All “I already did it” guides

I gave my ID details

Someone may try to open accounts in your name. These steps make that harder.

  1. Make it harder to open loans in your name.

    Ask the credit agencies to freeze your credit: then no one can open a loan or card in your name until you lift it. Your own cards keep working. Not sure who they are where you live? Your bank can tell you.

  2. Tell the office that issued it.

    Say a copy was sent to a scammer. For a passport, your passport office; for an ID card or driving licence, the office that issued it. Ask them what to do: some can mark it as misused or send you a new one. If they cancel it, you'll need a new one before you travel.

  3. Gave more than the ID?

    Your bank details: tell your bank. Your tax number: tell your tax office.

  4. Keep everything.

    Screenshots of the messages and the numbers or names they used, and receipts if you paid. Your bank and the police will ask for them.

  5. Report it.

    Report it to your police or your country's fraud reporting service, even if you lost nothing. Reports help stop the same scam reaching others. Add your screenshot of the message, if you took one.

From now on

  • Watch for the next message or call.

    Scammers often come back with a more convincing one, sometimes pretending to be your bank or the police. Check it here before you act.