Who is or are UPI Ltd

[TUTTSI]

I have been contacted by a company called Cento Client Review which I believe operates from the same call centre in Swansea as UPI and Splash. The name of Jason Cuncliffe has come up being connected to these companies.

 

Cento Client review phoned me and knew far to much of my personal details for which I was horrified. Having been doing quite a lot of research I have now put two and two together. My personal details along with thousands of others was stolen arround August 2007 from Loans.co.uk. This matter was reported both to the police at Watford and the ICO - as far as I know no arrests or further action was taken. Loans.Co.Uk are or were connected to MBNA, GE Money, First National etc... the same directors were appointed. There is a Loans.co.uk thread here on CAG with all the information regarding the stolen data.

 

I am sure that my stolen info has turned up now at Cento Client Review. I plan to get to the bottom of it. What worries me is that when the data was stolen - for a loan that I never even took and was only an enquiry, I did a SAR at that time and found that they had my Mothers maiden name amongst many other details like Bank, Mortgage and Credit cards also my mobile number and house phone number which is x directory. This is the only place that all this info which they had could have come from. I am very careful these days about giving out any information about myself.

 

What is further worrying me is that people who are being contacted are giving more personal details about themselves,

 

Cento are stating that the FSA has asked them to contact people and peeps are believing them.

 

Please do not be fooled by them as from my conversations they were unable to answer any of my question with truthful answers.

 

Tuttsi

[Gilly78]

Just had a call from them, very polite Asian sounding gentleman. He didn't get a chance to ask for my bank details etc, as soon as he mentioned "bank charges" my reaction was "sorry I don't have a clue what you are on about" and put the phone down.

[Michael Browne]

UPI's bank charge claims don't stand up

 

UPI's bank charge claims don't stand up - Investigations

[TUTTSI]

I was interviewed yesterday by BBC1 in respect of my intrusive phone call from Cento Client Reviw (another company that operate from a call centre in Swansea) and how they knew all my personal details, this should be shown on Saturday 6th June 7am-9am. I share the 2.5 minute slot with 3 other, another consumer who actually paid £265 to one of these claims management companies, The Ministry of Justice, The Citizen advice.

 

If for some reason it is not shown, they tell me if more pressing important news comes in the slot can be reduced or cut completely. There will be a piece on their web site.

 

I cannot stress enough how wary you have to be giving UPI or any of these claims management companies any more of your personal details or your money. Since doing my research I have come accross a few horror stories and I believe a lot of these companies will disapear before to long with your money.

 

My advice to do proper research, find out who you are dealing with! how long have they traded, do they have a track record, can you find any information on consumer sites such as CAG good or bad. Google the name of the company find out everything about them.

 

Also, if they know so much about you..... credit card details, bank and mortgage accounts, I personally would want to know how they got this information.

[TUTTSI]

Unfortunately my interview was not shown, but this is the blog from the BBC web site.

 

Ministry warns on debt write-offs

 

 

By Brian Milligan

Business reporter, BBC News

 

Mr Sharrock says he paid a fee but received no service

 

The Ministry of Justice has warned consumers about the dangers of trying to get debts written off.

They say hundreds of claims management companies are charging large up-front fees, and making misleading claims about the chances of success.

Steve Sharrock, an oil engineer from Manchester, received a phone call from one such company, out of the blue.

They told him there was a 99.9% chance that they could get his credit card debts written off entirely.

This was because the credit card companies may have made mistakes in the paperwork which would breach the Consumer Credit Act.

'Con'

But after paying an upfront fee of £275, Mr Sharrock never heard from the company again.

"It's just a [problem]," he told the BBC.

If there is a genuine issue about debt, the right thing is to talk to your lender first, not to find some other way of wiping your debt

 

 

Kevin Rousell, Ministry of Justice

 

"They're obviously only concerned about getting money off you as quickly as they can. It's a con."

The company that approached Mr Sharrock wasn't licensed by the Ministry of Justice.

But even amongst more legitimate claims companies, consumer groups say the assertions they make in their adverts are often misleading.

