Possible stolen identity.

Flash In The Pan said:
I've got a similar (but different :lol:) situation at the moment with Sky. Now, I'm not a Sky customer but I was up until about 8 months ago so when a Sky envelope dropped through the letterbox I didn't pay much heed to it, but when I did I noticed the name on it wasn't mine.

The address was correct so I opened it (tampering with the mail, m'lud :police: :lol:) and it was a final demand for arrears on a Sky account, in someone else's name ( a foreign-sounding name that I'd never heard of) and with a different number from my old account.

I phoned Sky and after the usual questions ("are you sure there's no-one else in your house that has recently had Sky installed?") it transpired that this account WAS registered at my address and Sky had no idea how it had happened and wouldn't tell me how long the account had been active.

I'm trying to work out how this would benefit anyone, I mean if you sign up for a new Sky account Im pretty sure they won't do an installation at a different address to the billing one and from what I remember you need to provide bank details for the direct debit.

I've checked my account and there's no suspicious activity, so is this a scam? It's not like the account is in my name and it hasn't be paid for out of my funds, it's just registered at my address :thinking: :shrug:
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Easy, dodgy sky customer care person, sets up a Sky account for a 'friend', changes address to yours after installation = free Sky for X time no doubt the works as well.

Like the old virgin where the line is connected by a dodgy engineer to house, house owner then had one of the modded boxes which gains the signal = free tv. (not sure I explained that well, but several years ago when virgin took over C&W my brother in law was offered said box to get everything free from an engineer who was doing the swap over when they moved houses)

Hope OP gets things sorted out! I know I had a CC in my name arrive a several months after ex wife left which I didn't apply for.
 
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Mattwood said:
Easy, dodgy sky customer care person, sets up a Sky account for a 'friend', changes address to yours after installation = free Sky for X time no doubt the works as well.

Like the old virgin where the line is connected by a dodgy engineer to house, house owner then had one of the modded boxes which gains the signal = free tv. (not sure I explained that well, but several years ago when virgin took over C&W my brother in law was offered said box to get everything free from an engineer who was doing the swap over when they moved houses)

Hope OP gets things sorted out! I know I had a CC in my name arrive a several months after ex wife left which I didn't apply for.
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How would they get free Sky by simply changing the address? I could understand were it the other way round, that the address on my account was changed, so that I was paying for the service at their address, but I can't see how changing it so that the service that they are paying for comes to my house (which it didn't).

Anyway, isn't the Sky subscription linked to the viewing card, not the address?
 
gblades said:
I have a capital one MasterCard and I get a equifax membership with it. I can see a history of credit file changes, get a monthly summary email, and two free credit reports a year. I pay a small yearly fee which the cash back easily covers. The current offer doesn't even have a yearly charge any more. You do need quite a good credit history though.
http://www.capitalone.co.uk/creditcards/aspire-world-credit-card.jsf
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The card that was created was a Capital one Mastercard. I hope he/she does not have access to my credit file :suspect::eek:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
How would they get free Sky by simply changing the address? I could understand were it the other way round, that the address on my account was changed, so that I was paying for the service at their address, but I can't see how changing it so that the service that they are paying for comes to my house (which it didn't).

Anyway, isn't the Sky subscription linked to the viewing card, not the address?
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Maybe they were interested in the broadband service and not the TV channels.
 
ziggy© said:
Maybe they were interested in the broadband service and not the TV channels.
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Good point, but wouldn't that also be linked to an address as you need to activate the broadband on a phone number and that needs to tie in with the billing address? :shrug:
 
Flash - all that happens is a bent employee changes the billing address ,so all the reminders etc go somewhere else - and eventually the debt collectors letters etc - and his mate gets free sky/broadband until they cut him off without the hassle of reminders/baliffs etc
 
big soft moose said:
Flash - all that happens is a bent employee changes the billing address ,so all the reminders etc go somewhere else - and eventually the debt collectors letters etc - and his mate gets free sky/broadband until they cut him off without the hassle of reminders/baliffs etc
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That would sound plausible if I'd received other communications, bearing in mind how Sky love to bombard customers with magazines and mailshots, unless it was changed immediately before cancelling, but that would seem a lot of hassle for the amount outstanding - £2.40 :lol:
 
big soft moose said:
thats been arround a while - I don't let my card out of my site - they can either bring the chip and pin machine to the table, or i go to the bar - but no b****r else is touching my card
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Too right - I would not be surprised to see banks refusing to refund fraudulent transactions where the card holder has not taken reasonable precautions like you mention to prevent fraud.
 
yeah i meant the pin number - not the report
 
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