Fraudulent Loan and Credit Cards in My Wife's Name

[niikii]

Earlier this year, we received a letter from a debt collection agency. It said that my wife took an £8,000 loan from Sainsbury’s Bank and has not been paying the monthly installments. We were shocked because my wife never took any loan, and the address mentioned in the letter is a place we have never lived.

We immediately asked the debt collection agency to send us the loan agreement. When we received it, we noticed several red flags:

The email address on the agreement was not my wife’s.

The signature didn’t match hers.

The address was completely wrong.

The mobile number used it was not my wife's.

We reported this to Action Fraud and also contacted Sainsbury’s Bank to report the issue as fraud.

However, Sainsbury’s Bank told us that they have proof that the loan is genuine. They said:

A selfie was submitted during the loan application – and it was my wife’s photo.

A copy of her passport was used as ID.

The loan money was deposited into a bank account in my wife’s name.

After investigating and thinking deeply about how this could have happened, we discovered the likely source of the problem by checking the mobile number we found it was my nephew's mobile number.

In 2020, my nephew came to live with us. To help him start working, my wife helped him open a bank account. He also registered a Deliveroo driver account under my wife’s name because he couldn’t register one in his own name. For that, she gave him a copy of her passport, and he regularly used her selfie for verification in the app.

We now know that in January 2023, my nephew used all of my wife’s personal information (passport, selfies, and bank account) to fraudulently apply for the £8,000 loan and also took out credit cards from Tesco and other companies using her identity. He made a few payments but then stopped, and now all the debt is in my wife’s name.

Because of this, my wife’s credit score is now very low, and we are under a lot of stress.

We urgently need advice on what to do next:

How can we clear my wife’s name and credit history?

What legal steps should we take?

How can we hold my nephew accountable for this fraud?

Let me explain little more in detail.
We tried to help a family member purely on the basis of trust and our close relationship. My nephew came to the UK legally on a student visa. While studying, he was also looking for part-time work. At that time, food delivery platforms were a popular option for students, but students were not allowed to register accounts under their own names. We discovered that many students were delivering food using accounts registered under someone else's name, often paying the account holder around £40–£50 per week. It was a mutual arrangement that helped both parties.

As a family trying to support one another, my wife decided to help by registering a Deliveroo account in her name so that my nephew could work and earn a living. Since the account was under her name, the bank account also had to be in her name. She opened a Monzo account specifically for this purpose, and my nephew managed the account himself—receiving payments and using the funds for his expenses.

He lived with us for around 18 months before moving to London, where he continued working as a delivery driver. Later, Deliveroo introduced stricter verification measures like random selfie checks. When this happened, my wife would assist him remotely, as he was still using her account. He even had a copy of her selfie for verification purposes.

Unfortunately, at some point, he became involved in a scam. Despite not having any bad habits, he might have been tempted by the idea of making quick money. Without our knowledge or consent, he used the Monzo account to deposit funds from a loan he took out under my wife's name. Over time, his behaviour changed—he became distant, stopped communicating, and gave excuses when we tried to reach him.

Eventually, we started receiving letters from Sainsbury’s Bank and discovered he had taken out another small loan and a credit card, again under my wife’s name. This came as a complete shock to us.

We helped our nephew purely out of goodwill and family ties, believing that supporting each other is what family is for. Unfortunately, the trust we placed in him was broken, and this has caused significant strain in our family relationships. We acted out of compassion and a desire to support someone we cared about, but sometimes the people you trust the most can let you down.

Neither my wife nor I ever had any intention of doing anything dishonest or wrong. We’ve always tried to live by our values and do the right thing. Like anyone else, we may have made decisions that, in hindsight, could have been handled differently—but our hearts were in the right place. We didn’t do this for any personal gain. We simply wanted to help our nephew during a difficult time.

I truly appreciate everyone’s time and thoughtful advice—thank you for your support.

I'm not sure the fact that you did it with good intentions will make much difference. Legally, that account was your wife's. Also she was giving him her ID to use. I think as far as the bank are concerned this is your wife's debt. It was her account and she gave her ID to your nephew. I think the bank will pursue your wife, and separately you will have to pursue your nephew for the fraudulent application.

The details don't change anything sadly. I know you were being kind but that doesn't change the fact that your wife did take fraudulent action.

You need to press your nephew for repayment, not the bank.

You and your wife have been utterly stupid.

when I took a loan out though, I had to take a selfie, I’m sure I couldn’t just upload a picture??

Hmm, so you were complicit in his fraud and deception. Students can usually legally work on a visa, a limited number of hours per week/year, so I don’t get why you set up this charade. It sounds like a ni and tax avoidance scam. You need to report it, to limit your liabilities on the loans, but I doubt you can reclaim your previous losses from the bank.

