Couple of tips to safeguard yourself from being ripped off due to all our info being leaked

[SweetSnowflake]

you may all know this but havent time to read all this morn..but just rang my bank to see how things stand what theyre doing etc..they told me they advise we go into our branch and change our pass word (online passcodes etc are not affected)
and that anyone who rings up asking to change details ie: i want to transfer all my money to xyz account will be recorded, account flagged and will ring actual account holder on numbers we have previously given them, if it is not US legal team step in.
They said they are on red alert if anyone rings to make changed(so guess theyre watching me now), benefit agency are doing same, if someone rings to ask benefits to be paid into diff account, they will check and doublt check first.

she also said a good idea is to register with equifax to check regulary if anyone is trying to apply for credit in our name, this can all be done on line so you can check whenever you want.

so, thought id share that with you in the hope no body gets cloned!

"they advise we go into our branch and change our pass word"

Surely that is only a problem if you've used something silly like your child's name as your password...?

£7.50 a month paybe the government should pay it for us

well my bank in particular ask for a specific 'thing' for everyones password, so if they can make a not very wild guess at that then theyd be in Note: its not dd's name)

£7.50 for what?, to reg with equifax?

what password is everyone talking about then? I don't bank on line and don't have a password for the branch banking! Just account number/ card number. sort code. Maybe mothers maiden name is on the system but no password as such? Anyone know?

You can register with CIFAS for a one-off fee of about £12 which means that anyone applying for credit at your address is automatically flagged up for extra checks. I strongly believe that HMRC should be paying this fee for anyone who wants to register.

anyone who is receiveing tax credits/benefits etc may be listed on a disc that has been 'LOST' and as result their identities 'could' be used by people wishing to open debt in your name!

yes, my bank ask for passwords, maybe not all do?, just thought it might be of use if that was the case

sweetsnowflake - yes, £7.50/month for equifax

!, we definatly shouldnt be paying that!

Isn't all this a bit of an over-reaction? Every time you give someone a cheque - you give them your bank account details (a/c name, account number, sort code and address of the branch) you also give them your signature. It is probably not that difficult to then obtain your address (online electoral roll etc). It seems to me that the only bit of info that they have that might be a cause for concern is our NI numbers. There is no reason to believe that this information has fallen into the hands of crooks in any case.

i dont think people are over reacting, they have handed out addresses, dob, names, of us and our children along with bank details etc.

i had a phone call last week from someone who said they were from the child benefit agency, wanting to check something to do with my address and bank details, iwas in a rush and answered their questions, only afterwards i realised that they hadnt asked me any security questions and it seemed a bit dodgy, i phoned the CB office and what a suprise they have NO record of the call but someone had tried to change my address and re direct the payments from my bank account into a totally diff post office account

i dont think this is over the top at all, could be pure accident could have been planned, even if was accident, doesnt stop the discs being used for wrong doing when they do get found, stupidity in the highest!
S2T1 has shown how easy it can be done!

was listening on the radio today to a guy who used to work for NATO, and deal with loads of delicate info.
he said theres no way the amount of info that has been lost could possibly be stored on a couple of CD type discs - it would have to be main frame ones - which by all accounts are roughly the size of an old LP and about the thickness of a paperback book. Also to play any of the info you would need access to a multimillionpound machine???
So hopefully its a lot of scaremongering !!!!

DH reckons a modern DVD can hold 8.5 GB, so I think the NATO expert is wrong (unless there are more data fields than I understand there to be).

I agree with you Swedes, nice to hear another voice of sanity. AND an ebay seller would have your full postal address, too. I think clear specimen of your signature is probably more valuable than NI (and possibly maiden name, says DH). This is a cock-up but people are over-reacting about the personal risk to them.

If there are 8 million families, and the data for each family is 500 characters (think address+names+bank accounts etc, probably 500 is an overestimate) thats only 7GB - less than most of us store on an iPod - so its easily fitted on a small portable storage medium - please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to understand this better.

re the Equifax - Experian is cheaper

lljkk - was only relating what heard on radio, don't know much about tech side myself.

When you get a letter from the child benefit people, say when you have just had a baby and they list your children showing thier names and dates of birth and how much they will be paying for each child and which account they will be paying the money into each month - what do you do with it? Do you shred it?

yes I keep or shred

I would have thought that the obvious things to do would be

1. Pay for the service from experian or whoever which means that they contact you any time anyone applies for credit in your name. This costs about £30 apparently

[2. Send a bill to HMRC for £30]

1. To the extent anyone is using their kids names or dobs or maiden names as passwords/pin numbers - change them
2. If you are really concerned, change your bank account. But I shouldn't think this is necessary.
3. Keep an eye on all your statements and open all mail from MBNA or people you don't have accounts with on the off chance it ISN'T the usual junk mail, but notification of credit being applied for in your name

Is this right?

I thought it was an overreaction too, until it was pointed out to me that i pay everything online including my car tax!! So yes, they have your account details anyway, but they also have your card details in some cases