Loan broker Freedom Finance has joined Cifas, the UK fraud prevention service.
Cifas is a not-for-profit organisation that works to protect businesses, charities, public bodies and individuals from financial crime.
In joining Cifas, Freedom Finance can link up with over 350 UK organisations ranging from financial services and retail businesses to telecommunications firms. This will enable Freedom Finance to share details of fraudulent applications and prevent further cases in the future for their customers.
It also says the Cifas membership will allow it to provide its clients with improved customer service by ensuring any suspicion of fraud is detected and dealt with swiftly.
If Freedom Finance finds evidence that an application has been made fraudulently using incorrect details, they will now be able to put a warning on the Cifas National Fraud Database. As a result, when a legitimate application is made, organisations will receive a warning prompting them to make further checks before proceeding with the request.
Nicola Georgiou, managing director of Freedom Finance, said: “We are thrilled to announce that we have joined Cifas. This decision was taken with our customers’ best interests in mind, as we continue to take measures to protect their personal information whilst providing them with the best possible credit solutions.
“Our treating customers fairly culture is evidenced by us gaining the Feefo Gold Trusted Merchant accreditation this month, which recognises the hard-work and customer service that we have consistently delivered over many years.”
“We welcome Freedom Finance to the Cifas member community,” said Cifas chief executive Simon Dukes. “Our member organisations share with us around 1,000 confirmed frauds every day to prevent further fraud and protect customers. Once a new fraud is recorded on the Cifas system, it is immediately available on the National Fraud Database for other organisations to search against.
“This fast, shared approach is designed to stop fraudsters from simply moving on to target the next customer or next bank, as the account is now marked as a fraud risk. This means that members are able to share information and match against cases on our databases in real time – no matter what hour of the day or night.”