I agree with @londongirl12 that what you and your wife did was foolish. When you go to live in another country you agree to abide by their laws,. Having worked in the university system (with many genuine international students who had bank accounts) I am puzzled as to how your nephew could not open a bank account of his own. Did he came on a genuine student visa? Or did he attend one of those dodgy "colleges! which are themselves fraudulent?

Considering the whole shebang, I am assuming your wife didn't do self assessment and paid taxes, did she? So look out for HMRC too.

This story does not sound as innocent as you are making it. Honestly.

I agree with @Chewbecca. The money was paid into her account in that it was an account in her name that she set up.

She trusted him, her nephew, and she should not have done.

I know this is the custom in some cultures and others will guilt you for not helping your nephew. However you should never do something which will place you at risk even for a good friend or family member. No good deed goes unpunished.

Wow, so what you've infact done is been complicated in enabling your nephew to breach the conditions of his student visa AND fraudulently gain employment...... well done.

Can you prove your nephew took put this loan?, as far as the bank will be concerned you took out this bank loan, using your ID and the loan was paid into a bank account in your name, that you genuinely opened - and you cannot deny that.

Your wife needs to get good legal advice very quickly.

To sort out the loan she's going to have to explain that she's committed identity fraud, opened a fraudulent bank account, and enabled someone to work illegally using her ID.

That's a world of trouble. She needs to be aware of what the outcomes of that will be for her as a matter of urgency.

I'd be very surprised if the loan was seen as anything other than her loan - it was paid into her account that she opened. That she handed it to your nephew to use is not Sainsbury's fault.

It's interesting though that all the fraud was committed in her name, rather than yours. Why was that?

Your wife is not exactly coming out of this well either, she assisted your nephew in his original frauds allowing him to use her identity and willingly providing him with all the data he needed to impersonate her. Now he has used all that information without her knowledge to open bank accounts, take out loans and credit cards in her name. Disentangling all this is not going to be so easy, will he admit any of this? Do you know where he is now, or has he gone home?

You helped someone commit fraud and then he went on to commit more fraud.
You only had an issue with his activities when you became the victims yourselves
I am struggling to have any sympathy for you

Interesting that despite the fact it was your nephew, it was your wife who was expected to commit fraud to assist him, rather than you. If this was genuinely an innocent case of “helping family out”, you’d think you’d put your own head on the block rather than your wife’s…

Honestly, I just don't believe you.

If you peruse the news from this weekend, you may have noticed that there have been various protests - mostly outside hotels - about illegal economic migrants. Whilst the focus has been on boat people, most of the problem in reality is in cases exactly like this. This is the sort of thing that gives south Asians a bad name.

If your nephew was here legally, on a bona fide student visa which permitted him to work part time, there was nothing to stop him opening a bank account or obtaining a job in his own name as long as he observed the conditions attached to his visa. There are literally people whose full time jobs in education institutions is to make this work for them.

That’s not true about the bank accounts. You can’t just open a bank account because you live here legally.

I am British, my husband is not. We lived in his country for years then we moved here. Legally!

No bank would give him a bank account until he had a certain number of payslips. I can’t remember if it was three or six months now. And he had a well paid job and we had money in our overseas account. We ended up using my Barclays account that I had since I was eleven that was just dormant as a joint account and then I opened a new account of my own.

But you didn't commit fraud though I am assuming?

In UK it's quite easy with all the options. Plenty of international student bank accounts available, revolut is quite friendly. Especially now with the non traditional account options, it would have been easy for nephew...
Just to add, a while, a whiiile, ago before all these non traditional routes, I got lloyds account before even starting a job.

Well, it definitely wasn’t easy for us.

There are nearly three quarters of a million legal international students in the UK, and they all seem to manage to open student bank accounts legitimately. When I did my masters I seem to recall one hiccup amongst the 106 international students out of 115 enrolled on the course, because he was staying in a hotel with his parents for a while and couldn't provide proof of address until he'd rented a flat. It's really not that difficult.

This dog's breakfast appears to have arisen because OP's nephew has tried to get around the fact that self-employment (and therefore most gig work) is not permitted on a student visa. I hope they get everything coming to them.

so you provided your nephew with the tools to commit fraud…

And he committed fraud. just not the type you thought you were enabling.

I can’t see how you could get out of this without admitting your own wrongdoing. not a lawyer but wouldn’t this be money laundering re the bank etc? I would get legal advice asap but maybe this is the cost (literally) of your own actions?

That makes more sense. He could make food or work in a restaurant legally but not as a self employed delivery driver. In doing so he has dodged tax and ni too.

I had sympathy for you until you showed you comitted fraud yourself. If you move to another country you abide by their rules. Simple.