Hi Guys

I'm still cleaning up the ID fraud from 3 years ago (Yep, Really that long ago).

Money Shop are dragging their heels. I decided to tackle these nuggets about 4 months ago as I move through each account 1 by 1. Essentially, speaking to a brick wall is hypothetically much more productive apparently.

Basically the story goes (Like before), someone stole my ID etc and went on a spree killing my credit file in the process.

Anyway, I went into store to get their Customer Relations Address which i emailed last December.

I got the usual 8 week time-scale email and they finally came back to me in Jan 2015 with the below;

Thank you for your email received on 8 December 2014, regarding your complaint against The Money Shop.

 

What your complaint is about

 

You are concerned that a third party has fraudulently acquired a loan using your identity. You have stated you do not require us to investigate this for you; however, you have asked us to provide you with a copy of the original credit agreement, the photo we have on the account, the copy of the proof of identity used and a statement of the account detailing the payments made and the method.

 

My assessment of your complaint

 

I acknowledge you have not asked us to investigate whether identity fraud has occurred, however we are unable to provide any information relating a possible third party due to the limitations of the Data Protection Act 1998. You have advised you are currently out of the country on business and cannot visit our store with photographic identification.

 

My Conclusion

 

In order for us to look into the matter further, please provide us with a scanned copy of your passport clearly showing the photograph and passport details, together with a scan of the front cover.

 

If we do not hear from you again within eight weeks of the date of this letter, we will consider your complaint to be closed.

I then responded telling them that the here is NO 3rd party, the data subject is me... But it fell on deaf ears.

I ended up getting a response this week after i responded on the 26th Jan telling them that they were out of order and needed to sort this out and investigate!

Anyway, I received an email back from a Fiona Cooper.

i S*** you not, I nearly wanted to drag them by their ears infront of the FCA.

In order to establish if a person has been a victim of identity fraud, as we hold a photograph of the customer who opened the account, we would usually ask for the person alleging fraud to visit a local Money Shop store and take some photographic identification. This means that the person alleging the fraud can be compared to the customer in the photograph and a copy of the photographic identification can be compared to the person in the store. A copy would then be taken for our files and if it is confirmed that it was not the same person who opened the account, the matter is usually concluded there and then and the necessary adjustments to our records and the credit file entry would then be made.

 

I understand that you have advised that you passport has been lost or stolen again and your driving licence is not available so it is not currently possible for you to provide any photographic identification. As you have now returned to the UK and are not planning to travel abroad again in the foreseeable future, please call at your local Money Shop any weekday and ask the staff to call our Customer Relations Unit on 0843 178 0204 while you are in the store. Please take a debit or credit card with you containing your signature and any other identification you may have a copies can then be scanned to us to be included in the case file. I am currently in the process of obtaining a copy of the original loan agreement so that the signatures can also be compared on receipt of both of these copies.

 

When it has been established if it was you or a third party who opened the account, then the next steps can be taken, on receipt of the required fees, with regards to your requests for a Data Subject Access Request and copies of the documentation which you have asked us to provide. It is The Money Shop policy not to release this data if there is any query over the identity of the person who has provided it, as in this case. When this has been confirmed by you visiting the store and the required fee has been received, then this information will be forwarded to you within the statutory period.

 

It is not Money Shop policy to provide the photograph of the person opening an account fraudulently to the victim in case they are known to them and any further investigation would need to be conducted by the police. Any requests for information would then be provided directly to the police to assist in their investigations on receipt of the required authority.

 

I am sorry if there was a misunderstanding with regards to the request for photographic identification, this was not required to produce a SAR, but to confirm if the account had been opened fraudulently. When this has been established, the information under the Data Subject Access Request can be provided to you if you opened the account, or to the police if you have been a victim of fraud.

 

If you require any further information, please contact our Customer Relations Unit on 0843 178 0204.

 

Yours sincerely

 

So what did I do... I went to the local store in Crawley. I was there for 10 mins, with a birth certificate as I don't currently have my passport.

