I need damage limitation after using Facebook

Today I was subjected to an attempted fraud. The fraudsters made contact using Facebook Messenger and the identity of one of my friends, a former colleague.

They persuaded me to believe that I had been a winner in a Facebook lottery. I pulled out before giving any bank or card details, but did reveal more information than I would have liked – name, home address, date of birth, email, mobile and occupation.

I am worried this information might be used or sold on, and need to know what steps I can take to limit any further damage.

PC, by email

That doesn’t sound much fun, but had you handed over your bank card details, it could have been a whole lot worse.

In your shoes, I would be aiming to make sure I had twostep verification turned on for my email. If any of your passwords used your date of birth, or similar, I would change them asap. In fact, it is probably worth changing them anyway.

Unfortunately, you have given the fraudsters enough information to enable them to pose as you to buy goods and services. For this reason, I would sign up for Cifas’s protective registration, which costs £25 for two years.

This will place a warning flag against your name and other personal details on the Cifas national fraud database. This tells firms using Cifas to pay special attention when you, or someone else, uses your details to apply for their products or services. If someone applies for, say, a mobile phone contract in your name, they should face enough extra security checks to halt the transaction.

In the meantime, closely monitor your bank account, and be extra vigilant if you get calls from people posing as bank or other employees.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer. champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: http://theguardian.com/letters-terms