere, nothing to do with Nationwide. They hide behind the police who say they should not tell the customers what personal information they (Nationwide)have allowed to be stolen. So it seems the police are happy with the possibility of a million or so people being at risk, and unable to take specific precautions themselves against identity crime, because they don't know what personal information may be in criminal hands. Why should this organisation refuse to give me details of my own property that they have so negligently allowed to be stolen?

鈥淭his will be Romanians or Albanians. Our criminals aren鈥檛 clever enough for this.鈥� A local policeman was finally gathering evidence of the identity theft my wife and I had suffered and offering his thoughts on the likely perpetrators.

It began with a letter from the Norwich union informing us that 鈥渁 suspicious transaction鈥� had occurred. From this and further correspondence with the insurance giant I learned that a fraudster or more likely a gang of same had got hold of the full names, dates of birth and address of my wife and myself. The source was almost certainly Companies House where such details are easily available, as are facsimiles of signatures.

Armed with these the fraudsters made a series of telephone calls to the Norwich Union call centre fishing for information. They landed it. They learned that we did indeed have a policy with the Norwich Union; they were able to extract the type of policy and, most unforgivably of all, a policy number.

Next they informed the company that Mr and Mrs Wyatt were changing their address from rural Oxfordshire to Deptford. They rang for a surrender value for the policy then wrote from the new address to effect the surrender, the money to be paid into a Halifax account in my name, number and sort code supplied. The not insignificant sum was duly paid. The Norwich Union later sent me copies of this letter and two others, all signed with a pretty good imitation of my wife鈥檚 and my signatures.

By now the thieves had lured the Norwich Union into providing the numbers of other policies we held and the second letter asked for these to be surrendered with payment into another Halifax account in my name at a different sort code.

At last, two and a half months after the first telephone call, the penny dropped at the Norwich Union. They did not pay up on the other policies, reinstated the first and wrote to us, the first we knew of any of this.

I went into bat with both the Norwich Union and the Halifax to discover how this fraud had been carried out, what other frauds I might be susceptible to, what else they knew and whether it had been reported to the police. It is fair to say that the responses to my calls and letters were courteous and fairly prompt. They sent me a form to register with CIFAS protective registration, leaflets on identity theft and how to complain but I did not get what I wanted

Neither company had reported the matter to the police two months after the fraud was discovered though they 鈥渨ould of course cooperate fully with any investigation鈥� should I do so. I remonstrated that there were voice recordings of the phone calls to Norwich Union, possibly CCTV pictures of the thief going into the Halifax branch to pick up the cash (it turned out they only keep the pictures for a couple of weeks or so!) an address to be investigated, a landline phone number had been used and surely it was only by gathering every detail of every such crime that these gangs would be caught.

So I rang the Deptford police and gave details. Two days later they rang back. The conversation went as follows.
Police: 鈥淭his call is to tell you that this is not a recordable offence.鈥�
Wyatt: 鈥淲hy not?鈥�
Police: 鈥淚t鈥檚 for insurance companies鈥� and banks鈥� investigation units to inquire into it. The police would only be involved at a later stage.鈥�
Wyatt: 鈥淪o stealing more than 拢10,000 is not a crime?鈥�
Police: 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying it is not a crime but it will not be recorded.鈥�
Wyatt: 鈥� So there鈥檚 a gang in your area setting up false bank accounts, falsifying information, conning insurance companies and stealing money and you are not interested?鈥�
Police: Look sir, it鈥檚 very hard for the staff to get their heads around this. Between you and me I can鈥檛 understand it.鈥�

I now put it to the Norwich Union that they were not fussed because they were probably insured, that neither they nor the banks wanted the number and ease of such offences to be widely known and that the police were only too happy to keep the crime figures down. Their case investigator then followed up my inquiry to the police and did write to Scotland Yard, hence the involvement of my local police.

I had taken protective action from early on. The Norwich Union put additional safety checks in place, I rang my bank to report the fraud and request further protection and rang other insurance companies with whom I had policies to add extra security questions. I registered with protection agencies and rang the other six main consumer banks to make sure that no accounts had been opened in my name with any of them. None had but only one bank, Lloyds TSB, would not give me this information over the phone. A fierce Scottish woman told me to write in; good for her.

I was most frustrated by my inquiries of the Halifax. I had rung their sales line to ask to open an account to test the system (my first thought was to use the name, address and date of birth of their chairman but my wife wisely dissuaded me) and was told there would be a credit check. When I asked the fraud unit what the credit check for the thieves鈥� account had thrown up I was told there had not been one. 鈥溾�滻t was a savings account you see. We were not extending any credit.鈥� Money launderers and thieves take note.

