Jagoinvestor
September 19, 2013
How Identity Theft can leave your financial life paralyzed !
I do not want to sound like a scaremonger, but it is possible that there is a personal loan or a credit card taken under your name by someone else and you are completely unaware about it. I know you must be thinking that I wrote that just to pique your interest in this article and give a good start to this post, but trust me – I am not kidding, I ACTUALLY mean that it might be the case. There is a huge possibility that someone has taken a loan by using your documents and KYC Documents and you will come to know about it only years from now.
This is called – Identity Theft
4 Measures to Avoid Identity Theft
- Do not handover your documents to anyone without strong reason. There are many cases where someone trustworthy has used the documents for wrong usage.
- Always Write the purpose on the Documents itself. If you are giving your document for Home loan purpose , write down “ID PROOF – FOR HOME LOAN at HDFC BANK – Should not be used for some other purpose” .
- if you have given your documents to some one for some reason and they are not used, take them back.
- Whenever you are getting xerox or giving your originals to someone, dont just be very casual and better be a little careful about whats going on
Two real life incidents on Identity Theft
Praveen shares how his cousin got a credit card using his documents
There is a credit card on my name which was taken on my name without my knowledge by one of my cousin who used to work with Barclays Credit Card Company at that time& was also a freelancer for some other banks. So at that time (2008) I signed few personal loan forms with him & which I took it for my personal purpose, but I was not aware that I also signed a form which was for Barclays Credit card and which was used by my cousin.
All this matter came to lime light recently only when I re applied for credit card & home loan, both got rejected because of poor credit score (573), we had a big fight in our family, finally he agreed to return the actual amount of the credit card which was Rs.23000 at that time, but now in my cibil report it showing as Rs.44000 amount due. Now it’s my headache to clear my cibil report, so I’m ready to pay remaining amount due from my pocket
Akash shares how his CA misused his identity and broke his trust
I follow CIBIL v diligently and regular take out my CIRs and score. My last score (1st August 2013) was 806 with 1 settled secured loan a/c. i have one PL running for last 8 months with only bounce (which was paid up within 15 days). I had applied to the same bank for a top up. Now the bank has come reported about the existence of a 2nd Pan Card with a score of some 400+ and also default on 1 PL and CC. The bank also informed that there were other PLs but all closed. I had received a PAN Card from my CA (who is my 1st cousin) who asked my to kindly apply me to close it was a duplicate wrong card which i duly did some 6 months back with NSDL.
On getting this report from the bank i figured out the the no was same as the cancelled card. Morever my cousin admitted to having used my PAN card and payslips to get the wrong card made and take PLs and CCs. As he was my CA he had all relevant papers like payslips and bank statements with him. However he has now committed to close all O/S within this month. My queries is how do i get the CIBIL report in the wrong PAN closed and all reporting transfered to my existing and authentic PAN card ? Any other solution
Conclusion
Always remember that prevention is better than cure. You can take the matter of identity theft casually, believing it will never happen to you. But once it does, it can severely affect your financial (and personal) life and you might find yourself stuck in a situation, which you want to get out of as soon as possible.
Hi Manish,
I am also an victim of Identity theft, I have an Issue running now with HDFC bank. An amount of 27k has been debited on June 16 from my savings account against a CC payment due from 2007. I am using the same banks CC without any defaults till now. When I approached bank stating this was not my card and asked for the scanned copies of proofs they denied. They conveyed that Name,DOB, Father Name, Signature matches with mine (however Mobile No, Address, Email Id not matched). It is strange that I have not received any communications from bank to any of my contact details provided with Current CC and SB account except Lien intimation and they have not considered my explanation but debited my account.
Can you suggest me a course of action.
You need to pursue this case with banking ombudsman now . You can complain at https://secweb.rbi.org.in/BO/precompltindex.htm
If its still not working, then better file a consumer court case against ICICI
Manish
Thank you very much Manish.
Is there any procedures or Do you provide any services for cross checking whether our Identity has been used by thieves in other banks or institutions.
JUst check your CIBIL report !
Thanks Manish for your Kind advice. You are the best one in web for suggesting solutions which are working truly.
Keep u your good work.
Thanks for your comment Raja
My PAN copy, DL copy and cancelled cheque which I handed over to a job interview are used by someone to avail a EMI loan from Bajaj Finserv for iphone for Rs62000/-. I came to know when my account is debited Rs.6200/- as a first installment on 18.4.2016. I submitted a written complaint to ICICI bank but still not able to get information. Only assurances that your amount will be reversed. While contacting the Bajaj Finserv I came to know that some has submitted my documents to avail the loan. But in the loan document, Only my name is mentioned correctly, neither my contact no. nor my email ID is matching. I told Bajaj Finserv guys that I have not the person taken the loan. But they are not listening they are telling that all the documents is yours and you have taken the loan. I don’t know to whom to contact. Please help me.
You need to file a case against the company (Bajaj) here. They have not done in person verification for this loan. What about your signature?
