I sent the prove it letter (around the end of October) making it clear that I do not acknowledge the debt and in addition requested that I would like to see the evidence to why they think it is my debt - I also made it clear that I am no longer at that old address or in the country and gave them a new correspondence address. It was sent recorded delivery and I have confirmation that it was recieved by them. To date I have no written reply to them. Against my better judgement I gave them a call a couple of weeks ago to see whats going on - but I got nowhere with them. They requested my date of birth and occupation when I asked them to look up whats going on, I refused to disclose any personal info and they wouldn't discuss the case citing data protection, at that point I hung up. Similar situation with Barclaycard, i get passed around and cant get to talk to anyone who can help on the phone but did send a letter to their fraud department 2 weeks ago that I haven’t received a reply yet, I should of sent this recorded delivery so will send the same again but get proof of delivery this time. Im not sure what to do now, my wife thinks I should just forget about it and move on, but I don't want this thing to come back. I may plan to move back to the UK at some point and don't want to damage a good credit profile because of these cretins. My plan is to now make a complaint to the relevant authorities in the hope that may help, most probably in the new year.

Here is the letter that I got from HFO, I missed there deadline by 3 weeks but I still sent the prove it letter: Another link, the image upload was scaled: http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1415/dodgyletter.jpg

The difference in time zones is a bit of an issue so I have to get up early to to do this

I dont think I want to talk to the guys at HFO but will Barclaycard, my plan was to record the call, I didn't manager this morning but I have the equipement now so will first thing tomorrow morning

@dadofholly and @DonkeyB That was me, and it sounds like it is, the only thing is that it was Acktiv kapital then it turned out it wasn't a credit card, that was related to a current account that barclays ended up withdrawing the dogs off in the end as they admitted fault - I updated that thread as well now. For the record, I did have a barclays current account and its always been in good standing order but not a credit card. I have since closed my barclays account (2 years ago)

I am sorry it took so long to reply to this, I only remembered after starting another thread on an unrelated matter and getting prompted about this. But I am glad to say that barclays after an investigation told me they are not taking this any further and satisfied I am not the owner of the account and they informed ActivKaptial and have not heard anything from them ever since. Barclays told me it was not fraud but an internal error on their side, related to a current account. I probably should of pursued it further but at the time I had so many things going I was just glad it was over.

Wow, thanks for all the replies and suggestions, I will be following up with the prove it letter and contact Barclays as soon as possible. I will post a scan of the letter soon as well (or write it up) as soon as I get home. Thanks again all, I will do my best to keep this updated for others reference.

Hi All, Im posting to request some advice for those who have dealings with HFO (or similar debt collectors). Last year I moved abroad and I found out today from family back in the UK that HFO have sent a letter to me start legal action on me for an unpaid barclaycard. I have never defaulted on any payments and do not owe barclaycard any money and don't recognise the account and never even had a barclaycard, I am 100% certain its a case of fraud or mistaked identity. I am very confused and stressed to how should I should proceed? This notice for legal action has come of the blue with no warning and reading others dealing with this company I am not sure that they will even listen to me. My fear is that I will have to spend a lot of money and take time off work to attend court dates to prove my case. Has anyone else been in a similar situation or could advise? Thanks Ray.

