A microfinance organization calls you and tells you that you are late on your loan. But you didn't take any loans. How could this happen and how to solve this problem?
You can also call ollectors, representatives of a bank or consumer credit cooperative. And sometimes a subpoena immediately comes.
If you really have nothing to do with these debts, it means that the scammers took possession of your passport data and issued a loan for you.
How could this have happened?
Banks, microfinance organizations (MFIs) and consumer credit cooperatives (CCCs) always verify the identity of the borrower.
When a loan is issued at the office, clients are asked to present their passport, photo and personal signature are verified. But if you lost your passport or it was stolen from you, the thieves could replace the photo or disguise themselves as you, and forge the signature.
As soon as you discover the disappearance of your passport, immediately go to the nearest police station. Write a statement about the loss and be sure to take a certificate of the lost passport with the date. In the case of passport fraud, this certificate will be your main proof that the loan or loan was not taken by you.
When applying for small online loans (up to $ 300), MFOs can carry out simplified identification. Usually they ask clients to send their passport details or scan, as well as a photo with the passport in hand. In such conditions, it is easier for fraudsters to imitate the appearance of the passport holder.
Organizations usually conduct more serious identity checks before issuing large loans and borrowings. For example, potential borrowers are visited by bank or MFO employees or partner services to check their passport before applying for a loan or loan.
Microfinance organizations also have the right to instruct banks to conduct remote customer identification. Banks have access to the Portal of Public Services - they can verify on it the data of the passport, SNN and the mobile phone number that the client provided to the MFO.
But intermediaries do not always check potential borrowers thoroughly enough.
How do I know who and how much I owe?
You need to request your credit history. It contains complete information about all loans and borrowings issued in your name. So you can immediately find out how much debt you have and in which financial institutions.
You will also find out the amount of debt, the amount of interest and penalties, the date when the loan or loan was taken, and the time of delay.
How to access this data can be read in detail in the article on credit history.
How to get rid of the debt on a loan or a loan that fraudsters have issued?
You need to immediately contact the financial company that issued a loan or loan in your name. If the situation reaches an impasse, you can complain to the Bank of Russia. And in any case, you must write a statement to the police.
1. Write a statement to the lender
Contact the bank, MFO, where you received a loan, and write a statement that you did not enter into an agreement and did not receive money. Emphasize that the signature in the agreement was forged or the identification was not passed by you. If your passport has been stolen, attach a copy of the police certificate.
In the same statement, demand to conduct an internal investigation and stop claiming a debt from you under a contract that you did not enter into.
As a rule, immediately after your application, the lender stops calling with a reminder of the delay and begins an internal review.
In the course of the investigation, the lender's experts will study the recordings from video cameras in the office, scans of documents to the contract, office correspondence, telephone records and other evidence.
In the case of online loans, MFOs will check the borrower's data, photographs, and also investigate the actions of the intermediaries.
If the creditor is convinced that it was not you who took the money, the debt will be written off from you. If he does not find evidence that fraudsters received the money according to your passport, file a lawsuit.
2. Complain to the regulator
If it seems to you that the company approached the audit formally and did not take into account strong evidence of your non-involvement in the debt, write a complaint to the Internet reception of the Bank. For example, if you presented a certificate from the police about the loss of your passport. Or the loan was issued at the bank's office on the day you were on vacation abroad, and you confirmed this with documents. And the creditor did not accept these documents for consideration.
The regulator will ask the company for a report on how it responded to your application. The company will not be able to leave it unattended.
3. Contact the police
No matter how events develop, be sure to contact the police. Even if you solve the problem with one pseudo-loan, this does not guarantee that others will not appear. Therefore, it is very important to help the police catch the criminals as soon as possible. To do this, tell the police what you find out.
Ask the lender for certified copies of the documents on the basis of which the loan or loan was issued: the agreement and all annexes to it, a copy of the passport and other identity documents - for example, a driver's license or passport. It is better to take copies in duplicate: one - for a statement to the police, the other may be required in court.