Typically one company claims on its website that "80% of all credit agreements may be unenforceable".

In other words, the chances of getting your debts written off are high.

'Talk to lender'

But the Citizens Advice Bureau believes such figures are completely unrealistic.

Sue Edwards, the CAB's head of consumer policy, says the chances of getting any debts written off in this way are "probably quite slim."

The Ministry of Justice has already issued two warnings about such claims. But with new companies springing up every week, the ministry is struggling to keep up with them.

Kevin Rousell from the ministry suggests consumers should never pay any money up front, and they should find other ways of getting rid of debt

"If there is a genuine issue about debt, the right thing is to talk to your lender first, not to find some other way of wiping your debt," he said.

The Ministry now has a team of 34 enforcement officers in the Midlands, including five new recruits. Their job is to crack down on misleading claims, and, if necessary, remove operating licences.

'Angry'

But it isn't only people with credit card debt who are being targeted by the claims companies.

Denise Silverstein, from north London, was surprised to receive a phone call in April, from a company offering to wipe her mortgage debt of £3,000. In fact she had paid off the mortgage some time ago.

She was asked to pay £50 up front, but "found out at a later stage that they would take another 20%".

She was also upset that she and her husband had been cold-called, on an ex-directory number.

"I feel very angry," she added.

A judge at Chester Crown Court has estimated that as many as 100,000 people may now be trying to get their debts written off via the courts. So even if some of them are eventually successful, it will take a long time for their cases to be proven.

[louchap]

Hi, people really need to take note here about UPI. Recently my mum received a call from her bank, Lloyds TSB, fraud dept, saying there had been various transactions, one from india, on her card and they wanted to confirm that she hadn't made them. We had no idea where someone could have got mums bank details from.

 

However, mum remembered today being called by someone from UPI who said they were reclaiming bank charges from Lloyds TSB and wanted to confirm her bank details. Unfortunately mum confirmed them with them, including the 3 digit security number. They did send a pack out, but mum never completed anything. The next thing she knows is that £49.99 was taken from her bank account. She rang them and they did refund it eventually.

 

It just appears very odd that this is the only time we know of that mum has confirmed her bank details with anyone, and now her card has been used fraudulently.

 

Also coincidence the UPI operative was asian and the transaction was done in india.

 

Be very aware, they are obviously linked and we have reported all this to Lloyds TSB fraud dept.

[pxfast]

I just had a call from the Asian UPI 'Peter Smith' who had all my address/telephone details, but as I don't have any outstanding bank charges how can he refund them?

 

As these people may be working from abroad what use is it to report them to UK Authorities? If not, I will.

 

I wouldn't give him my bank details, but unless a fraud has taken place there is nothing to report and no action can be taken?

 

It is worrying, and I think it is the same man who earlier was phoning about a prize/refund of electricity charges.

 

I suppose they get the details from the council Electoral Register. Even though I hid my entry recently it could be an previous one. There are two versions of the Roll, one commercial and one private, which the Council can sell to make money from. That's wrong.

 

[TUTTSI]

Claims Management Companies are not allowed to cold call no matter where they are calling from and that is a condition of holding a licence with the MOJ.

 

Please complain imediately to the Ministry of Justice who will will look into your complaint. [email protected]

 

The more people that complain will give the MOJ amunition to take away their licence.

 

Tuttsi

 

I just had a call from the Asian UPI 'Peter Smith' who had all my address/telephone details, but as I don't have any outstanding bank charges how can he refund them?

 

As these people may be working from abroad what use is it to report them to UK Authorities? If not, I will.

 

I wouldn't give him my bank details, but unless a fraud has taken place there is nothing to report and no action can be taken?

 

It is worrying, and I think it is the same man who earlier was phoning about a prize/refund of electricity charges.

 

I suppose they get the details from the council Electoral Register. Even though I hid my entry recently it could be an previous one. There are two versions of the Roll, one commercial and one private, which the Council can sell to make money from. That's wrong.