topic Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine? in Discussions & Feedback

Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

pgn — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:36:16 GMT

Spotted this on my timeline today, made me raise a wary eyebrow (text below pic), @Chris_K tagged, as tweet tagged O2 UK Social Media Team:

PSA: please check if your mobile provider is leaking your phone number to #payforit scammers here: https://t.co/kRVv8OVbZb
If you come up red then get your provider to block "pay to bill" services (here's looking at you @o2)

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

Cleoriff — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:42:41 GMT

I clicked on the link and got this ....

"No obvious problem detected"

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

pgn — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:43:27 GMT

Further reading of Colin's timeline also reveals

An absolutely fascinating piece of research into how mobile providers leak your mobile number to websites: https://t.co/HogCGI7GKj

URL goes to a legitimate-looking pdf:

https://twitter.com/colindomoney/status/1159141750780416000?s=19

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

jonsie — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:44:02 GMT

Better to be safe @O2

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

pgn — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:45:23 GMT

@Cleoriff wrote:
I clicked on the link and got this ....
"No obvious problem detected"

Me too...

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

jonsie — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:46:14 GMT

We've actually known about this for years and I've posted many times about this.

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

pgn — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:49:20 GMT

@jonsie wrote:
We've actually known about this for years and I've posted many times about this.

So the info given, and the check, appear kosher... Not seen the link referenced before, @jonsie.

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

jonsie — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 19:53:24 GMT

I've not seen the link before but @Payforit_Sucks has posted fairly indepth about it too.

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

pgn — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 20:01:26 GMT

@jonsie wrote:
I've not seen the link before but @Payforit_Sucks has posted fairly indepth about it too.

Added a short note to @adamtemp64 's guide about the checker url too

Thanks!

Also found the guy mentioned in last post here too. @jonsie - seems he is a genuine cybersec bod.

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple/New-iPhone-Virus/m-p/65288/highlight/true#M35705

Re: Scam check from Twitter - is it genuine?

Payforit_Sucks — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 21:37:47 GMT

@pgn

This is old news. Soon after this was reported, O2 stopped "enriching" headers with unencrypted MSISDNs. These are now encrypted and only O2's "trusted partners" have they key to decrypt.

So the test suggested won't show any problem on any UK mobile network.

However, that doen't mean there isn't a problem. The problem is the nature of many of the "trusted partners" O2 allow to obtain your number, when you use mobile data to access the internet. Some of these partners can be seen here:

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ferdamia.com

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/lasevia.com

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/snack-games.com

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/nuyoo.co

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sb7mobile.com

I'd much prefer it if O2 didn't leak my number to companies like these.If I want some dodgy company o have my number so that they can defraud me, I'll give it to them myself!

I believe that there could be a breach of GDPR here. There is no NEED to compromise customers' numbers in this way and it is clearly resulting in consumer harm.

Google "MSISDN passthrough" to find out more.