Identity theft?

Question

I keep reading about this, thinking it wont happen to me, then....

I live in a block of 7 flats, (all mine, 6 empty waiting to be let), with 7 letterboxes at the front door. Got home last night to find a load of junk mail on the steps, along with a few opened envelopes. Most were innocuous, i.e. addressed to occupier or similar, but two were empty, one from my solicitor, and one from Powergen so....

It is fairly certain that some crook has two letters addressed to me, one from my solicitor, (probably referring to another house I own), and one from a utility company. What harm could they do with these letters? And, presumably, they will also be attempting to intercept more mail e.g. bank statements, phone bills etc..

What should I do?

I could change the letterbox openings to very narrow ones, (although this wouldnt stop the determined thief with a long pair of tweezers.

I am thinking of registering as at risk with

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Can I ask the post office to hold all my mail for collection? - does this work?

Alex · Accepted Answer

If they have a utility bill then they have half the ID required to open bank accounts. If they go through your rubbish they'll possibly find a signature - that's the other half. Or maybe they'll write to your solicitor asking for a copy of something you're likely to have signed.

Lobby your MP for ID cards? Uh.. I mean...

Ultimately I guess it depends on how paranoid you are.

Lobster · Answer

If I were the OP I might be less worried if all the mail had gone (then they could have been searching for cheques etc) but surely the fact that the utility bill and solicitor's letter have been deliberately taken implies they were specifically wanted. This appears likely because the culprits have clearly had time to go through all the mail at their leisure, and cherry-pick the 'useful' stuff. Sorry OP, but I'd be a bit worried!

David

Peter Saxton · Answer

It seems weird that they left the envelopes - this has put you on alert. You can but they don't do anything 100% correctly.

Alex · Answer

It sounds more like those were the only two non-junk mail items there.

Wireless Reader · Answer

But good identity theft relies upon not letting the person know you have  their identity - why leave the empty envelopes?

sks · Answer

You need photo id to open a bank account.

Eric Jones · Answer

................................................................................................ Incorrect. eg You can use old type green driving licence as long as the address is up to date and it is signed.

Identity theft?

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