What is...

Cifas

Cifas is a not-for-profit fraud prevention service that helps consumers and lenders protect against credit fraud and identity theft. Founded in 1998, Cifas is one of the UK’s primary fraud prevention services, along with National Hunter, and states its goal is ‘to detect, deter and prevent fraud in society.’

How do I see if Cifas holds any fraud warnings against me?

Cifas shares two types of fraud warnings with the Credit Reference Agencies for the purpose of protecting individuals and lenders. These warnings are Protective Registration (which you can add to your own Credit Report) and Victim of Impersonation (which a lender will add to your Credit Report following a fraudulent application using your details).

To see whether Cifas has shared any fraud warnings about you, you can check your Multi Agency Credit Report with checkmyfile. It is the most detailed report in the UK, giving you complete access to your Credit Report information from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion all on the same, easy-to-use platform. It makes finding all of your Credit Report information quick, easy, and hassle-free.

You can try checkmyfile free for 30 days, then just £14.99 per month. Cancel online at any time.

To see information that Cifas holds, which hasn’t been shared with the Credit Reference Agencies, you would need to submit a Subject Access Request to Cifas directly.

Do Cifas warnings hurt my Credit Rating?

Cifas warnings are never a cause for an application to be declined, but do require the lender to carry out extra verification checks to establish the identity of the applicant.

For this reason, Cifas fraud warnings are not considered adverse entries on Credit Reports, and are not permitted to be included in any automated credit scoring or lending decisions.

Put simply, Cifas warnings on your Credit Report will not harm your creditworthiness and they exist purely to protect your identity.

Which companies share information with Cifas?

Currently Cifas has more than 400 members from the banking industry including credit cards, asset finance, retail credit, mail order, insurance, savings and investments, telecommunications, factoring, and share dealing. These organisations share evidence of identified fraud with Cifas.

Since the Serious Crime Act 2007 came into effect, public authorities are now able to join Cifas, provided they are able to reciprocally share information. This is because Cifas members share information relating to fraud with Cifas, in exchange for access to Cifas’ vast fraud database. The relationship is based on ‘principles of reciprocity’.

The UK's First Provider Of Online Credit Reports

Launched 25 Years, 35 Million Credit Scores & 8 Million Credit Reports Ago

The UK's First Provider Of Online Credit Reports

Related Jargon