I showed them the email, they then said you need to go back to Head Office and tell them we cant help you. I asked for them to fins the account and give me some sort of information so I have something I can rely on aside of my CRF. They looked on their system by every single piece of information could give them. Current Address, Address of the Fraudulent Loan, Name, Date of Birth, They couldn't find it. I even asked them to scan a copy of my birth certificate and send it to Head Office, They refused that too and told me that they needed to attach it to an account. I left unhappy and have responded to them.

But i took it to the next level, I sent it to the Guardian and Watchdog because I'm fed up with the "Do This For No Reason" attitude.

Anything else that I should be doing?

FYI... If you help me solve this one, Ill double my donation I pledged to make next month

I think the answer is simple

Their policy cannot change the regulations.

Do the SAR if you have not already done so

Follow up letter chasing compliance

Report it to the ICO

100% Sure? Thats what I thought, Company Policy isnt law...

Anything else you can advise, just short of going to FOS (Its gone past 8 weeks already)

Ive just been on the phone to their Customer Relations Team.

Apparently they spoke to all the store in question and they said that they dont remember me, which is understandable, however Fiona Cooper, the person dealing with it has said that she will be getting the CCTV from the store.

This is stupid, Im being called a liar by them and they stick by their company policy over the SAR even though the ICO has explicitly stated this morning that Money Shop are Not playing ball.

So ive escalated to the media, Ive made a mention of the FOS and courts, They still are being amazingly unhelpful...

OK stop playing telephone tennis. Nothing said over the phone is enforceable. My concern now is that the cctv could go missing.

I would advise a letter before action as they have had the 42 days. (Recorded delivery, keep a copy and attach proof of postange AND receipt(, giving them 7 days to comply fully with your request and that they must secure the cctv for further investigation. Failure to comply will leave you with no choice to take further action without further notice to them which includes a complaint to the ICO. You will also investigate seeking a ruling form the county court for disclosure under the data protection act, of which you will claim back from them any costs in doing so.

Already ahead of you. I sent a Formal Letter Before Action this morning.

Hey if DCAs can do it, then why cant I?

I also contacted the FOS today just to pre-empt me going to them,

They are sending out a complaint letter mostly pre-filled, They agreed that it wasnt right and also said that as it is over 8 weeks, I am entitled to complain./

This week will be a biggen. Ill keep you all posted...

Out of interest I noticed the Money Shop shop in Epsom, Surrey is moving its business to nearby Sutton, Surrey - a sign of the times perhaps that their business market hare is diminishing.

What result are you looking for here, please? A copy of the contract signed by the fraudster?

It seems to me that a contract which contains your personal details would be 'personal data' under the DPA, even if it is was signed by a fraudster. They are entitled to verify your identity but I'm not sure they would be entitled to withhold the contract.

Hi Steampowered

Money Store say that they take an image of the person opening an account. I know it wasnt me so Im trying to find out if this was part of the suspected fraud I had in 2012.

I think it is, however they said that I wasnt entitled to a SAR because it involves a third party. Like you when you think about it logically, Yes it may involve a 3rd Party, however They used my details and I am the data subject.

The original email to them in December last year was basically

"Just send me the stuff if you can, I then come back to you once I have made a decision based upon the evidence"

But it has now gotten to;

"You cant have your SAR, we are not obliged to send you anything even if you did send us a Postal order for £11 (SAR + CCA) due to the fact we believe our company policy overwrites law etc

Ive already spoken to the FOS and ICO and they both have made separate points about the whole situation. ICO for the SAR and CCA saying they HAVE to comply. The FOS said that they shouldnt be making it this difficult to get this situation resolved and also said that them having to use CCTV to verify whether I attended the store on Saturday is one step too far and almost borders on being dishonest.

The end result is the account will be removed from my CRA and closed with no further action pending. But It has taken almost 3 years to get to a point where I am ready to combat this.

