So we had a bad experience recently with our sitters who left the apartment in a poor state. We tried to give them the benefit of the doubt as they had seemed nice and just left them a 3 star review.
However it’s now 16 days after they left and a letter came through the mail from a bank, addressed to one of the sitters. Immediately I was concerned as it had only been a two week stay and there was no reason for financial paperwork to arrive at our address. They hadn’t asked permission to use our address for anything either.
The guy had actually text me a few days previously (in my junk) and told me that there was a letter for something not important and could I let him know when it comes and he’d pick it up.
We were concerned about it and asked why they would use our address for financial stuff and he just tried to brush it off as nothing for us to worry about.
So I called the bank that was listed on the envelope.
Well, it turns out they had tried to open a credit card using our address, ten days after leaving.
These are temporary visitors to this country who have no ability to get a credit card (you need to be a permanent resident here with certain earnings), so they’ve lied about address, immigration status and probably earnings as well.
So obviously I’m really worried and upset by this. They had seemed like nice people and then they have done this. And bald faced lied about it too.
The bank have blocked the application and put a note on the file with a block on our address. We will have to check our own credit file to see if there are any more applications that have been made.
I think maybe it should be reported to the police as well, but I’m trying to let things settle a bit.
I haven’t informed the sitter that I spoke to the bank. I will try to avoid speaking to him and let the authorities work it out.
Will TH do anything about this? I’ve already left a review so I can’t edit that. But I don’t think criminal activity should be allowed by sitters. They’re not so “trusted” now.
You should certainly report to police and THS, raise a dispute they should not be on the site. A similar thing happened to a friend not through house-sitting but furniture was bought on credit taken out using their name and address. It was never paid for and when they tried to get a mortgage it was refused because a court judgement existed in their file that they were unaware of.
Hi @Naomi56
I’m so sorry this happened to you.
I can see you have an open ticket with the team, so I’ve asked if they can review and respond to you as soon as they can, and I also provided them with a link to your Forum post for additional context.
Hopefully someone will be in touch today, I’ll keep an eye on things to make sure you get some help with this.
Jenny
it is most likely they did not know the rules of getting a debit card and when asked for an adresss, your was the only one they knew ,
If it is a scam of some sort surely they would not have used an address of someone who could identify them?
Why don’t you speak to them for an explaination?
I think i would be reporting this to the police. They could have used your address for other reasons as well.
I asked them why they used our address for financial documentation and they told us that it was nothing to worry about and that they just needed an address. But they have a family member who lives in this country and they told us that they had their own apartment that they were moving in to when they left our apartment. So there was no reason at all to use our address (10 days after leaving) to apply for a credit card.
Definitely report this to the police.
Get a check done on your credit profile.
It could be nothing to worry about or it could be that these individuals have done the same previously, you won’t know until you report it to the relevant authorities.
If you want THS to investigate the sitter and take appropriate action you can raise a member dispute .
Information on the process is here . TrustedHousesitters' Member Disputes Process | TrustedHousesitters.com
A police crime report could be part of the evidence that you submit with your member dispute
This is the scariest story I have heard on here. Please be diligent now in monitoring all your financials going forward. Who knows if they opened other cards from stores, etc. This was not innocent. Open up the envelope and see what name is on the card. Is it the same one they gave you or THS.
They would have to show income for the card. Did they say they were the homeowners or use any papers they found in your house to get this card. I would report them to the police and let them investigate. I hope your review mentions this.
Hi @Naomi56
I’ve got confirmation that someone’s looking at your ticket, and I also wanted to pass on what they said to me:
You’ve definitely done the right thing by reporting this to the CC company
It’d be sensible to report this to the police
We’ll reach out to the sitter regarding the fraudulent activity
We’ll need you to gather some evidence to help with logging and dealing with the situation
Membership Services will be in touch soon, but I thought I’d give you a heads up.
Jenny
Thanks for your message.
They didn’t get as far as actually receiving the card. The letter they received was just a “congratulations you’ve been approved for X credit card”
I only opened the letter and saw this on the advice of the bank who suspected fraud and told me to open it as they needed a reference number.
Luckily we contacted the bank as they’ve now cancelled it before the card was issued.
It’s really shaken me because these people stayed in our house and seemed so nice and “normal”. And then to lie to my face about it afterwards and try to assure me that the letter was nothing suspicious or problematic for us. Honestly, it’s really made us question if we’ll use a house sitter again.
Thank you.
This absolutely is a concern for any of us on THS , for both homeowners and sitters. This will help all of us be more aware of what could happen in here. For homeowners this will help them better screen sitters, and also for sitters to be sure the home they sit in is actually the homeowners real home. I am so glad you brought this to our attention. Thank you.
Well, that is a bit gut wrenching. I suggest you pull a copy of your credit, and put a credit freeze with the credit reporting agencies. That will help if they are using your information beyond just your address.
not very helpful.
What could a home owner have done differently? What would you have done to prevent this?
How can sitters make sure the home is the homeowners real home? What would you do to prevent this?
In the US, I believe you can put a “hold at post office” for all mail. My experience sometimes the carrier may slip up and deliver once during a hold period, but generally speaking that works.
I do this for all my sits. It’s mostly because replacing a mailbox key is a real PITA and I don’t want even the remote possibility of that hassle, but also most of my sits are longer than a month and that opens the possibility for establishing residency so it’s just prudent. I don’t think the carrier has ever ‘forgotten’, but also we’d never know because the sitter doesn’t get a key to the mailbox.
This wouldn’t have prevented what happened to OP, though, since the sitters did this after the sit ended.
I don’t need this Jackie. I am a sitter not a owner.
I was asking what YOU personally would have done differently, re your comment.
For homeowners this will help them better screen sitters, and also for sitters to be sure the home they sit in is actually the homeowners real home.
you seem to infer that original poster could have better screened their sitters..
I don’t necessarily think you can prevent everything, but I think asking someone for personal references, ask for a driver’s or some type of identification would be a good start. I mentioned the sitters making sure it’s the homeowners home, or maybe the place they rent just as a scenario that could also happen. There are squatters out there . You never know these days what might happen. Look at the situation that we are discussing. Many of us are stunned. I think it’s appropriate to ask any questions that both parties may have to feel safe. Just because someone passes a background check don’t mean anything these days. I hope this answers your question for me. Thank you for your feedback.