Identity fraud is rising in the UK: January statistics show that financial fraud is up 8% since the end of last year, and there were five million cases of fraud in 2015 alone.
With fraudsters finding ever more inventive ways to try and steal your identity, and personal details being sold illicitly on the dark web, it’s important to be vigilant.
While most people know to check their bank statements, not everyone knows that checking your credit report is a great way to monitor for fraud, and it’s absolutely free. Here’s a step-by-step guide from ClearScore on how to check your credit report for fraud.
Step 1: Get your free credit report
There is no need to pay for your credit report. You can access a free service such as ClearScore.com and get your Equifax credit report in a few minutes. There’s also no need to enter any bank details.
To get a full picture, you can also check your Experian credit report using a free trial, but this ends after 30 days and is £14.99 a month afterwards. To see your Callcredit report (used by fewer lenders but still worthwhile) you can sign up to Noddle for free.
Step 2: Get to know your report
Your credit report is simply a history of your financial dealings. Your report contains information about how you’ve handled your credit accounts, including mortgages, credit cards and store cards. It also records when lending companies check your report before making a decision on whether to lend to you- this shows up as a ‘hard’ search.
Get to know your report – have a good look around and familiarise yourself with all the information, checking it’s correct.
Step 3: Look for signs of fraud
Look through your credit report for suspicious and unfamiliar entries. The tell-tale signs of fraud are new credit accounts you didn’t open, an outstanding balance far higher than you expected, or an increase in ‘hard’ searches. If a fraudster is trying to open accounts in your name, a hard search will be listed on your credit report for each of those attempts.
Step 4: Report any fraud
You should report any fraudulent activity to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or actionfraud.police.uk Make sure you have key information to hand (for example names, dates, information about the suspect, and details of how money was lost). You should also tell your bank or financial services provider about any suspicious activity so they can put a freeze on fraudulent lines of credit.
Step 5: Keep monitoring
Continue to monitor your credit report – we suggest you do this at least once a month.
If you’re particularly worried, you could sign up to a paid-for alerts service. However, make sure it’s worth the money – if you are security savvy, your risk is low. Using strong passwords, reporting lost cards and being wary of unsolicited calls or emails are all good ways of protecting yourself against fraud.
Read more banking advice from Get Safe Online
