Application Fraud

Application fraud is a type of credit card fraud where a scammer will create accounts (usually bank accounts) using a victims details. These fake accounts will be used in various other online crimes where the paper trail will then lead to the victim, not the scammer. The other type of credit card fraud is account takeover, where a scammer takes over an existing account.

Scammers collect personal information in a number of ways, including through malware installations, phishing attacks, through advanced fee fraud (419) or even physically stealing personal documents like utility bills, bank statements, passports, birth certificates, employment forms, national insurance cards, drivers licenses or bank cards.

If a scammer manages to open an account in a victims names, that account can be used in a wide variety of scams, such as scams that operate on auction sites like EBay, reshipping scams, advanced fee fraud, or social networking scams. Additionally scammer can use a good credit score to open loans and services.

The easiest way to protect yourself from application fraud is to take great care of all documents that bear your name and address and photo. When throwing away paper documents, make sure they are shredded. Make you permanently delete personal digital documents that you no longer need. Always keep a close eye on personal banking accounts and other online accounts you have. If you receive letters through the post that don’t seem right (for example from payment collectors, question them straight away).

If you are a victim of application fraud, you can clear your name with credit agencies, but it may take some time. To prevent yourself from being victim again, you can register with http://www.cifas.org.uk for a small fee. This adds a warning to your credit file which means that extra checks are performed to ensure any future credit applications are legitimate.

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