Fraud

[AntC]

A few months ago I received a bill from O2 but don’t have an account with them or have ever been a customer. I managed to get hold of the fraud department and I believe they sorted it out as I haven’t heard anything further from them. However, despite the fraud department saying they would email me the outcome of their investigations, no further communication was received. 

A week after I received the bill, my wife received a similar bill, only hers was threatening a debt collection of sorts. The bill wasn’t much but certainly not ours. My wife, like me is not an O2 customer and never has been. We use EE and BT. She had a lot of trouble getting hold of them and when she did, they said they would get back in touch within a few weeks and never did. She tried quite a few times to get in touch with them again and hung on the line for ages without any joy. Then today, a couple of months later she gets a letter saying they have sold the debt (not ours, but in our name) to a recovery agency and it is over a £1,000. We have contacted Watchdog, Action Fraud, have had to take out costly subscriptions with Equifax, Experian and ClearScore who seemed to be the ones that approved the fraudsters to buy from O2 through a reseller that has gone out of business. We will be contacting the Ombudsman and Trading Standards as O2 is ruining our credit rating and doesn’t seem to care or follow up with any contact. 

We will be taking legal action, but this is causing a lot of stress and anxiety as well as taking up a lot of our time. 

[Enlli]

As O2 have sold the debt they no longer have anything to do with it and your deleangs have to be with the debt company 

Hopefully, another of our members may know how to proceed in such a situation.

[AntC]

O2 should have assisted with this through their fraud department which is impossible to get through to. Now we have to work with a debt company for money owed by a fraudster. Why should we have to employ a lawyer, complain to the Ombudsman because O2 are not doing their job and have poor security? Everyone should know that this could happen to you as we aren’t the first. 

[Oxonian]

@AntC 

If you are being charged for a 'phone that you do not own, and if you have never been an O2 customer, you would appear to be the victim of identity fraud. 

If you think you’ve been the victim of fraud, you need to take certain actions :-

1. contact your bank as they can help protect your account and stop transactions. That will protect you against any further use of your stolen identity. 

2. change your online account passwords - all of them.

3. forward any fraudulent texts to 7726.

4. contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

Please carefully read :-

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/phishing-and-smishing-advice

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/unwanted-calls-and-messages

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

You need to keep pressing O2's fraud team. Whilst I have huge sympathy for your predicament, it is probably worth mentioning that O2 might be unable to give you an update whilst their investigation is ongoing. They have to comply with both criminal law and Money Laundering Regulations and this could be jeopardised if they update you whilst their case is incomplete. It is also possible that your case has been subsumed into a wider investigation if the same fraudster has other "victims" in addition to you.

It has been mentioned on other threads that other O2 customers have had similar issues. In fact, last Autumn, there were several national newspaper articles and even a programme on TV about fraud against O2. You can find details of those if you search this forum.  

I doubt Trading Standards will be interested in a case of this nature, whilst you can only go to the Ombudsman after you have exhausted O2's internal complaints' procedure :-

How to Complain | Help | O2

https://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

Customer+Complaints+code+250523.pdf (o2.co.uk)

https://www.o2.co.uk/documents/456036/4246828/Customer+Complaints+code+250523.pdf

I would also ensure that the Debt Collection Agency are fully aware of the circumstances here and that the debt is as a result of fraud. The DCA is only interested in debts that they can collect and as it is highly unlikely that they would be able to get judgement against you in court, they are likely to rapidly lose interest in this debt once the circumstances are articulated to them.  

Please keep us informed of developments.