I have a deeply concerning issue that came to light and I hope this community could give insights into this.
I recently checked my father’s credit score and reports on PhonePe, GPay.
The apps used his mobile number as the identifier to find the credit report and score. They are offering this service for free.
First I had checked on PhonePe ( which seems to take the data from the Experian credit bureau ) there is no issue there - only his old HDFC credit card is showing. Nothing else is present there and there are no dues/ payments there and score was very healthy.
Then after some weeks I checked on GPay ( GPay is taking the credit report from CIBIL) just to see if there also same credit score is shown. But to our shock, there are many loans, credit cards which he has never taken - these seem to be fraud loans/ cards, or some malevolent data mixing has happened (based on faulty name matching or something).
CIBIL Score was 468/900 and there were defaults being shown. Is this a case of identity theft? I am highly worried and shocked !
Then I checked his credit report on CRIF - on CRIF, only his old HDFC credit card is showing. No other credit activity is shown there.
How to redress this or correct it? Or should it be left alone ?
We never knew until now because only after seeing the credit score option in PhonePe, Paytm, GPay etc, did we know about these easy ways of checking credit score.
It is a lengthy process. You need to raise disputes directly with the CIBIL. Then they contact the reporting entity for verification and correction and it takes time. CIBIL comes under the regulation of RBI. So if they do not solve your issue within due timelines, you can lodge a complaint with the RBI appointed Ombudsman. You can find this information on the CIBIL website or on the RBI website. It is also good to check your score regularly(~once a year) as your PAN may also be misused.
A check bounce incident was recorded in my account and then I had to warn the bank with a criminal case for misuse of PAN and then they got it removed.
Such incidents keep happening because we share our details without giving any thought for the actual need of such information. It gets more complicated with involvement of middle men.
In these times you have to check atleast once in 2 months, due to the number of frauds taking place. Once a year and it’ll be too late. You’ll be stuck with a bad score and will only get to know when you apply for some loan
Update : I went to CIBIL directly and checked. Root cause of the issue: They have mapped my father’s mobile no. to some other guy who was born on the exact same date and shares my father’s name!
Incorrect data matching has occurred.