Specialisms
Contracts and accounts are running in your name without your knowing it.
Identity misuse is rarely noticed immediately. It is detected through a reminder for goods never ordered, through a collection letter for an unknown contract or through a refused financing. The real damage then lies less in the individual amount than in the number of bodies at which you are by then recorded as in default – all of which must be cleaned up individually.
Circumstances
Clarify the context
Evidence
Preserve documents
Deadlines
Explain any urgency
Approach
Discuss the next steps
Immediate steps
What needs to be arranged now
Two things are time-critical here: deadline-bound responses to claims and securing an overview of all bodies involved.
Respond to claims in writing and within the deadline
Dispute unknown claims in text form, identify the matter and keep proof of dispatch. This is especially important in the case of a court payment order: if no response is made within the stated period, an enforceable title can arise even if the claim is unfounded.
File a criminal complaint
A criminal complaint is useful in this pattern not only because of the investigation, but also for practical reasons: creditors, banks and credit agencies regularly require a file number before they treat a matter as misuse. Take the letters you have received with you.
Request your own data holdings
Request a self-disclosure from the relevant credit agencies in order to see the extent. A right to information against companies that process data about you may also come into consideration and reveal which contracts are being run in your name.
Secure access and delivery channels
Change the passwords of the affected accounts from a clean device, check stored addresses, telephone numbers and forwarding arrangements and have unauthorised mail-forwarding orders cancelled. As long as the mail is being redirected, future letters will not reach you either.
Keep a complete list of the bodies involved
Record every letter with sender, date, file number and claim amount and keep adding to the list. The clean-up is done at each body individually; without this overview, individual entries regularly remain and continue to have effect for years.
Have identity documents checked
If an identity card or driving licence has been lost or copied, report this to the competent authorities and have it checked whether a blocking note or a reissue makes sense. Document numbers are frequently adopted unchecked when contracts are concluded.
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What happens to the data
The basis is a data set consisting of name, date of birth, address and often an identity-document number or bank details. It comes from a data leak at a service provider, from a phishing page, from a lost identity document or from an application that was never genuine. With this stock, orders on account are placed, mobile and subscription contracts are concluded, accounts are opened or small loans are applied for.
It becomes noticeable through third parties. The first message comes from a debt-collection provider, a mobile operator or a bank, occasionally also through a notice in court dunning proceedings. Frequently a different delivery address or a mail-forwarding arrangement was set up, so that the preceding correspondence never reached you. That is precisely why the time of knowledge is important and should be recorded.
The third level concerns the consequences for your own position. Negative entries with credit agencies affect loan applications, tenancy agreements and contract conclusions, and they do not disappear because a single creditor drops their claim. Every body involved must be informed separately and prompted to make a correction. This clean-up is the most laborious, but also the most effective, part of the work.
Recognising the signs
How misuse becomes noticeable
Often it is a single letter that does not fit. The following observations should be a reason to check your own data holdings, rather than filing them away as misdirected mail.
- You receive invoices, reminders or collection letters for contracts and orders you do not recognise.
- A credit agency lists accounts, loans or contracts that you never concluded.
- A financing, a mobile contract or a rental offer is refused without any apparent reason.
- Mail no longer arrives, or a mail-forwarding arrangement is confirmed that you did not request.
- You receive confirmations of account openings, password changes or identity checks that you did not initiate.
- A court payment order concerns a claim about which you have never previously received anything.
- Small, inconspicuous debits from unknown providers appear on account statements.
Possible measures
Possible measures
The work here consists less of one large proceeding than of many individual, cleanly documented steps. Which of them are necessary follows from the extent of the misuse.
Defence against unfounded claims
We dispute the claims vis-à-vis creditors and collection agencies, observe the deadlines and conduct the correspondence. If dunning or enforcement proceedings have already been commenced, we examine the remedies provided there, which are subject to their own short time limits.
Information about the contract conclusions
A right to information against the processing companies may come into consideration. It serves to disclose the course of the alleged contract conclusion, the data used and the delivery address – details that are needed equally for the complaint and the clean-up.
Correction of entries with credit agencies
We demand the rectification or deletion of incorrect entries at the bodies involved and document the process. Whether and how quickly a correction is made is decided by the respective body; a commitment on this is not possible.
Criminal complaint and accompaniment of the proceedings
We prepare the complaint with the letters and contract data available. Frequently this yields indications as to the origin of the data set, which are also of significance on the civil-law side.
Examination of claims against the data-processing body
If the data set originates from a leak at a company, claims against that company may come into consideration. That presupposes that the origin can be proven, which does not succeed in every case.
Prospects
What can be achieved
In identity misuse the issue is less often the recovery of money than the defence against claims and the correction of entries. Where payments have nevertheless flowed away, the same applies as in the other cases: whether anything can be recovered depends on where the funds have gone and who holds them. A commitment as to the outcome is not possible.
The time pressure here lies in the deadlines. Response periods for court payment orders and enforcement measures are short, and if they are missed a title arises that can later be challenged only at considerable effort. This deadline is the point at which a path can close permanently. Information and rectification proceedings against companies and credit agencies remain possible for longer, but they take time and require persistence.
A realistic result is one in which unfounded claims have been defended against and the essential entries corrected – not the complete removal of every trace, because not every body involved becomes known. The overarching topics of evidence preservation and procedural routes are set out in the Fraud & Scam practice area.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about identity misuse
The answers describe the general framework. What applies in your case depends on the extent of the misuse and the status of the respective proceedings.
Related specialisms
Patterns that often overlap
Fraud rarely follows just one pattern. If your case only partly matches, related specialisms may help you understand the connections.
Phishing
Forged bank and authority messages that harvest credentials – and what to do after an approval.
Find out moreCybercrime
Data theft, ransomware and attacks on corporate networks – preservation of evidence, notification channels and possible claims.
Find out moreFake websites
Counterfeit brand and government sites – evidence preservation, reports to registrars and protection of your own brand.
Find out more
Related information
Related information
- Fraud and scamsWhen fraud is suspected, payment routes, correspondence and timing are important starting points.
- Recognising signs of fraudUrgency, secrecy and extra payments before a promised withdrawal are recurring warning signs. A single feature does not replace examination of the facts.
- Fraud patterns at a glanceForged invoices, fabricated relationships and manipulated investment platforms follow different patterns. Explore how they work and possible next steps.
- Contact usDescribe your matter in a few sentences. Include only what is needed for the initial contact. Documents can be requested later through a suitable channel.
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An enquiry does not establish a client relationship or responsibility for monitoring deadlines. If a deadline is approaching, do not rely on this form alone.
- General information. The legal assessment depends on the circumstances of each case.