This type of identity theft is common on retail sites that allow payment services such as Klarna, Ladbuy or Clearpay. These are chosen because it’s easy to create an account using minimum information and with minimum checks involved.

Klarna offers three payment structures:

• Pay 30 days later.
• Pay in 3 i.e. spread the cost of your purchase equally over two months.
• This lets you split your payments into monthly instalments over 6-36 months. It requires a full credit check and can charge interest – representative APR 18.9%, currently.

Identify Theft

The scam works by criminals stealing your personal details and then using them to create accounts with providers such as Klarna.

Stephanie McDaid told the BBC she received a £30 Klarna bill out of the blue one day, although she hadn’t bought anything. After contacting Klarna, it was confirmed she was a victim of identity fraud.

When customers sign up to Klarna financing thee is a ‘soft’ credit check i.e. only very basic.

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud and crooks have ordered goods in your name, check your credit report for any soft searches. Also report it to Action Fraud and contact the relevant company in question, e.g. Klarna, Ladbuy and Clearpay.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

Identity theft has always been a problem, as fraudsters take out loans in someone else’s name or use a false name and address when arrested or take out credit cards in the victim’s name.

Nowadays, identity theft is prevalent as it has become much easier in the electronic age. Every day, millions of phishing emails are sent out by scammers trying to get your confidential information so they can defraud you.

The key information they want is of course name, date of birth, logins and passwords and financial information. But whatever the criminal starts with, they may seek further information to make their fraud easier to commit. They may call you claiming to be from the council or the authorities or your bank etc. and use the information they have to convince you of their authenticity and then gain more from you in the guise of confirming your ID etc.

Or they may send you phishing emails – seeking under various guises to get more details from you.

A “phishing” email is one that pretends to be from some trusted organisation and seeks to get you to provide your confidential information e.g. credit card details, banking details, passwords etc.

Once the scammers have your details, they will try to access any accounts you could have.

For example:- to access your Amazon account, the scammer just needs your login and password. To set-up a new bank account in your name the scammer needs proof of ID (passport or drivers licence being the most common) plus proof of address, date of birth etc.

Protect Yourself

Watch out for suspicious emails or phone calls that try to trick you into disclosing personal information, based on already having some information about you.

Check out http://www.fightbackonline.org/index.php/guidance/12-explanations/50-the-mechanics-of-identity-theft for more information.

Stay cautious.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

If criminals get hold of key information about you, they can impersonate you (steal your identity) and empty your accounts, run up bills in your name, take out loans under your name and you will be liable for the debts incurred unless you can prove it wasn’t you.

Here are some of the warning signs that your identity has been compromised:-

1. You notice unauthorised transactions on your bank statement. Contact the bank immediately to question the transactions.
2. You are refused credit or your bank card is refused. Once a criminal has got hold of your personal data, they will try to take out more credit cards in your name and run up big bills.
3. Unexpected change in your credit report. It’s wise to check your credit report occasionally using an agency such as Experian, Equifax or CallCredit. If you find an unexpected change, this could be a warning as it may mean that criminals have taken out credit in your name.
4. Unexpected call charges appear on your mobile phone bill. This could mean someone has taken over your account.
5. You receive delivery of high end items such as a laptop computer or expensive mobile phone. This can happen where a criminal has bought something in your name, intending to intercept the delivery. Check with the sender who placed the order.
6. You get unexpected emails such as confirmation of password change, confirmation of a new account having been setup, password change request, login details for sites you don’t know, registration details using your name that you haven’t applied for.
7. You are contacted by a debt collector or bailiff looking to recover a debt in your name. Do not ignore this as being simply a mistake.

If you suspect you have been attacked by identity thieves, you need to take action right away.

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