Whilst online access to loans has provided the public with convenient, swift access to finance, it has unfortunately also opened up opportunities for individuals and groups to maliciously obtain personal data and defraud innocent customers.
There are various ways to defraud such information, but most fraudsters take advantage of people’s credulity and encourage them to voluntarily hand over their personal data or provide their bank information. It often happens that people entrust online banking access codes to strangers, believing it is necessary for job placement, a purchase or for similar purposes. Having gained the coveted data fraudsters apply to online and mobile lending companies for credit and apply the identification fee from their victim’s bank account. After the credit funds are transferred, fraudsters immediately remove them from the victim’s account.
How to protect yourself from fraud, and what to do if a credit is drawn on your name?
First of all, early determination that you have become a victim of loan fraud is key. It becomes clear at the time when a person starts to get personally addressed correspondence or calls related to debt recovery. In this case, you must first determine the recovery justification, or in other words – on what grounds the lender representative is launching debt recovery activities. The most common basis is a loan agreement signed with a credit institution. In the event you have not signed an agreement, this situation can be evaluated as a fraud.
Secondly, it is necessary to examine whether there has been illegal activity with a person’s bank account. Checking your bank account, looking for transactions you can identify you haven’t made, is a good place to start. Such data can then be used as evidence in the investigative process.
If you have determined a credit made on your name, you must contact Police or relevant authority at once. Add a bank account printout showing the fraudulent transaction. When police receives the victim’s application for fraudulent offences, it shall take a decision on the initiation of criminal proceedings, making sure the transactions in question have note been performed by the victim.
The victim must notify the bank and the credit provider of the fraudulent cases.
There are also some simple recommendations to be taken into account so you can protect yourself from fraud: choose a password that is not easy to guess, on a regular basis (at least once every 3 months); for social networks, e-mail and online banking different passwords should be used; your passwords and access codes: do not disclose to others, and never send these data by e-mail; written information about the account number and online banking passwords and access codes is to be kept out of reach of other people;order a bank SMS notification service about incoming / outgoing payments; do not ask for assistance with bill payment or other activities in your internet bank to strangers; do not disclose your personal information (e.g., personal identification number) to other persons without good cause; protect your computer with a password and update your software regularly; never open suspicious e-mails from unknown senders; always make sure of the identity of the person or company whom you allow access to your personal data; educate yourself and the people close to you about personal data security!