Ive had 7 companies so far close there accounts but 2 that have been difficult are Money Shop and PaydayUK

Interesting thing is these are BOTH the one and same company, both belonging to Dollar Financial and now given to the Instant Cash Loans Ltd

I attended their store on Saturday with a Debit card and a Birth Certificate as per their request. I was there for 10 minutes, They couldnt find the account and they also refused to take a copy of my debit card and Birth certificate. IT would have been useless anyway as I never sign my cards.

But for the benefit of this situation, im just going to send my debit card and birth certificate to them. Its ridiculous.

Moneyshop should, at the very least, respond to your SAR by providing a copy of everything which is your 'personal data'.

But I'm afraid I do not think the photograph of the fraudster is your 'personal data', as it is not information which identifies you. However, the contract signed by the fraudster will be 'personal data' if it includes information about you (such as your name and address).

Moneyshop are incorrect to state that they are unable to provide information relating to a third party due to the DPA. This is a common attitude which represents the lack of even a basic understanding of what the DPA does. As you can clearly see from this section of the DPA - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/section/35 - disclosures of data for the purpose of investigating legal proceedings against the fraudster is completely exempt from the DPA. You could request them to provide the evidence under this exemption, especially if you can prove that you are looking at taking legal action against the fraudster.

If Moneyshop still refuse to provide the information, you may seek a court order that they provide the photo. This would be more challenging then simply going with the FOS/ICO and would involve having to pay the court fees. The other problem is that you may be ordered to pay Moneyshop's legal costs if you go down this road (the usual rule is that the person requesting disclosure has to pay the other side's costs, even if they get the order - but you would be able to try and convince the judge that he shouldn't apply this rule because Moneyshop has being so uncooperative). But it is probably the best action you can take if you really really want to get that photo.

Yeah well Im working on this one, I had a read of what you put up a long time ago and Im quite thorough with this.

Ive just rung them, after the following email.

There are two CCTV cameras in the lobby of The Money Shop at High Street in Crawley and I have viewed the footage from both cameras between 9.00am and 12.00 midday on Saturday 11 April 2015. Although you advised you could not remember exactly what time you called or which advisor served you, you said that you are 6’1’’-6’2’’ tall with very short hair. You said that you were wearing a blue hoody and jeans when you attended the store and also confirmed that you were born in 1989.

 

I have spoken to the advisors who were working in the store that day and neither recall being presented with a birth certificate or a copy of our previous e-mail and a debit card. It is not necessary to locate an account to attach the information and it could have been scanned and e-mailed to our Customer Relations Unit without locating an account. You are aware that the account record holds your details so the staff at any Money Shop store should not have had any issues in locating the correct .

 

Having reviewed the footage, there were 22 customers who entered The Money Shop at 2 High Street, Crawley on that morning and I confirm that there was no-one matching the description you provided. As you have previously been advised that we will need you to visit the store to compare you to the photograph of the person taking the loan, please provide further information on the location of the store you visited, the approximate time and a further description of you so that I can locate you on our CCTV footage. Alternatively, I will need you to visit a Money Shop during a weekday so that they are able to contact us to resolve the issue whilst you are in the store.

There are 3 money shop stores in my town. Ive already been to their store and was told they dont have an account for me.

I sent my Debit card, blocking out some of the Numbers for security reasons and also my birth certificate as right now, I dont have a valid passport. ~( I sent them to the Customer Relations Team this morning)

I told them I cant go to the store during the week and they just laughed at me. They said go at the weekend and get them to take your photo etc.

Well I did that last weekend just gone, and nothing... They couldnt help me and told me to go back to the Customer Relations Team. So random that none of the store advisor's remember me...

They have told me they will now refuse to help me until i go to store... DO I really have to again?

They said they were paying "No Attention" to my formal notice of proceedings from yesterday and that they would "do as they please" by sending me a proper final response when they see fit.

Its gone past the 8 weeks, they said they "Issued" a final response in JAn, however they didnt, It just said, we cant help right now.

Thats not a final response, that's them being lazy.

Another thing too; They said to me;

"If its fraud, why do you not have a CIFAS flag on your CRAs?"

Technically they are right, here goes another complaint to Natwest. The membership services promised I would get CIFAS added.