Does anyone can help me in this situation,
my pan card has been taken photo from some other person, that unknown person taken loans on my behalf of pan card in Bajaj finserv. my cibil report also not that much good. please anyone can suggest about the alternate pancard or what should I do please anyone suggest I will be very thankful to the person who helps me.
Swati same here some has taken loan on my pan card I don’t know what to do pls some one can help me out from this
I think you should first go to the lender and check with them on how they have issued the loan with your PAN .
I would like to share my experience.
In 2009, One day i checked my icici bank account and found balance -68000 while it should be 2000.Initially i thought it is mistake and would be corrected. But when i called customer care they sad it is due to non payment of credit card bill of 70000/.
When i asked about credit card , they told me that it is issued on the name of “abhishek sharma” with same adderss and parents name .
I told that my name is not “abhishek sharma” but “abhishek kumar” so remove this lien from my account. but they refused and said surname does matter and any one change this.
I argued lot of over this but they did not accept it.
I sent letters and my all documents and and asked them to compare with credit card documents but no use.
Finally i contacted ombudsman who asked me to send all communication details.
And after fews days i got big relief when they removed lien from account and accepted that its not my credit card.
But before i can forget all this , they again stated calling for payment.When i said it is resolved by ombudsman just few days back then they stopped calling me after few more attempts.
I had icici pru life policy and documents provided for this must have been used for this fraud but not without icici bank staff support.
Recently icici bank started opening account with out taking xerox but represntative come home and take scan of docuement which i think can be misused heavily.
Please take care while dealing with icici bank.
Thanks for sharing that .. I am sure there was some kind of identity theft in your case ! . Good that you moved to ombudsman !
Dear Manish,
I happened to take my CIBIL score and i was shoked to know that there was credit card which was not used by me is reflecting in my CIBIL report, when checked with the bank I got to know that the card was issued with my PAN details and the other documents of KYC was of other person’s ( The other person’s name is MANJUNATH K). When I asked the bank to show me the application copy of the card I realised that there was no PAN copy given instead they have used a E-TAX receipt with ass PAN details and they have also used my salary slip as income proof. When compalined with the ICICI BANK they said that they have sent the reports to CIBIL and CIBIL has replyed saying that the card can not be removed from my CIBIL report as the PAN number is same in both the cards.
I had also sent a mail to RBI obdusman and I am yet to get a response. I believe that the bank person who collected the documents from me is the culprit and bank is yet to take corrective step on this issue though its been a month time that I have complained to the authorities.
I request you to give your inputs or guide me to get this cleared.
Regards,
Manjunath
Hi Manjunath
I suggest filing a consumer court case against CIBIL and Bank both of them .
Thanks for information Manish !!
it fine
Thanks for giving warning to all….
But… is the CIBIL score is the only option to check something happened like this?? or any other ways to identify these kind of frauds?
– Deepak.
CIBIL is the only way right now
Dear Manish,
its a eye opener article.
and i want to share one more incidence which may have not relevance with it but i may save the other peoples become victims.
some body is calling and telling that he/she is calling from the so and so telecom operator and you are getting complimentary 3G NET access for 1 month for that you have to switch off your phone 1 hour. once you follow it they will call it to your home number by identity theft. telling that you are kidnapped and deposit the money(not much more 25000 to 100000) in this account for his/her safety. after one hr when you switch on your phone you come know you are fooled.
regards,
tejash
Ohh .. this is so strange !
It could also be used by hacker so that the victim does not get the sms of the transactions and by the time he gets it the money has already gone.
1) The “Ultimate Identity Card” of every Indian – -the Aadhar Card has come!
And now copy of this (it contains the scannable pattern) is required by everybody — banks and the LPG Distributor (to be dropped into a box).– So the Ultimate Identity theft is not far off.
2) Newspapers had carried the Internet Banking Fraud — where a duplicate SIM card (for OTP) was issued in Hyderabad, of a Doctor in Cochin using the xerox copy of the latter’s document, and the same number! All this is due to free availability of address/ identity xerox copies.
And Supreme court has said that aadhar card is not mandatory for essential services
Hi,
Recently we found out that my mother was a victim of such identity theft. I have applied for a Credit Score report to identify where all we have been deceived…
Can you please advise us on how to proceed in this regard. Especially on how to identify the fraudster and take leagal action against them.?
Thanks in advance.
Manasi
Its going to be tough. You can contact the bank and then ask for all the details which were submitted and the signatures ! . It upto the case how you will prove that it was really a fraud !
Dear Manasi,
We would request you to first check and confirm that all the demographic details (name, pan card, telephone number, address, email-id, etc), account details (loan / credit card accounts belong to you and the lending institutions
name, date open, date closed), enquires details which are reflecting on your credit report are correct and confirm that all credit accounts belong to you.
If for any reason any or all of these details incorrect then there is a possibility that someone else account details have been merged into your credit report or there might be the extreme possibility of an ID theft.
We would request you to contact the credit bureau from where you have availed your credit report and provide the correct details and ask them to update the same.