I pointed out that someone was going around pretending to be me and opening fraudulent bank accounts. In order to protect myself I wanted to know what information and documentation had been provided when they did so. The Halifax said they could not tell me because of the Data Protection Act.

I pressed for the precise wording in the act which stopped me knowing how I was being impersonated and was eventually quoted, 鈥渘ever disclose personal information to unauthorised parties.鈥� So a crook uses my identity to open a bank account and when I ask for the evidence he uses to pretend to be me I am the unauthorised one.

I suggested to the Norwich Union that they make the default method of payment on policies a direct transfer into the bank account from which premiums hade been paid. Any variance should require special checks. I cannot see a problem with this.

It has been a worrying and time consuming saga. All the more so as someone 鈥� the same gang? 鈥� has used my National Insurance number to claim tax credits sent to yet another address. This I discovered when the Revenue called to recover two thousand pounds I had never claimed or received.

I now wait to hear of police developments. But does the left hand know what the right is up to? I like to imagine a team of crack brains served by impossibly sophisticated software piecing together details from the thousands of these crimes to map the big picture. I hope that it is true.

In the mean time one is left feeling besieged. Pull the wagons in a circle. It鈥檚 quiet at the moment. But I don鈥檛 like it, Sir, it鈥檚 too quiet. And I can鈥檛 see the cavalry.

Yes, I was brought up to think Britain belonged to the British and my ID would always be British and proud, i'm not!

I'm not a betting man, but have recently had 拢400 taken from my Alliance and Leicester (MBNA) credit card by betfair.

Yes. Identity fraud seems all too easy. I had somebody use my credit card details for 3 holidays of which I received the details of including flight numbers and hotels. When I informed the credit card people and the police that they might be able to pick them up on their return flights, given that we knew the number, they were not interested. Both just wanted details of when it happened and made sure we were not at it.
Quote from the credit card company, "don't worry you will not be held liable and the money will be returned in full!" That took 6 months and they also had to return the interest on it.
Who will pay in the long run? We will!!

No I haven't directly... but..... recently, on turning 65, I was dismayed to received a badly photocopied form of the UK Pension Services, to check they had my personal data correct...asking me to fill it in and return it.
The form consisted of these questions..........

MY full Name....
My Full Address...
My N. Insurance Number...
My Banks Name....
My Bank Account Number...
My Banks sort code....
My Wife's full name....
My Wife's N. Insurance Number...

All to be returned in an envelope marked "Pensions Services", displaying legends like.. "Private and confidential" " For the attention of " etc. stamped all over the envelope in large red letters, it reminded me a bit of the envelopes "Readers Digest" use when posting their competition............ Before returning the form, I rang the phone number given on previous correspondence I had received off them,to verify the fact that it was indeed the Pension Offices that had sent out this request for info..and was satisfied by the ensuing conversation it was the Pensions Offices I was talking to... however, I was further dismayed by the fact, during our conversation, that the lady I was talking to was quite taken aback by may comments concerning their security standards.. It was then my turn to be taken aback by her reactions during that conversation, when I mentioned Data theft, the opportunities that particular form I had filled in offered a less scrupulous person if waylaid and opened.. of "Pishing", how "insecure e.mailing" could or might be, ..she had no idea what "pishing" or "an electronic footprint" meant and thought emails were positively secure....telling me that she had not, previous to our conversation, given it much thought... all this off a lady in a senior position (not simply an office clerk but an office manager) working in a government office,?? that handles millions of pounds a week??
Maybe this might be an issue worth an investigation by Newsnight???

Lance......

My car has been clonnend and they only time I found out was when I recieved a SPEEDING TICKET in sheffield I live in london it took almost a year before it was proven god knows whate will hppen when the I.D comes into place.

I have quickly read through the comments on this subject, and found it extremely fascinating.

The building on which I live suffered three break ins last year in less than three months. Nothing like this had ever happened before - and I had/have lived at the address for more than 20 years when it happened.

My place was turned over in December 2006. It was a real shock to my system to arrive home from work and trip over items that are usually well-hidden. That's how I realised that something was not right. I was both afraid and furious for months after that, just knowing that someone dared to break into my home whilst I was out earning a living. I felt that my home was no longer my sanctuary, but that it ought to be so.

