You don’t understand what’s happening at first. A suspicion creeps in, but you think, “surely not, this wouldn’t happen to me?”

You make a couple of calls, pay an agency to get access to your credit rating, and there it is: A bunch of applications for bank accounts in your name that you never made. A precursor to overdrafts that someone will expect you to honor, even if the money never came to you in the first place.

It didn’t take long before I had it under control – it’s worth overreacting to this kind of thing – but I learned a few things along the way. I’d like to share the story and what I learned with you here.