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Call FraudThere’s been a lot of talk recently about the problem of credit card fraud and identity fraud with several major companies taking steps to combat the problem and protect their customers. Callcredit, a credit reference agency, has revealed it’s own tactic for combating the problem and disturbing statistics on consumers knowledge of their finances which could have serious repercussions in combating fraud. According to Which? one out of four adults are affected by identity theft with a total cost of £1.3 billion to consumers. Callcredit’s new scheme, called CallFraud, aims to tackle the problem by introducing a system that is open to any kind of business and searches on a wide range of databases to ensure that potential fraud is identified. Some examples of the kind of databases CallFraud will search are deceased databases; to prevent identity theft of a deceased person and postcode databases; to ascertain if a change of address is genuine or an attempt at identity theft. CallFraud will also be available to any company either under license or on a pay as you go basis, enabling most companies the option to use the service to combat fraud. While it’s good that banks, credit card companies and credit reference agencies are taking the problem seriously and taking steps to combat it is there anything consumers can do? And are consumers taking steps to protect themselves? No system is likely to be foolproof and it’s not necessarily best to rely on other people to protect us against fraud. According to Callcredit consumers’s lack of knowledge about their own finances doesn’t help. After all if we are aware of our level of debt we can easily spot if something is wrong and hasn’t been picked up by our bank or a credit reference agency. Sadly 59% of people are unsure how much they owe, even more worrying still is the fact that so long as we can meet our monthly repayments and mortgage eight out of ten of us don’t worry about not knowing our level of debt. Seven out of ten people have no idea at all how much they owe. Being knowledgeable about how much you owe and to whom is important not only to identify if you are a victim of fraud but also so you can plan your finances and financial commitments better. For anyone who wishes to become more knowledgeable about what’s going on with your credit record all you have to do is contact the major credit reference agencies and for a small fee you can apply to see your credit record and have it changed if necessary. Additionally simply paying closer attention to credit card and loan statements so you know exactly how much you owe and whether there is any unusual or unauthorised activity can go a long way to combating fraud and giving you peace of mind.
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