Customer Stories
Below are the real stories of three victims of identity theft, as supplied by CPP. Their stories vary, but their frustration, and even despair, is unfortunately, a common theme. (Their names have been changed.)
Mrs Berryman
As a disabled person, 65 year old widow Mrs Berryman of Cambridge relied on carers and friends to help with everyday chores. Rosie was an old friend of Mrs Berryman’s youngest daughter, and came over to the house frequently to chat and run the occasional errand. Over the years, Rosie had gathered personal information from Mrs Berryman and had taken out credit cards in her name through on-line applications.
This was naturally very distressing for Mrs Berryman, but luckily she had bought CPP Identity Protection Alert before her daughter’s friend began making further attempts to use her personal details. CPP stepped in and assigned Mrs Berryman her own personal identity theft expert, who helped her to apply for further credit reports, and advised her to get in touch with all her banks and credit card companies to alert them to the fraud. The identity theft expert wrote letters on Mrs Berryman’s behalf to send to credit reference agencies, banks and finance companies, and set up a preventative fraud alert with CIFAS. The identity theft expert helped to interpret the credit reports for Mrs Berryman. CPP’s Identity Protection Alert policy also provided Mrs Berryman with up to four credit reports each year.
Mrs Berryman’s commented: “It has been a very worrying time for me and my family. I can't believe how easily it happened, and to someone like me who is so careful.”
Ms Carter
Ms Carter's debit card was already very late when it arrived through the post in April 2005. She then discovered that her bank account had been cleared of all funds through internet transactions. She contacted her bank and asked for them to not pay any Direct Debits to the companies involved. However, because her details had been changed on their systems, the banks were unable to identify her. That's when CPP stepped in and assigned her a identity theft expert who, by using their knowledge and direct contacts within the bank, began to take Ms Carter's claims seriously. CPP provided Ms Carter with the necessary letters she needed to send, along with step by step guide of what to do. The bank then investigated and has now refunded the fraudulent internet transactions.
Mr Jones
Mr Jones had never had any payment problems with his credit cards. Yet in August 2005, he began receiving letters demanding repayment from a credit card company. Mr Jones called the creditors several times, explaining that the debt was not his and that he wanted the situation looked into. He was finally advised by the company's fraud department that the situation had been resolved and that no further action would be taken against him.
Several months later, in October 2005, Mr Jones received a formal demand from a debt collection agency for immediate payment of £2,988. The letter warned that if he did not pay in the next seven days, court action would be taken and a County Court Judgement issued.
Mr Jones was in the process of joining the police force and any action against him such as a CCJ would severely hinder his employment chances.
That was when Mr Jones turned to his CPP policy. An identity theft expert was assigned, who guided him through every step of clearing his name, from placing a Notice of Correction on his credit report to reporting the crime to the police (A police reference number enabled him to take advantage of the insurance element of his policy.)
CPP also registered a protective fraud warning with CIFAS, to prevent further mis-use of Mr Jones' name, and complied letters for him to send to the credit card company and credit collection agency.
In the end Mr Jones' case was resolved smoothly. No other credit has been taken out in his name.