Even after updating the demographics and correcting the erroneous details in your credit report, still the wrong account information is reflecting then it is the possibility of an ID theft.
At this point you will have to visit each and every lending institutions from whom you have not borrowed prove your identity and ask them to remove this erroneous detail from your credit report.
It is a tedious task to follow up with all the lending institution coordinating and managing communications.
Warm Regards,
Credexpert
Useful reminder.
Would like to narrate an incident, though not directly related to this post.
I applied for an account in a reputed private bank. Their representative came to our house and took the documents and gave a starter kit, which is to be used once i get a communication from them. That was a month back and no info on the same.
When checked with call center, was told that they are not aware of any such transaction. Worried what the (so called) representatives do with my documents.
In such situations, i feel, few precautions will help.
Writing on the document copies, the purpose for which they were being given. Take all details of the persons taking the documents.
It might happen that their is a co-ordination issue within the bank . But its a good idea to write down the purpose of the document .
Dear Manish,
Its actually a reality that many of them misuse the documents given for mobile connections to take connections for others.
I had an instance with Airtel where in my wife gave the photocopies to Bangalore Koramangala Airtel office with “Submitted for Airtel sim ” written on it. Airtel officer refused to accept the document with such a remark and we also refused to continue with the connection.
I don’t know what the motive for the officer was, but it should be clearly mandated by companies to write such remarks in the document.
Yes, I have seen many people doing it and its accepted without much issues, better not go ahead with those who dont accept them
Finally someone talks about it, good insight and a fact that a lot of people ignore. I have seen people from close quarters hand out their documents, date of birth and a lot more to unknown people just because they are getting their work done through various ‘agents’. Infact documents is one thing; mere giving your Date of Birth can also cause a lot of trouble these days. Good thing you wrote on it.
Thanks Aniket
Do you know instances where giving date of birth info is also not safe ?
Date of Births can be used for verification and thus can get you access information on phone banking numbers and so on. Usually if a person were to acquire info about one’s bank branch and they can take it from there. The phone banking officers merely ask for your name, and then your query and ask for account number or other verification in which your date of birth can be used. It is a vital information for a person who is already thinking on the lines of fraud, one lead for them can be enough.
Yea I can see that now . Its one of the clues which is required for breaking under your security zone, so why to compromise on that ! . .good one
as i remember , in Saudi Arabia in 1982-85 , you could not make rubber stamp of any thing (of your name, firm name, etc.) freely as we used to in India, when i was there. that might be for such safety reasons.
You have written a great article. Thanks for your kind sharing. It helps us to be cautious with our identity and personal information.
Welcome !
While I appreciate this is a reality and we got to be careful, what I am failing to understand how come someone else get a credit card/loan while the same has to be delivered to the address mentioned in the address proof document. Is there is way to hold banks accountable as they are supposed to verify the signature on PAN card/address verification is supposed to happen?
Verification is usually done through third party, and they usually just come up and have a standard set of questions and they do it. However, if the permanent address and communication address is different, these people often go to the communication address, this can be easily manipulated by person taking on your identity as he/she has the documents and it is easier in case of credit cards and personal loans. Doing it for home loans is not easy though.
Yes, banks are to be blamed for the procedures they adopt . There is no strict checking . You can file a case against them on lazyness !
Dear Manish,
This has become a reality , i have not yet beared the brunt of identity theft but on one occasion while having dahi puri at one of the shops in borivali . The dahi puri was served on a A4 size page of a pan card xerox. When i asked for something to wipe my hand i was given a address proof . It did not belong to the same person as the pan card but never the less I realized a possibility of misuse.
Inspite of realising this , i have been giving out my xerox of photo and address proof to every tom , dick and harry in a careless manner . Today this article has been a wake up call.
Joel
Thanks for realizing . I am sure you will save others in future on this matter
Dear Manish
Regarding CIBIL report , I remember there used to be two options for purchasing credit report from CIBIl ( one with credit score which costs 470/-, and second option was to obtain CIR Credit Information Report without score which used to cost 154/-) .
But from CIBIL website I am now unable to find only CIR option. It is now giving option only to buy score which costs very high.
Do you have any clue from which link to buy only CIR without score, then please help.
Regards
Dear Atul,
CIBIL still has the option to obtain the credit report without the score.
The link below will help you access your credit report without the score, please follow the link – http://www.cibil.com/can-i-purchase-only-the-cir
Hope this addresses your query.
Warm Regards,
Credexpert
http://www.credepert.in
good warning . it happens by the deceptive people , sometime the terrorists, to get the mobile nos. on your identity proofs etc. what you have given are the examples of identity thefts by the known persons , but sometimes it is by unknown. i suspects , in case of mobile nos. , sometimes by the sale persons from whom you bought once, then you got it permanently disconnected. they may misuse your identity to sell somebody, who has no identity proofs for whatsoever reasons , for sake of earning , or other ulterior motive. in such case, you may get problems for no fault of you. i am writing this based on my experience , but fortunately it turned not so much problematic.
THanks for your appreciations !