A debt agency is chasing me for more than £2,000 after a fraudster used my company name and address to open an account with payment service Worldpay.
Every time I contact Worldpay, it promises to deal with the matter. But then, a few months later, I get another letter from the debt agency demanding money.
I am at my wits’ end worrying about my credit rating, bailiffs coming to my home and my company name being used fraudulently.
J.R., London.
Stress: A reader is worrying about her credit rating, bailiffs coming to her home and her company name being used fraudulently
Sally Hamilton replies: This whole sorry saga began when you received a Worldpay card payment machine out of the blue at your business address.
You returned the device as you do not use card machines for your pet accessory business. You sell your wares through an online marketplace, which handles all the payments for you, or directly to shops, which are billed quarterly and pay you by bank transfer.
Some weeks after you returned the card machine, you started receiving letters from Worldpay about chargeback requests from the credit card companies of customers who had seemingly been tricked into paying for goods they never received.
You repeatedly called Worldpay, telling them they were barking up the wrong tree as the email, bank account and phone number used to create the account did not match yours, and it appeared the fraudster was male, while you are female.
Eventually, your pleas were heard. Worldpay assured you the issue would be dealt with, and a note was put on your file to indicate someone else had used your business name.
You thought the matter resolved — until Oriel, a debt collection agency, came after you for £2,613 in November last year. You pleaded with this firm to contact Worldpay and hoped the nightmare was over, until yet another demand landed on your doormat a few weeks ago — this time for £2,090.
Oriel refused to engage with you this time because it said your email address did not match the (fraudulent) one on their records.
You thought filing a police report might help, but identity theft is not a crime, according to crime reporting agency Action Fraud.
Bizarre as this seems, it says it becomes a recordable crime only when a thief uses the stolen information to commit fraud and make a financial gain.
You also fear your personal finances and job prospects could be affected by the misuse of your identity. You have been accepted for a job in the police force, pending the usual credit checks. But you are worried this could scupper your chances.
To make matters worse, you are preparing for major surgery. The last thing you need is debt collectors hounding you.
I was more than happy to intervene and prodded Worldpay to put an end to your misery.
Within a few days, the company confirmed what you and I knew already: that the offending account had been set up using impersonation fraud.
It also confirmed that it had taken action to clear your credit record and said you would not be troubled by debt collectors any longer.
A spokesman for Worldpay says: ‘The company was made aware of a client that received collection notifications related to identity theft. Upon a correct identity verification, we were able to work directly with the client to resolve the issue. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.’
Anyone in your position should check their credit files for suspicious activity, such as applications for loans they didn’t make. The three main agencies you can use to do this are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Identity theft can be hard to prevent. Fraudsters often buy personal or business information that has been stolen in an online data breach, or glean it in other ways, such as through social media or ‘phishing’.
This is where crooks send out dodgy emails or text messages that trick recipients into giving away personal information or bank details. Do not click on suspicious messages and change your passwords regularly.
You did the right thing by reporting the incident to the police, as the information could help them pursue the crooks responsible.
Why is Virgin Media still billing me if I have cancelled my contract?
I contacted Virgin Media in March to cancel my phone and broadband contract. In May, I realised I was still being billed. As a pensioner on a fixed income, I am unable to sustain these charges. Please help.
C.C., Cleveland.
Sally Hamilton replies: On my request, Virgin Media had a root around to see what had gone wrong and spoke to you directly to get the facts. It turns out you had asked to switch your landline to Sky in early March but had done this by going to Sky directly.
You informed Virgin a few days later but Sky had already contacted Virgin about moving your service. This caused your Virgin account to be frozen, which it says meant it couldn’t act on your cancellation instruction. Virgin said it asked you to call back once your Sky phone line was active. This you did on April 26.
Since it takes 30 days to disconnect a customer’s service, the process wasn’t completed until nearly the end of May, which is why you received a bill.
Virgin agreed to refund your final bill of £105 as a gesture of goodwill, along with £24 credit.
Even though Virgin followed procedure in your case, it has recently been fending off an avalanche of complaints from customers struggling to cancel their contracts. This month, regulator Ofcom announced an investigation into the provider following complaints about the barriers to cancelling contracts.
In its defence, Virgin said the rate of complaints from customers wishing to end contracts had halved in the past year and it added that it would be working with Ofcom throughout its investigation and continue improving its complaints process.
A way to avoid this kind of hassle when cancelling a contract is to give your firm 30 days’ notice before switching.
A Virgin Media spokesman says: ‘We would advise any customer who wants to move any service to another provider to let us know in advance so that we can take the necessary action and avoid any unnecessary delays.’