But its almost like they are trying to catch me out... The default will be removed in 2018, is it worth waiting?

Well, you can either:

1) Begin the process of issuing proceedings against them (either to force compliance with the SAR, or to get a copy of the photo)

2) Lodges complaints with the FOS/ICO and see what happens - this is probably worth doing either way but I wouldn't hold my breath about getting anywhere

3) Go to the store and try again

4) Do nothing

May I ask why you want the photo so badly? What do you hope to achieve by getting it? There might be a way of helping you reach the same goal by another route...

Well, you can either:

 

1) Begin the process of issuing proceedings against them (either to force compliance with the SAR, or to get a copy of the photo)

2) Lodges complaints with the FOS/ICO and see what happens - this is probably worth doing either way but I wouldn't hold my breath about getting anywhere

3) Go to the store and try again

4) Do nothing

 

 

May I ask why you want the photo so badly? What do you hope to achieve by getting it? There might be a way of helping you reach the same goal by another route...

It wasnt just the photo I wanted, it was everything else too.

I am just really tempted to leave it.

I will quote you some of stuff they have sent me today.

Further to our recent telephone conversation, the investigation of your allegation of identity fraud has been completed taking into all the information available to us into account. It has been concluded that the account was not opened fraudulently from the information provided during the application process. In addition to this, the operation and history of the account are not consistent with fraudulent behaviour. Now that this has been established, I am able to supply you with further information.

 

You called to The Money Shop in Portsmouth on 21 January 2012 to apply for a single payment short term loan. A passport was provided as identification and you gave a bank statement to prove your address. A payslip was also copied to show your income and confirm your employment at McDonalds. None of the documents appear to have been tampered with. A loan of £100.00 was provided to you in cash. No payments were received to the loan which has remained outstanding since the due date of 16 February 2012. A Notice of Default was sent to you on 29 March 2012 to let you know of our intention to enter a default on your credit file if payment was not received.

Yes, My passport had been stolen around about that time along with my other stuff stored in the house share I was staying in at the time.

As the account has not been identified as being opened fraudulently as you previously indicated, it is now possible to provide the information you have requested such as a Data Subject Access Request and a copy of the signed credit agreement. Although you advised during our telephone conversation that you had provided a postal order for £11.00 for the statutory fees applicable to these requests, I am unable to locate the payment. If you still require this information, please contact me again and let me know where the payment was sent and confirmation that it has been cashed. Alternatively, you can pay in cash in any of our stores or send a cheque or postal order for £11.00, payable to The Money Shop. Please mark this for my attention and send to -

 

Customer Relations Unit

The Money Shop

Kirtley Drive

Castle Marina

Nottingham

NG7 1LD

 

On receipt, I will arrange to provide the information to you within the required timescales.

Id forgotten that i had sent this earlier this year and found the letter in an archive file I had.

Please contact our Debt Recovery Team as soon as possible to arrange repayment of the outstanding debt and when payment has been received, the credit file entry relating to the account will be updated to show that the default has been satisfied. Their contact details are-

 

• Telephone: 0800 316 1414

Monday to Friday 8:00am to 7:00pm Saturday 9:00am to 4:00pm

• Email: [email protected]

• Writing to:

Debt Recovery Department

The Money Shop

Castlebridge Office Village

Kirtley Drive

Castle Marina

Nottingham

NG7 1LD

The debt isnt mine so I most certainly at this point will not be doing that.

I am sorry that you are disappointed with the results of my investigation. As you are still disputing that you applied for the loan taken from our Portsmouth store, it is now necessary for our Loss Prevention Team to contact the police if you wish to pursue the matter further . Whilst I appreciate that the officer dealing with your case when you contacted them has now left the force, they have advised me that the case file will still be available. I understand that you did not wish to be inconvenienced by having to find the crime reference number which was provided to you at the time, if you can send me this number, this will help to speed up the process.

I reported it to Actionfraud and the police 3 years ago... I have since asked them to give me their Loss Preventions Team telephone number and once i get the info i need Ill speak to them myself and we can progress it along with my FOS Complaint.

