CIFAS advice needed

[Dan0202]

Hi there,

I will try and keep this as short as possible and include all relevant information!

Last month I discovered I have a Cat 6 marker against my name - this came about as I was trying to set up a Help to Buy ISA with Lloyds. They rejected my application and pointed me towards getting a SAR from CIFAS. I went on to do this and was shocked to see Barclays had placed one against me in March of this year on an account that I rarely used but had been open since 2015.

Beginning of last year I was the victim of a university phishing email and I was told by my university that potentially the criminals behind the email could have access to my laptop's data - so for me, this means basically all of my details as I live off my laptop.

I received a phone call in January from who I believed was Barclays - saying that because I rarely use my account they were going to close it due to inactivity. This made sense to me as I was debating whether to close it myself. They already had my full name address and account details. They asked some basic security questions such as certain letters of my online password etc and then said the account would be closed within 6 weeks and that I would receive a letter in the post. As I was in my final year of uni the existence of the letter and its' arrival completely flew over my head so I haven't thought about Barclays until I received my SAR from CIFAS.

The marker shows that all my personal details were changed too so I received no correspondence regarding the later closing of my account due to a breaking of the account's T&C's

It appears I was terribly naive to hand over details on the phone and subsequently the individual/individuals then used the account fraudulently. After doing some googling I have discovered that "money muling" is usually carried out by students and I am scared I will now be viewed as a facilitator of fraud when I had no part in it!

I have applied and gained protective registration through CIFAS though worry it will not be sufficient to protect myself and allow me to open savings accounts etc.

I have also written to Barclays on two occasions now and am yet to hear back. The second letter having gone this week.

Is there any advice anyone has to help? I am really worried that my details are now being used to open up more accounts for fraudulent purposes.

I hope this all makes sense.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Hello

What a nightmare for you. Not just what has happened in the past, but also what may happen in the future if you don't get this potential identity theft sorted out.

Have you reported this to Action Fraud, and would your uni help you?

Never-In-Doubt (forum owner) explains things here >

.

You need to follow process - the bank must prove that they have the evidence as though they could pursue legal action against you, so if they can't do that they should not be adding a CIFAS. The fact you may have shared details shouldn't be a barrier either, as in that would be irresponsible - not fraud. Not if you were unaware of the crime being committed.

Your first post of call would be to contact Action Fraud and then contact CIFAS and get the data they hold and see what it says, then you go to the lender who added the marker and send them evidence of what you explained in post one above - photocopy everything, do not send originals.

You would explain to the lender who added CIFAS that you are the victim here - not the perpetrator and provide them with the crime number you'll get when you report it to Action Fraud (online bobbies).

The bank must show without reasonable doubt that they believe you are the perpetrator and have evidence to prosecute for fraud. If they do not then they cannot issue a CIFAS; in which case you'd request a final response and then contact the FOS for their intervention.

Di

[Dan0202]

Hi thanks for the response!

Yeah it really is a living nightmare for me currently.

I reported what I could to Action Fraud and received a reference number, however because I was unable to provide a detail explanation of what has happened and I could not say whether Barclays was actually defrauded or not, they said a crime had not been committed in their opinion.

Currently I have no access to my uni emails as I have graduated but I’m trying to get them to confirm to me that phishing emails did occur and that one was successful - it was ridiculous how many of these suspicious emails we received on a daily basis!

Thanks again