Many people regularly check their credit report to see how lenders might view them if they decide to apply for a credit card, mortgage or personal loan.

But credit reports aren’t just a useful way of seeing how you have been handling your finances – they can also show the warning signs you might have been the victim of identity fraud.

The coronavirus pandemic means people have been spending much more time online doing day-to-day tasks. This brings opportunities for criminals to steal people’s information – whether it’s by tricking them into giving personal details such as passwords and their date of birth, or harvesting information from a data breach. They may then go on to take out credit and run up debts in other people’s names.

People may not be immediately aware they have been the victim of identity fraud – it might only become apparent when they apply for credit themselves and are turned down.

So how can you do your best to avoid these scams, or at least become alert to them as soon as possible?

Varun Khanna, head of customer experience for Equifax UK (equifax.co.uk), says: “There’s lots consumers can do to resist the persuasive techniques of fraudsters.

“If you receive an unexpected email, call, or text that doesn’t feel right, it’s important you close down this communication immediately. If this attempted contact has come from the name of a known business or friend, you should try contacting them through a number or online service that you are sure belongs to them.”

Regularly checking reports from credit reference agencies might also help you to spot any loan agreements you don’t recognise. Equifax recommends keeping an eye out for two things in your reports – hard searches by lenders and late payments.

A hard search will appear when a company believes you have given them access to your credit information, meaning when a fraudster applies for new credit using your details, this activity will often leave a “footprint”.

Even if the criminal applies for credit and is rejected, this can still have a negative effect on your credit history, as each application for credit is recorded. Such action could cause a dip in your credit report for up to a year.

When it comes to late payments, if a credit card you rarely use is lost or stolen, you may not immediately realise if a fraudster starts to use it.

This can result in a build-up of unpaid bills and late payments being reported to credit bureaus, causing a significant dip in your credit score that will negatively impact your own ability to take out credit.

Your card provider will hopefully send you emails and statements, alerting you to any upcoming unexpected payments. Credit reference agencies will also let customers know if there have been significant changes to their credit information.

If you see a search or late payment you don’t recognise, you should contact the company involved or your credit reference agency directly, to get help with resolving the issue as soon as possible.

Khanna adds: “Banks, credit providers and a wide range of businesses rely on credit reference agencies to verify that a person applying for credit is who they say they are.

“Millions of these crucial identity checks happen in the background every single day to protect us all against identity theft.”

There could be other ways to minimise the risk of having your identity stolen, for example by keeping the amount of personal information posted on social media to a minimum. Dates of birth, information indicating addresses and mothers’ maiden names can be particularly useful to identity thieves.

Equifax said that as part of its service it also enables customers to gain access to WebDetect – which monitors websites used by fraudsters to trade personal information, including the “dark web”, and alerts customers if their information is found to be at risk.

Users can add email addresses, phone numbers, credit or debit cards and bank accounts, as well as a driving licence and national insurance numbers.

If you think you have been the victim of an identity fraud, tell your bank or card provider as soon as possible and notify Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk)