Fraudsters can take out a loan or microloan using someone else’s personal details, by utilising stolen documents, access to a SIM card or bank account, or compromised data. Sometimes, a person only finds out about such a debt after receiving calls from the lender or debt collectors. In Ukraine, you can check online to see if there are any unknown loans in your name. The most reliable way is to review your own credit history and, for large debts, to also consult the National Bank’s Credit Register.
Briefly about the main points
- You can check your credit history online.
- One report per year is available free of charge.
- To be on the safe side, it is worth checking with several credit reference agencies.
- In Dii, you can receive notifications about credit enquiries.
- The NBU’s credit register lists debts of 50,000 UAH or more.
- You should contest an unknown loan straight away.
Where to check for loans taken out in your name
A credit history contains information about open and closed loans, the date of the agreement, the loan amount, the current outstanding balance, any arrears and payment history.
The National Bank notes that Once during a calendar year, a person is entitled to receive information from their credit history free of charge.
One of the main sources of such information is the Ukrainian Credit Bureau — UBKI. The report shows the date and number of the loan agreement, the type of loan, the amount owed, any outstanding debt and the financial institution that provided the information.
UBKI allows you to obtain your credit history via its official website, mobile app, and through certain banks and online services. One report per year is provided free of charge.
However, it is important to bear in mind that a lender may work with more than one credit reference agency. According to the NBU, there are five credit reference agencies that remain active participants in the Ukrainian market. These include the Ukrainian Credit Bureau, the First All-Ukrainian Credit Bureau and the International Credit Bureau.
Therefore, if there is a serious suspicion of fraud, It is best to check the information with more than one agency.
How to check your credit history via the NBU Credit Register
Another official tool is — The National Bank of Ukraine’s Credit Register.
An individual has the right to obtain information about themselves from this register and to request that it be corrected or deleted if the data is incorrect.
However, there is an important restriction: with regard to the Credit Register NBU Information is disclosed if the total amount of liabilities to the bank amounts to 50,000 hryvnias or more.
Therefore, the NBU’s Credit Register should not be used as the sole means of verification. For example, a small fraudulent microloan of 5,000–20,000 hryvnias may not appear there.
In such cases, the first step is to check the credit reference agency.
How to find out about a loan before you take it out
Preventive measures are also in place in Ukraine.
In the app Action. Notifications regarding credit history transactions are available. Users can receive push notifications when a credit institution checks their credit history or when a new loan appears on their credit history.
This is particularly useful in cases of fraud.
For example, if you suddenly receive a notification that your credit history has been checked by a bank or financial company that you have not approached, you should contact this organisation immediately.
The UBCI recommends informing the lender that the application may have been submitted by fraudsters. If the loan has not yet been granted, this may help to halt the transaction.
UBKI also offers a «FREEZE» function, which restricts lenders’ access to credit history for the purposes of approving new loans. It is part of the ‘StatusControl’ service.
What to do if you discover an unknown loan
If a loan you haven’t taken out appears on your credit history, you shouldn’t ignore it.
First of all, it is necessary to establish, which financial institution actually provided the money, the date of issue, the amount and the contract number.
You should then write to the bank or financial institution to inform them that you did not enter into the agreement. It is advisable to request an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the granting of the loan and the documents used to verify the borrower’s identity.
The National Bank recommends the following in cases of fraudulent lending:
- contact the financial institution directly;
- notify the law enforcement authorities;
- report it to the Cyber Police;
- If a financial company fails to resolve the issue and continues to demand payment, you should lodge a complaint with the NBU.
The NBU also expressly recommends contacting the law enforcement authorities if a loan has been taken out in a person’s name by fraudulent means.
It is important to keep copies of applications, correspondence with the lender, notifications, your credit report and any other documents that may confirm that the loan was taken out without your involvement.
How to remove a fraudulent loan from your credit history
A single report to the police may not be enough for the entry to be automatically removed from your credit history.
We must ensure that the financial institution which provided the information about the loan, checked and corrected the data.
If a credit report contains information with which a person disagrees, they can also contact the credit reference agency directly. The agency will forward the enquiry to the creditor for verification. This option is, in particular, offered by the First All-Ukrainian Credit Reference Agency.
If a loan is recorded in the NBU Credit Register, an individual also has the right to request the correction or removal of inaccurate information.
How to protect yourself from loans taken out in your name
The simplest way is to check your credit history from time to time, even if you aren’t taking out any loans yourself.
It is particularly important to do this if you have lost your passport, mobile phone or SIM card, if there has been a data breach, or if you receive suspicious calls from financial institutions.
You can register details of a lost passport in your credit history free of charge with the UBCI. This provides lenders with an additional indicator when assessing a potential borrower.
It’s also worth enabling credit history notifications in Diia. If a lender starts checking your details without you initiating it, you’ll be able to find out about it before a fraudulent loan turns into a debt.
A regular check takes just a few minutes, but it allows you to spot a problem well before you start missing payments, receiving calls from debt collectors or damaging your credit history.