If all the documents, except for the passport, are not yours, then it will be possible to prove your non-involvement in the debt. If the documents are yours, but the photographs are forged, you can request a technical examination. There are programs that detect modified and edited photos.
Ask for the details of the account to which the money was transferred. Try to find out the details of the employee who signed the contract and the address of the office where this happened.
Report fraud to the police. Getting a loan or a loan in someone else's name is a crime. Attach copies of all documents that you took from the lender, and a copy of the certificate of loss of your passport if the passport was stolen. All this will help the police to identify the intruders.
What if the lender refuses to write off my debt?
Unfortunately, this happens. For example, if you reported the loss of your passport after the loan was issued for you, and there is no other obvious evidence that the contract was not concluded by you.
Then the only option for you is to go to court.
Take the entire package of documents on the loan or loan agreement and file a claim against the lender. In court, refer to the fact that the contract was concluded by a fraudster and not signed by you.
It will not be difficult to check the signature on a paper contract: the court will appoint a graphological examination. Detecting online scams is more difficult and time-consuming. But this is also possible.
After a court ruling in your favor, the creditor will stop asking you to pay the debt.
Is there anything else to do?
The information in the credit bureaus does not come immediately. Therefore, be sure to check your credit history again - for example, one month after the first request for your credit history. It may turn out that you have new debts.
If it turns out that you have other loans or loans that you did not take, the procedure for challenging debts will have to be repeated with other creditors.
In addition, you need to make sure that information about the debt that was written off from you by the creditor or the court is removed from your credit history. If this has not been done, contact the credit bureau and show a certificate from a financial institution or a court decision.
You can read more about how to request information about your loans and borrowings and make corrections to it in the article "Credit history".
How to protect yourself from false loans in the future?
It is worth protecting both the passport itself and its data:
You can also call ollectors, representatives of a bank or consumer credit cooperative. And sometimes a subpoena immediately comes.
If you really have nothing to do with these debts, it means that the scammers took possession of your passport data and issued a loan for you.
How could this have happened?
Banks, microfinance organizations (MFIs) and consumer credit cooperatives (CCCs) always verify the identity of the borrower.
When a loan is issued at the office, clients are asked to present their passport, photo and personal signature are verified. But if you lost your passport or it was stolen from you, the thieves could replace the photo or disguise themselves as you, and forge the signature.
As soon as you discover the disappearance of your passport, immediately go to the nearest police station. Write a statement about the loss and be sure to take a certificate of the lost passport with the date. In the case of passport fraud, this certificate will be your main proof that the loan or loan was not taken by you.
When applying for small online loans (up to $ 300), MFOs can carry out simplified identification. Usually they ask clients to send their passport details or scan, as well as a photo with the passport in hand. In such conditions, it is easier for fraudsters to imitate the appearance of the passport holder.
Organizations usually conduct more serious identity checks before issuing large loans and borrowings. For example, potential borrowers are visited by bank or MFO employees or partner services to check their passport before applying for a loan or loan.
Microfinance organizations also have the right to instruct banks to conduct remote customer identification. Banks have access to the Portal of Public Services - they can verify on it the data of the passport, SNN and the mobile phone number that the client provided to the MFO.
But intermediaries do not always check potential borrowers thoroughly enough.
How do I know who and how much I owe?
You need to request your credit history. It contains complete information about all loans and borrowings issued in your name. So you can immediately find out how much debt you have and in which financial institutions.
You will also find out the amount of debt, the amount of interest and penalties, the date when the loan or loan was taken, and the time of delay.
How to access this data can be read in detail in the article on credit history.
How to get rid of the debt on a loan or a loan that fraudsters have issued?
You need to immediately contact the financial company that issued a loan or loan in your name. If the situation reaches an impasse, you can complain to the Bank of Russia. And in any case, you must write a statement to the police.
