One of the easiest ways of finding out all about you is to intercept your mail using the Royal Mail’s redirection service.  This is a favourite with identity theft criminals.

It might be obvious to you if your mail delivery stops altogether, but experienced criminals will continue to arrange delivery of some of your mail (junk mail and mail of little interest to them) so that you may not notice that some of your important mail is failing to arrive.

Criminals will often use mail redirection when applying for credit in your name.  Your current address then becomes your previous address and the fraud is committed from an address unconnected with you.

The criminal can then intercept all future requests for further information and obtain the card all without your knowledge.

The Post Office does have security procedures in place to prevent fraudulent mail redirection but if a thief has managed to obtain other forms of identity evidence – watch out for burglaries where some of the following have been stolen – he may be able to set it up.

Applying for Mail Redirection requires a form that can be obtained from the Post Office.  You have to pay for the service and take along 2 original forms of ID (not copies) for each different surname on the application form as follows:

• List 1: you need one type of ID from this list:
  • cheque book - if you pay by cheque
  • pension or benefit book (but only if you apply at the Post Office® branch named on the book)
  • cheque guarantee, debit or credit card
  • bank or building society book
  • store charge card, but not loyalty card
  • passport
  • National Savings book

• List 2: you’ll also need one type from this list:
  • two different utility bills (not mobile phone bills)
  • driving licence – if you have a photocard licence, you must present it along with the paper counterpart (form D740)
  • council tax payment book
  • recent bank or building society statement (within the last 6 months)
  • council rent book
  • credit card statement

Advice

• If you miss a couple of bills or your flow of mail decreases – investigate
• If your credit card bill doesn’t arrive when it usually does – investigate
• Query with the Post Office any seriously delayed mail
• If you receive a telephone call from a lender about a credit application about which you know nothing, make it clear to them that you may be the victim of identity fraud and check with your local Post Office to ensure that no redirection notice has been placed against your address
• Speak to your neighbours.  Sometimes an identity attack is a concerted effort on several houses in the same street – sometimes mail boxes on the same street suffer from theft of contents
• Look at alternative ways to receive mail if you live somewhere where communal mail deliveries are made.  A PO box costs just £62.85 for one year.