A loan in your name: how fraudsters take it out, how to check and what to do

How fraudsters take out a loan in someone else's name

An online loan from a finance company is issued in minutes, without visiting a branch. That is exactly what fraudsters exploit. The most common schemes:

• A photo of your passport and tax number. They ask for it “to set up a job”, “to receive assistance” or “to confirm a delivery”, and then use it to apply for a loan.
• Access to BankID or Diia. Under pressure from a fake “bank security service”, a person reads out a code from a text message, and the fraudster logs into their banking or Diia in their name.
• A reissued SIM card. Once they have your number, fraudsters receive all confirmation codes.
• A lost or stolen passport that the owner has not reported.
• Acquaintances and relatives with access to your documents and phone. This happens more often than you might think.

How to recognise a call from a fake “security service” and not hand over your codes is covered in detail in our article on calls from the “bank security service”.

How to check whether there are loans in your name

Information about your loans is kept in two places, and it is worth checking both.

The NBU Credit Register: bank loans

The National Bank keeps a Credit Register with data on loans from Ukrainian banks, including banks in liquidation. You can check yourself free of charge at cr.bank.gov.ua: sign in via the NBU BankID system, choose your bank, confirm your identity and generate a report about yourself. The report can be saved as a PDF.

Credit bureaus: loans from finance companies

Online loans are mostly issued by non-bank finance companies, and they are not in the NBU Credit Register. However, under Law No. 3498-IX lenders must report all consumer loans to at least one credit bureau, regardless of the amount. The largest bureaus in Ukraine are the Ukrainian Credit Bureau (UBKI) and the First All-Ukrainian Credit Bureau (PVBKI).

Under the Law on the formation and circulation of credit histories, you can get your credit report free of charge once per calendar year; more frequent requests may be paid. You order the report on the bureau's website or app after confirming your identity. Some bureaus also offer alerts about new enquiries or loans in your name.

What to do if a loan has already been taken out

1. Don't repay the loan, not even partly. The lender may treat a payment as acknowledging the contract and the debt. Your task is to prove you never entered into it.
2. Write to the lender. State that you did not sign the contract or receive the money, and ask for a copy of the contract and details of how and to which account the money was paid. This information will help the police. Keep proof that you sent it.
3. Report it to the police. Taking out a loan in someone else's name is fraud under Article 190 of Ukraine's Criminal Code. Add the criminal case number to your statements to the lender and the bureau.
4. Dispute the record at the credit bureau. You have the right to demand that inaccurate information be corrected. The bureau checks the data with the lender, so attach a copy of your police report.
5. Shut off access to your data. Change your Diia, BankID, online banking and email passwords, end sessions on all devices, and check with your mobile operator whether your SIM card has been reissued. If your passport is lost, report it.

If the lender does not respond or files a lawsuit, the contract can be declared not concluded or invalid in court. In such a dispute it matters whether the lender can prove that you signed the contract and received the money, and not someone else. You can also complain to the National Bank about a finance company or debt collectors; how to do it is described on the NBU consumer protection page.

Why you shouldn't delay

Until a fraudulent loan is challenged, interest and penalties keep accruing. The law caps both: the daily rate cannot exceed 1%, and penalties on a loan of up to one minimum wage (UAH 8,647) cannot exceed twice the loan amount. But even within these caps the amount grows fast.

Besides the amount, your credit history suffers: arrears on someone else's loan can lead to a refusal when you need a real loan or a mortgage. The sooner you dispute the record, the easier it is to fix. How the true cost of a loan is calculated and what other limits apply to microloans is explained in “The true cost of credit”.

Can you ban loans in your name

There is no separate “self-ban” on loans in Ukraine yet. It is provided for in bill No. 14013 on credit histories, which the Verkhovna Rada passed in first reading on 7 October 2025. According to Minfin, in March 2026 it was being prepared for second reading. Under the bill, you would be able to declare with one tap in Diia or an application at an administrative services centre that you do not wish to take out loans, and a contract signed after such a declaration would be void, so the lender could not demand money under it. We will update this article as soon as the law is adopted and the mechanism works.

Until then, the best protection is not to give fraudsters what they need for a loan:

• Don't send photos of your passport and tax number to strangers in messenger apps or on dubious websites. If an employer needs the document, give it only to a verified company.
• Never read out text message codes or install software at the request of “bank staff”.
• Protect your SIM card: set a SIM PIN and ask your operator about extra protection against reissue.
• Turn on notifications in your banking and, if the bureau offers it, alerts about enquiries to your credit history.
• Check your credit history once a year: it is free.

If fraudsters have reached not a loan but the money on your card, the steps are different: what to do and how to get the money back is covered in “Fraudsters took money from my card”.

In short

• For an online loan, fraudsters often need only a photo of your passport and tax number, access to BankID or a reissued SIM card.
• Bank loans can be checked free of charge in the NBU Credit Register (cr.bank.gov.ua), finance company loans at credit bureaus, with one free report a year.
• If a loan was taken out in your name, don't repay it: write to the lender, report it to the police, dispute the bureau record.
• Don't delay: interest and penalties accrue on an unchallenged loan, and your credit history suffers.
• A self-ban on loans via Diia is provided for in bill No. 14013 and is not in force yet.

Figures in this article

• Minimum wageUAH 8,647/mo
  from January 1, 2026
• Maximum daily rate on a consumer loan1%
  from 21 August 2024, per day

Figures checked against official sources on October 29, 2026. If a figure changes, we update the article and its update date changes automatically.

Sources

1. TSN - how to check loans in the NBU Credit Register: cr.bank.gov.ua, NBU BankID, free of charge (in Ukrainian)
2. 24 Kanal - a free credit report once a year under the Law on credit histories (in Ukrainian)
3. LIGA:ZAKON - Law No. 3498-IX: lenders must report all consumer loans to a credit bureau (in Ukrainian)
4. Bankrate - caps on rates and penalties for consumer loans (in Ukrainian)
5. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - bill No. 14013 on credit histories passed in first reading (in Ukrainian)
6. Minfin - a self-ban on loans via Diia: the bill was being prepared for second reading (March 2026) (in Ukrainian)

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. If a lender has filed a lawsuit or the amount is significant, consult a lawyer or the free legal aid system.