British Credit Holes

In 1984, the British government passed the "Data Protection Act" in order to allow any individual to obtain copies of computer records which any company or organization may have on that individual.  The intention was to be able to see exactly what was being held on them and subsequently be able to correct any erroneous information.

We hear these stories of people who have been turned down for a loan when they believe that they have impeccable credit credentials.  However, if the records mistakenly say otherwise, you are completely in the dark.

In the United States just about everyone knows about the importance of credit history, and checking up on individuals is purely a matter of course.  Here in England, however, most individuals are completely unaware of any of this.  In fact, many companies here are unaware of this!  While organizations performing the same functions as, say TRW, do exist here, almost no one would know anything about them.

I began looking into just what everyone had on me through these credit recording companies and quickly found a flaw in the system.  This flaw allows me to get a great deal of information on just about anyone.  Further more, it's all perfectly legal!  Let's explain how it works.

There are six main credit recording agencies here in England.  For the sum of one pound and a letter with your full name, date of birth, addresses for the last six years, and your signature, you can receive printed records of everything they have on you.  These records show any loans you have taken out, credit cards you have received (with their numbers and credit limits), credit checks which have been run on you, and any county court judgments you may have against you.  Some will even show how you pay off your credit cards, by showing: if you paid off the full amount each month; if you paid it off on time; and even if you used it at all.

Now then, the flaw in the system is that information on you is not stored by anything as obvious as your name or Social Security number, but by your address.  Furthermore, when you get a report on yourself, it not only gives all of your information but also that of anyone else who happens to have lived at that address.  This means that not only do I get credit information on me, but on everyone else at those same addresses!  In other words, I get to see all of their credit card numbers, dates of issue, and credit limits!

O.K., so how is this useful?  Well, your feverish minds are probably already thinking of devious uses for this information.  Right, suppose I want to get information on you.  All I need is your address.

Fine, so I do a credit search on myself, but I say that I have only lived at my current address for the last month or so, and prior to that I lived at all the same addresses which you have lived at for the last six years (of course, I don't mention you).  When I get the replies, I have all your credit information.  I now have details of any loans (with loan numbers), credit card numbers (with credit limits), dates and amounts, etc.

I've not done anything illegal, up to this point.  The next step is to write to each of the credit card companies and loan companies, etc, and ask them to send all information they have on the person whose credit information you now have.  They're probably going to check a signature, so you'll need to forge the signature of the person you're spying on.  The credit company will give you all the information they have on the person.  This information may include things like just what it was they bought and the credit references they used to establish that you were kosher in the first place.

You will see that you can quite quickly begin to expand outwards building up a bigger and bigger picture of the individual who you are investigating.  You can also get ahold of things like copies of electricity, gas, and telephone bills by saying that you suspect mail has been going missing and can they send duplicate bills to a different address.

To get a driving license is just as easy.  All you do is get the application form and fill it out saying that you have lost the previous license and you want a replacement.  You need the full name, date and place of birth, a signature, and six pounds.  Also, enclose a letter saying that you want it mailed to a different address than the one you live at (because you suspect mail is going missing).  Doing this, the original license is still valid (since it has the same number) and same address, so the real owner will never be aware of this.  (Incidentally, a U.K. driving license does not have a photo on it and a Social Security number is almost never asked for.)

With the driving license you can then open a P.O. box which has no connection with you.  It has another person's name and address associated with it.  Incidentally, a P.O. box in England offers no privacy whatsoever; since you can demand to be given the name and address of the owner and the post office have to give it to you.  I have been told of the post office checking up on people applying for P.O. boxes by actually calling around to see them.

As you begin to build up more and more information on the individual, sooner or later you will start getting information like bank details (i.e. account numbers) and sort codes as well as any mortgage information, etc.  You're in a position to really start doing some nasty damage.  With a driver's license you can open a bank account and have all the bank information sent to the P.O. box.  You're now in a position to begin using someone else's credit without them even knowing!

There is actually a reason why credit information is sorted by address.  Apparently, statistically, bad payers tend to associate with other bad payers.  This means that if you live in an area which is notorious for debts then it will be assumed that you too are bad at paying off your debts.  It also counts against you if you live in a bad neighborhood or estate.  If a previous owner, or occupier, was a credit risk then even though you may never have even met them their bad credit rating can be attached to you - and there's nothing that can be done to change it!

The way that things are set up means that it would be extremely difficult for them to change the system.  Luckily, very few people know about this so it's not an immediate problem.