4.5 million Poles blocked their identity number to protect against fraud

Around 4.5 million people in Poland have decided to block their personal identification number (PESEL) in order to prevent fraudsters from taking out loans or signing unwanted contracts in their name, reported the country’s digital ministry.

All long-term residents of Poland, as well as temporary residents who have registered their stay, are required to have a PESEL number. Those born in Poland are assigned a number at birth.

Blocking one’s PESEL has been possible since November 2023. Since June, all financial institutions have been obliged to check the status of a PESEL number being used in various applications and transactions.

“Blocking your PESEL number is the simplest way to reduce the risk that criminals will use your data to defraud you of a loan or mortgage. I encourage everyone to do so,” said digital minister Krzysztof Gawkowski.

As of 1 June this year, all financial institutions and notaries are obliged to check the status of the PESEL number before they grant a loan, open a current account, sell equipment with an instalment loan, and withdraw a larger amount of money at a bank branch – larger than three times the minimum wage, which on 1 July 2024 was 12,900 zloty (€3,009) – among others.

A PESEL can be blocked on the mObywatel mobile app, on the government website gov.pl, and in government offices. Blocking the number is voluntary and it can be unblocked at any time. Both blocking and unblocking are instantaneous, even at night and on public holidays.

After the PESEL number has been blocked, it is still possible to get married, request official documents and take part in elections, among others.

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In 2023, there were 9,700 attempts by fraudsters to take out loans using other people’s identities. In total, these attempted loans amounted 296 million zloty (€67.89 million), the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) reported at the beginning of the year.

In the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, criminals attempted to defraud as many as 2,739 loans, an increase of almost 21% year-on-year, with a total value of 88.3 million zloty, more than double than a year earlier.

Main image credit: Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji (under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.