20+ soft searches on credit report in one day?

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My google was hacked in early September and I discovered that they got passwords for everywhere and had various accounts closed due to suspicious activity and things, most recent being Amazon this evening.

So I thought I'd check my settings again and run a check on my google when I noticed that one of my cards on google pay was registered to the address before last, was a newish card (expiry in 2026) and I didn't recognise the last 4 digits of the card number. I've not had any new cards recently and I've no idea how to check for other accounts?

Went to credit karma and didn't see anything so signed up to experian and whilst I cannot find any other account that I am not already aware of, I have noticed that more than 20 soft searches for car insurance happened on the 1st of Sept, registered with my last address, before I noticed my google had been hacked. Neither husband nor I have done any recent comparison checking, he bought a van in early August but searches for that aren't showing up.

Is this normal? And is there a way somebody could be using my old addresses and set up a redirect or something to get mail?

Thats not normal.

You need some support.

I experienced identity theft several years ago and discovered very painfully just how many ways my current and past data was used.

I ended up having to close several credit cards and my bank and savings accounts. Every password used in my online presence had to be changed together with my phone sim.

I was supported in the process by Experian and Action Fraud.

Things have changed since then, fraud is more prevalent and the approach to resolution might be different, but I think Experian is a good starting point. I still have an alert on my Credit. Any new accounts opened in my name and any searches done are notified to me immediately. I am also alerted if any of my personal data is found being traded on the dark web.

i also have an alert on my house registration at Land Registry.

My approach has also changed. Every password I use is individual and comprised of random letters / numbers. So too are my answers to questions like mothers maiden name or my date of birth. There is no private info on my social media accounts, no one knows where I am on holiday etc. etc.

Other sources of support worth exploring are whether your house insurance policy offers Identity Theft cover and the information provided by Action Fraud.

Thank you, that's helpful. I've been trying to work out how to find anything out of the ordinary, especially as no other accounts are in my name so I can't work out where this card has come from.

I stupidly deleted my passwords off of google later as I convinced myself that there was keylogging software on my laptop so my google would be forever compromised. There is not keylogging software on here🙄

I'm going to try contacting the banks I have accounts with first thing tomorrow. Turns out that the hacker to my amazon was requesting refunds on previous orders and requesting gift vouchers instead. Amazon locked my account after they were successful with one of the requests, though thankfully I got the account back and now have a bonus little bit of money to buy a treat for the kids as amazon have said I can keep it for the inconvenience.

Seems like I've got more inconveniences to come though, I've already had to deal with them trying to run an ad campaign on google ads, getting me locked out of my google, facebook, instagram and twitter accounts (latter rarely used but they're refusing to reinstate it). Then amazon today. Given that the breach was at the beginning of the month I'm amazed that they're still going. I've put 2 step sign in's on everything now, thankfully it was already on all my banking accounts but it still doesn't explain this weird card on my google pay wallet.

I'm trying to think of sites I've missed or anything else.

Oh I've been using individual passwords for everything for years, but I've had them saved on my google account. So as soon as that was compromised they had everything.

The fact that they are still going means you have to act fast and the fact that they are denying you access to your FB / Twitter etc means they are looking to hack your identity in a number of ways.

I actually had loans taken out in my name (it was only when no repayments were made that those loans came to light) and replacement Sims ordered for my phone and sent to a different address. I was also locked out of my bank account because they changed the passwords etc on it.

Experian should be able to help you identify the card supplier for the card on your Google Pay account. You can also pay them to monitor your credit activity

www.experian.co.uk/consumer/identity/what-to-do-if-victim.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzc3W6fur-gIVgZ7tCh2tnA-OEAAYASAAEgJxjPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Have a look at Cifas