1. Write a statement to the lender
Contact the bank, MFO, where you received a loan, and write a statement that you did not enter into an agreement and did not receive money. Emphasize that the signature in the agreement was forged or the identification was not passed by you. If your passport has been stolen, attach a copy of the police certificate.
In the same statement, demand to conduct an internal investigation and stop claiming a debt from you under a contract that you did not enter into.
As a rule, immediately after your application, the lender stops calling with a reminder of the delay and begins an internal review.
In the course of the investigation, the lender's experts will study the recordings from video cameras in the office, scans of documents to the contract, office correspondence, telephone records and other evidence.
In the case of online loans, MFOs will check the borrower's data, photographs, and also investigate the actions of the intermediaries.
If the creditor is convinced that it was not you who took the money, the debt will be written off from you. If he does not find evidence that fraudsters received the money according to your passport, file a lawsuit.
2. Complain to the regulator
If it seems to you that the company approached the audit formally and did not take into account strong evidence of your non-involvement in the debt, write a complaint to the Internet reception of the Bank. For example, if you presented a certificate from the police about the loss of your passport. Or the loan was issued at the bank's office on the day you were on vacation abroad, and you confirmed this with documents. And the creditor did not accept these documents for consideration.
The regulator will ask the company for a report on how it responded to your application. The company will not be able to leave it unattended.
3. Contact the police
No matter how events develop, be sure to contact the police. Even if you solve the problem with one pseudo-loan, this does not guarantee that others will not appear. Therefore, it is very important to help the police catch the criminals as soon as possible. To do this, tell the police what you find out.
Ask the lender for certified copies of the documents on the basis of which the loan or loan was issued: the agreement and all annexes to it, a copy of the passport and other identity documents - for example, a driver's license or passport. It is better to take copies in duplicate: one - for a statement to the police, the other may be required in court.
If all the documents, except for the passport, are not yours, then it will be possible to prove your non-involvement in the debt. If the documents are yours, but the photographs are forged, you can request a technical examination. There are programs that detect modified and edited photos.
Ask for the details of the account to which the money was transferred. Try to find out the details of the employee who signed the contract and the address of the office where this happened.
Report fraud to the police. Getting a loan or a loan in someone else's name is a crime. Attach copies of all documents that you took from the lender, and a copy of the certificate of loss of your passport if the passport was stolen. All this will help the police to identify the intruders.
What if the lender refuses to write off my debt?
Unfortunately, this happens. For example, if you reported the loss of your passport after the loan was issued for you, and there is no other obvious evidence that the contract was not concluded by you.
Then the only option for you is to go to court.
Take the entire package of documents on the loan or loan agreement and file a claim against the lender. In court, refer to the fact that the contract was concluded by a fraudster and not signed by you.
It will not be difficult to check the signature on a paper contract: the court will appoint a graphological examination. Detecting online scams is more difficult and time-consuming. But this is also possible.
After a court ruling in your favor, the creditor will stop asking you to pay the debt.
Is there anything else to do?
The information in the credit bureaus does not come immediately. Therefore, be sure to check your credit history again - for example, one month after the first request for your credit history. It may turn out that you have new debts.
If it turns out that you have other loans or loans that you did not take, the procedure for challenging debts will have to be repeated with other creditors.
In addition, you need to make sure that information about the debt that was written off from you by the creditor or the court is removed from your credit history. If this has not been done, contact the credit bureau and show a certificate from a financial institution or a court decision.
You can read more about how to request information about your loans and borrowings and make corrections to it in the article "Credit history".
How to protect yourself from false loans in the future?
It is worth protecting both the passport itself and its data:
- do not give anyone and do not leave your passport as a deposit;
- do not allow copying it without a good reason;
- do not send scans of passport pages to unauthorized persons;
- enter passport data only on secure sites (the address bar should have a closed padlock icon) of reliable organizations (for example, licensed banks or insurance companies) and only when you cannot do without it (for example, if you buy plane tickets or a tour trip);
- do not give data to unknown persons by phone or in social networks if someone asks you for it, for example, “to apply for compensation from the Pension Fund”.