I thought I’d update this thread with my current progress. After initially writing to Barclays asking for proof that the account was mine and to inform them (again!!) that I fear that this account is identity fraud and that I have reported it to the police (who didn't seem interested much mind and seemed to only go through the motions of doing the paper work for the sake of it) I got back a letter from Barclays quite promptly (1 week) giving a load of printed statements with my name on it but opened from an address that was not mine, with the covering letter basically saying that this proves its your account now go away. This really annoyed me, now I do have a Barclays account (opened 10 years ago) and found it quite strange that a bank would allow someone to open 2 accounts (same type as well) from 2 different addresses - surely that’s a red flag to most people that something is suspicious and yet they still don't seem to want to put the effort in to investigate!! I wrote back again asking for a thorough investigation and for them to hand all relevant information to the police since the account is not mine. I also asked them to provide me with the details how and where the account was opened, querying what identification/ proof of address was used and the signature sample provided. This was done nearly 2 and a half weeks ago and only yesterday I got a letter back. The letter however was identical to the fob off letter I initially got (sorry you had to complain about Barclays service, someone will look into the matter for you blah, blah ) except the date I can expect a response from them now is 29th Dec. ARRRGGHH. I also didn’t think it was unreasonable for Barclays to call off the Aktiv Kapital dogs though AK have been quiet since I’ve asked for a true copy of the signed agreement (31 days and counting for a reply to that request). My next step is to draft letters to the financial ombudsman to complain about Barclays and the office of fair trading to tackle the AK problem once their time runs out. I may even go to the police again to try and push them for further action but it all feels like banging my head against a brick wall at this stage.

Yeah unfortanatley these things are too slow to resolve, after reading the useful 'Elsinore v Aktiv Kapital' thread I think my next step is to gather all the information together while I am waiting and will then present it to my local trading standards office. If all else fails and Aktiv kapital and barclays don't help I will take this to courts and have been reading up on Defamation law to see if this is a valid course of action.

Elsinore, thanks for posting so much info about your troubles with Aktiv Kapital, I've been following the thread with interest since I find myself in a similar position to you with these chancers. (see my first post here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/49299-fighting-false-debt-accredited-new-post.html for all the particular details ) I immediately sent AK a request to supply a true copy of the signed agreement as in the template letter. I know the debt certainly is not mine so id be interested to see how they linked me to this. Its been over 4 weeks however since I sent my response and no reply whatsoever. I've also contacted Barclays who set AK on me in the first place and they have been particularly unhelpful. On a side note Barclaycard (Are they not the same as Barclays anyway?) made the same mistake a few years ago but I was able to talk directly to their fraud department and get to the bottom of the matter quickly - I even requested compensation and they paid me £200.00 as a result since it was their "clerical" error that caused the problem - ie they said it was mistaken identity rather then identity fraud - with Barclays I’ve just been getting constant fob off letters and I will now take the issue up with the Financial Ombudsman. I understand that AK must reply within a month and twelve days of my request for the agreement so will wait before the end of that before I make my next move. I have however been a little disappointed with the response you got your local trading standards office, its no wonder companies like AK get away with such abysmal behaviour when trading standards seem reluctant to enforce the trading laws. Would you consider instigating action yourself through small claims court to rectify this rather then wait for AK to instigate? I’m really considering this myself since I want this to be over with as soon as possible. I've heard someone earlier in the thread mention ‘Financial Defamation’ in the thread before but could find much info on this, are these sound arguments for instigating legal action and is the small claims court appropriate? Does anyone know of any similar cases in issues like this? It seems that not many people have taken AK to task. Also where does the responsibility lie in cases like this, Barclays who either appointed or sold debt to AK or AK themselves? Any help appreciated.

I am fighting with false debt accreditted to me potentially through identity fraud and have run into a bit of a dead end. A couple of years ago someone seems to have opened 2 accounts in my name from another address without me knowing. I only realised this when I was sent letters from debt collectors. I immediatly reported this to the police. The first case of a false barclaycard account was resolved last year by me talking to barclaycard (they seemed to be fairly cooperative) and they told me it was a case of mistaken identity, apologised for the mistake and paid compensation to me after I threatened legal action. Last month however barclays plc think an account defaulted is mine and are being very difficult to deal with. They sold debt to Aktiv Kapital who have been constantly harrassing me for money. Now after reading the forum I sent a letter to aktiv kapital telling them I do not acknowlege their debt and quoted the Consumer Credit Act 1974 giving them 14 days to supply a true copy of the signed agreement (does that apply with banks by the way?). Its been over 3 weeks and I am not sure what steps to take and action to take. I really would like any advice on this issue as I would like to clear credit file and am absolutley infuriated by the behaviour of Aktiv Kapital and Barclays.