Fraudulent account setup

[Rushmore]

O2 have the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. Someone recently used my name and address to setup a pay monthly contract with O2. I first contacted them Aug 14 2023 to report the issue. They told me their fraud team would investigate with a response by Oct 4. In the meantime I have received threatening letters from O2 with red writing all over them demanding the outstanding bill, threatening that the debt would be sold onto a debt collection agency and my credit rate would also be damaged. I’ve contacted O2 at least 5 additional times since and they keep fobbing me of telling me that their fraud team would resolve the issue by 4th and at which point a manager would call me to discuss the issue! Well it’s now 14th Oct and guess what? They’ve fobbed me off again telling me that a manager will contact me on Monday.

 It is not my fault their direct debit setup process is so poor that they don’t bother to check bank details correctly and allow this type of fraudulent activity to happen!

How the hell can a company as big as O2 treat people like this, putting them through all the worry and stress this type of thing causes! If this has happened to you then you’ll know how much this negatively impacts your life!

[pgn]

@Rushmore Perhaps time to consider the "Resolver" section here:

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

Nobody from O2 will read what you posted in duplicate here. Your other post has been flagged for removal.

[Oxonian]

@Rushmore 

The problem is that if their investigation is ongoing, O2 probably cannot update you. There are criminal law and money laundering provisions that the fraud team have to abide by, and they might have found that this investigation was bigger than they thought. Naturally, you look at it from your viewpoint, but if the same fraudster has perpetrated this fraud on multiple occasions, the fraud team  might have a very big investigation to complete. 

I hope that they contact you on Monday as you are in a difficult situation. 

[Rushmore]

This has really affected my mental health. Like I said if this has happened to you then you'd understand the negative impact. I'm absolutely shocked at how their customer service have handled this and  I don't believe for one minute they are treating this as some "very big investigation". They've said themselves this happens a lot and is resolved within 30 days! 

[Rushmore]

@pgn - I'm now chatting to support re complaint. As I type this it feels like I am being fobbed off with that chat conversation as well. "I have escalated again to the fraud team to get this resolved". As you can imagine I have little confidence that this has actually been done or that I will get this resolved any time soon. I'm contantly expecting a debt collection company to turn up at my door demanding money!

[Enlli]

@Oxonian O2 can at least hold off charging payments  and sending out debt recovery letters ruining people's credit, till after the investigation is complete.

Seems the Fraud department don't liase with accounts.

They could also liase with the customer even if it is to say the case is ongoing.

We have had other people on here that have been scammed on other networks too. It seems they come to conclusions far quicker, whilst O2 remains ongoing for weeks more

[Oxonian]

I agree fully @Enlli - just trying to put the other side of things for information.

I suspect that the O2 fraud team is overwhelmed !  

[jonsie]

I can only think that fraud is happening on such a massive scale that the team have to carry out multiple transactions at any one time. The fraud team used to be around a dozen people, each with a large workload.

I would have hoped that things had moved on, a bigger team with much better tools at their disposal. It would seem not.

There is absolutely no excuse for victims, and victims are what these customers are, not to called when promised even if the investigation is no further forward

The fraud team act as though they are an elite team and that certain levels of customer care does not apply to them.

I wonder just how the other networks treat people and how long their investigations take? Anyone know?

[pgn]

It's a war of attrition, @jonsie - more scammers out there than people working in the companies being scammed put together, I imagine. The scammers probably work for less and do longer hours too.