As our collections process has been exhausted and no payment has been received, the account has been allocated for debt sale however, no agreement has yet been made with an external company at this time so I am unable to supply any further details.

The only request we have made to you to resolve this issue is to call to your local store with photographic identification on a weekday and although you advised that you called to the store last Saturday, you said that you were not sure of the time and could not remember if the person serving you was male or female. In view of this and to save you any further inconvenience in having to return to the store again, I viewed the CCTV footage from the store lobby between the hours of 9am and 12 midday which was the time you e-mailed to let us know of the issues you advised you encountered. The staff working that day have been interviewed and did not serve anyone on that morning providing a birth certificate. This is not a usual form of identification so they would be able to recall this incident. You were not visible on the CCTV and I confirm both till positions were covered by the cameras in the store. The purpose of asking you to visit and to later view you on the CCTV is to confirm if you were the person who was photographed when taking the loan out. The footage has been saved to a disc and will be included in our case file if requested by the police or the Financial Ombudsman Service. When you have received your replacement passport and take this to the store as you have agreed to do, then we can review this again with you whilst you are in the store. In the meantime, as we were unable to confirm your appearance from our CCTV footage or by any other means, we then proceeded to investigate internet search engines and social media.

 

In addition to this, although you advised that there were several accounts opened by the fraudster around the time this loan was taken, and these had been resolved satisfactorily, there was no indication from the credit reference agencies that you had been a victim of fraud. Many finance companies would register a CIFAS marker for customers who had been a victim of fraud and it is unusual that this does not appear to be the case in this instance.

I am sorry that I am unable to agree that you have complied with everything we have asked you to do and as we maintain that the account was not opened fraudulently until a police investigation has been undertaken, I am sorry that I am unable to remove the credit file entry as you have requested.

So apparently they used Facebook, etc to try and confirm my identity... Is that even legal?

Plus the CIFAS marker, not all companies do it, and even those that do ASKED me whether I wanted it. I said no, due to the age of the account etc it wouldnt be beneficial in any way.

Im so frustrated by this whole situation its proper knocked me off my ball. Its just £224, not thousands...

There are 3 years left on the default and 3 Money Shop stores in Crawley... Anything could have happened...

Steampowered, Im fed up of fighting to clear my name, Ive have been doing it for 3 years already. I am genuinely at the end of my tether...

I have asked them not to add my telephone number and email address as contact details because when they do sell it, I dont want to be hounded...

I'd push forward with the SAR. Based on their latest response they are taking the position that it is your loan, so you should be able to proceed to pay the statutory fee and get the documents.

The SAR should, in theory, get you everything (included the file prepared for the FOS). Push forward with getting them to provide something and then, if it is inadequate, you can ask for more and get the ICO involved.

They couldnt find the account and they also refused to take a copy of my debit card and Birth certificate. IT would have been useless anyway as I never sign my cards.

Isn't not signing your card a bit risky if it gets stolen, even if it is Chip&Pin?

Thief can "sign" your card with their take on a "signature".

They then damage the chip's surface contact pad, so that they try a "Chip&Pin" transaction : & it fails.

Store say "chip & Pin not working" then does it as a signature sale, and the signature matches!.

If the bank later find you didn't sign the card : you'd be liable for the losses, as you owe them a duty of care to sign the card on receipt (it would be akin to writing down your PIN and keeping it with the card.....)

Thanks Guys

Yeah Bazza... I signed it after I had left the store, I spoke to Nationwide about it and they said exactly the same as you.

The thought had never crossed my mind.

Thanks Guys

 

Yeah Bazza... I signed it after I had left the store, I spoke to Nationwide about it and they said exactly the same as you.

The thought had never crossed my mind.

Maybe I just have a bad person's mind ....

It's easier to stop the baddies if you think "what might they do"!

None the less I'm glad you didn't take it as me "having a go", just that I was concerned at the potential risk, and that the bank confirmed (why) I was right it could be a bad idea .....

Arh Bazza... Put it this way ,

Im quite open minded ha

And you bringing it up was fine by me