I have recently found out that someone has applied for a credit account with JD Williams on my behalf.

They had filled in the online application form with my Name, Date of Birth, a random London address and claimed I had just moved there from an address 4 years ago.

Now, with every credit application I have ever made, from a Loan or Credit Card to a mobile phone contract, there has always been a process of verification to confirm I am infact living at the address given and who I say I am.

These searches show on my credit report as soft searches as they were used to confirm my identity. If I apply for any credit accounts soon after moving, I struggle myself as the verification processes fail until my existing accounts feed the updated info back to the credit reference agencies.

My concern with JD Williams and the 12+ other sub sites they operate is that there is no identity check performed and from a search online, a lot of people are having the same issue as me, many more finding out when a debt is passed to a collection agency and the victim is found.

I am 100% confident that JD Williams do no due diligence checks prior to processing the Hard Credit Search which adds the new linked address to your report. If they did attempt to check my identity electronically before processing the credit application, it would have failed as I was not known at the address supplied.

The concern I have is that a fraudster can easily manipulate someones credit report without needing to verify anything, not even your email address. The company generally offers very high APR rates of 50%+ so I would assume this is targeted at those with bad credit histories and its likely most people are granted credit.

I have reported to the FSA & ICO but they suggest that action would only be taken if they receive enough reports.

I just feel not enough people are aware of why they were victims of fraud so easily because anyone that knows you personally and where you live, can easily order products on credit under your name and they dont even need to have any communication sent to your actual address.

Welcome to CAG Chump

Lets roll this back - Have you complained direct to JD Williams? If so - Have you referred it to the FOS?

This will allow you do to do something about your case.

JD Willaims ID+V process will use a risk assessment application / protocol to assess credit applications. Just to add that when applying for credit after you have just moved - Its not a dead cert that it will fail - Due to the length of time that it takes to for that info to filter through to all 3 CRAs...

However each company has different verification processes. Sometimes when applying for credit - They will ask for a debit card to verify ID. They do this because there are products from all 3 CRAs and others that run various security checks including matching payment details to your address through bank records etc.

It is really fascinating how they do it - However each company is strictly regulated by the FCA but it is up to them what verification checks they do. The FCA do not have a "Standard Framework" for this. Lets say you update your address with the bank. instantly that means that if you suddenly apply for credit and they do this method to verify you - It wont fail

Check out https://www.callcredit.co.uk/products-and-services/fraud-and-id/callvalidate

This is one of those products.

I could go on for hours about this. Think of it this way. The barrier of entry to higher APR products is much lower.

The Acceptance level for Higher APR products can be so lax that Fraud is rife... Irresponsible Lending is also a side effect of this.

Im am very interested in how JDW defended themselves... So please do spill

Titled updated and moved to CAT forum

I have complained to JD Williams and they have advised they are fully GDPR Compliant and registered with the FCA so of course they do the relevant checks. The problem is, they dont perform any identity check at all. Their GDPR team members told me and I quote "We are trying our best to become GDPR compliant". Like that became a requirement 2 months ago now and a financial company really should be up to scratch.

I understand the verification of addresses that can be done with a Bank Card, again this would rely on the correct address being given in the 1st instance and would protect individuals from having their credit reports updated by just anyone on a website. All other financial companies do some sort of check that the information supplied is genuine and would require at least the correct address to be known by the account holder. If they had done any form of identity check to ensure the data supplied is true then it would have failed as the applicant would surely know where they had lived over the past 4 years and there was no trace of the new london address on my credit report.

Im just shocked that with all other credit providers I have always needed to prove who I am before they let me apply rather than rely on a website tick box to verify its not fraudulent info.

GDPR has been a headache for every company... It is a genuine struggle and JDW struggling wouldnt surprise me.

Its very difficult to get 100% compliance of ID Checks. You unfortunately were one of the unlucky ones. Online fraud is becoming so prevalent these days its so ard to be 100% successful in preventing fraud.

Some companies can do more to lower their ID Fraud rates by adding in these extra methods as you say, but even then no system is foolproof.

Now have JDW put you back in the position you were before they touched your credit file, etc?

I do get its been a headache but its a large company, they should have some idea. How many years have businesses been requiring you to confirm your email address? The reason is that once you have verified your email its confirmation it belongs to you. Makes it a little safer to send over account details such as password resets, order confirmations or credit application data. A simple typo and all those emails go off elsewhere to someone else. Its just basic security. With JDW, you dont need to verify anything and the whole process of applications could be automated to be done in bulk. From a security point of view, its crazy

And I do get that not all identity checks are 100% and that fraud will always happen but I do expect fraudsters to have to work a little harder than this. There is no chance with the information supplied by a fraudster that it could possibly have been checked to be valid and thats my whole point. They are required to do due diligence and its fair to say if they did, they would have prevented this instance of fraud and many similar ones. Come on, how obvious is it when a new catalog account comes through at a completely new unverified address.

JDW are in the process of putting things right in terms of my credit report but I feel that they are putting everyone at risk of financial fraud because they don't bother with any security checks. Maybe its just me but I feel opening a financial account should require more security than a simple tick box or am I really just too untrusting?