Scam call from 0344 809 0202

[AntY]

I received a call from 0344 809 0202 which is a legitimate o2 number and the guy over the phone with a British accent wanted to confirm if I recently made an order with o2 for an iPad Pro 12.9 in silver. 

I confirmed with them that I never made any orders and they proceeded to go ahead and say they will cancel the order. They also said that they will pass on this activity to the fraud department and said they will contact me in regards to this suspicious activity and that my account will be temporarily disabled.

In the meantime he proceeded to go ahead and verify my account with him to get this order cancelled. They did this by pretending to send an OTP one-time passcode and requested that I enter this code into my phone keypad. I did not say this code over the phone to him.

After I did that he began to verify my last bill with o2 which the amount he said was correct. At this point I didn't even realize they had full access to my account. They proceeded to assure me that the order that was made will be cancelled and then said that they normally do these calls to verify with customers if they actually made these type of orders.

After the call ended, I get several messages from o2 thanking me for upgrading with them. I then get a couple of email notifications confirming I have changed my password and username with o2.

At this point I began to act quick and recovered my o2 account changing back my username and resetting my password. The scammer had set the username email to fraud-department.02**Personal info** after I saw this, it began to set in that I have actually just become a victim of identity fraud.

They also called me at 8.50pm just before the o2 fraud/ customer service lines shut so I couldn't even get any support and chat in app never responded.

I hope o2 will be able to cancel the order for me asap before it gets processed and shipped!

[Bambino · Accepted solution]

@AntY This also needs to be reported to the police: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

We always advise to never give any information to a cold caller, no matter who they say they are. Apart from informing O2, you need to notify your bank and also change all your passwords, and I mean all of them. Not just your O2 password. Unfortunately for you, the damage has been done, but here are some other links that people reading this thread should look at:

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

[AntY]

Hi @Bambino 

Yes I have reported this also to https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

I'm currently waiting for O2 to revert my account to it's previous status and for the fraud investigation team to get back to me, until then I have no phone to use for my business!

[AntY]

Can someone from o2 get back to me please? I currently can't even call O2 customer service as I cannot make or receive any calls!

[Bambino]

@AntY See this guide which tells you how to download Skype and call the O2 0800 numbers free: https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Other-Products-and-Services/Coronavirus-Covid-19-Community-Help-and-Su...

[Habib234]

just received a call from this number. The indian accent clearly gives them away. As more awareness of scammers grows, these operations should dwindle when they realise the futility of their activities. I They can relocate to anywhere in India but they are always being caught.  They asked me for a discount on my mobile phone bill and when i asked is thiss a scam they put the phone down. 

But it does the question how are scammers getting hold of our personal data. My best guess is that someone, an IT professional with knowledge of dns leaking  at my , or yours UK ISP is leaking the internet traffic to their associates in India. Or if any of you have used a VPN in the past and select an Indian or alternative server outside of the UK, they are accessing the internet traffic of UK customers and systematically calling people. 

Anyway stay vigilant, don't let these ****** grab your hard earned money...