At first although I could not find anything that was missing (most things I thought had been taken turned up some time later), all of my documents had been thoroughly gone through - bills, statements, etc. A friend advised me to watch out for ID Fraud and said that sometimes it can take months for anything unusual to happen on my account.

In the last couple of days I have received a Bank Statement and, on scanning it quickly, noticed a debit card transaction for an amount and with a company I do not recognise. Mentally I made a note to sit down this weekend and go through the statement with a fine toothed comb.

Since originally speaking to my friend who advised that I get onto a Credit Agency and check my account every couple of months for unusual activity, I have tried many times to do this but without success. It seems that you have to be set up online, and I do not have a computer at home. Thus I either use an Internet Cafe or my local library.

It's too easy for people to illegally use other people's identity, and instead of financial institutions believing their customers - the vast majority of whom are genuine, decent law-abiding citizens - they choose instead to give us a hard time. That makes us feel doubly violated, I think.

Finally, I believe that the law is too soft on offenders and that is why crimes such as these are on the increase. We need better protection, but we do not want to feel that we live in a police state and this is how the current Government has made us feel.

I have yet to have that unpleasant experience, but with all the solicitations sent by email and post, I must be extremely vigilant.
I don't know about England, but here in the US I get solicitations almost daily. Each one must be opened, blacked out with permanent marker, and shredded to ensure my safety.
There are also certain merchants whose machines still print one's entire number on each receipt.
It's as if they wish for your identity to be stolen.

The problem of Identity theft & consumers personell details being stolen. The government needs to get their act together on this. It would seem it is far to easy for these fraudsters to get details. The elderley & even those who have recentley died seem to be particularly at risk, leaving loved ones & relatives to clear up the mess.

Surely those unidentifiable boxes you put your card into in shops and type a PIN number are the best means ever devised for stealing money off that card? It ought to show you a password so you know it's connected to the real system.

I work for a charity. We had an identity theft case The owner's paperwork including passport was sent "special delivery", ie - signed for - to the passport office to obtain a new passport. The passport office received the package, it was signed for, but then it disappeared. The owner could not prove her own identity, could not leave the country, could not visit her parents in Portugal to introduce her new baby. She had to travel hundreds of miles several times to the passport office in London to try to sort it out, which she could not afford. It was a complete nightmare.

o god have i only 3 weeks ago i had 1850 spent on a transaction over the phone with all my details to a shop in cardiff the bank never contacted me and it was lucky i checked my account on line or was it because since doing on line banking this is where all my stress has begun i had to do all the ringing round filing complains the bank was usless it took them a week to put the money back on doing this they told me to put my cash into a direct savings account where no one can get at it even me they said i also asked them to put a flag on my account to conntact me if over 拢400 was taken in one go well they did not and yes only today less than a month some one has cleared me out 拢3460 in one go no phone calls from the bank i only found out by tryin to log on i conntacted the bank to be told that yesterday some one had loged on to my account and transfered this money to an account with the name emma r whitten and to a lloyds account even thou they say its not been released to her yet i have to wait another 7 days to get my money back even thou i had aflag put on my account so work that one out well natwest i will be closing all my accounts down with you and thanxs for all the stress and upset

Mail theft for past 3 months, extensive ID theft since that time. Royal Mail are useless, they still dump my post in a public space (reason for original problem), including credit cards, statements, any sensitive financial mail. Police are useless, they do absolutely nothing, I mean ABSOLUTELY nothing. Financial companies are useless, they hand credit cards to anyone without proper checks. However, some of them have been helpful when I reported the fraud, MBNA and Capital One especially. Also O2 were helpful
Barclaycard! What can I say about Barclaycard that won't offend anyone. I can't. Whatever you do, never take out a Barclaycard unless you're a fraudster, they're worse than the police for apathy and uselessness. 3 months gone, many, many hours of phonecalls to report fraud and theft, nothing done. Sent around departments with each and every 'customer service representative' (an oxymoron) passing me onto another oxymoron in another department. Record so far in one phone call: 6 departments! No one was able to help. Every call ended with offer of callback, 7 altogether, I never received a single one. 3 letters and emails, nothing done. Still reference on credit file, yet to confirm card cancelled. Wouldn't speak to me about the card/account as I wasn't the card holder even though my name, date of birth and address was used!! Fraudulently.
Moral of the story live in another country. Else, nothing you can do. Apparently there is no legislation to protect us, greedy credit card companies will do anything to get new business hence sending out cards unsecurely, without proper checks. Royal Mail business is now heavily contract, hence lower security vetting of 'contractor' employees, and additionally contracted out business to other delivery companies.