£1200 - unauthorised calls - Unsure what to do.

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

Maybe someone can help me out here.

My mum travelled to Saudi Arabia for 2 weeks and got back to Heathrow today. She used a Saudi sim in her phone and kept the o2 sim with her. When she got back, she couldn't find the o2 sim. I called o2 to sort a new sim for her and they informed me of around £1200 in charges made to Saudi numbers. 

The day she arrived in Saudi she took the sim out and put in a Saudi sim - she is a careful woman and has never been in debt, and the household has been with o2 for years. This is obviously some loser who took the sim and called endless with it.

o2 advised me - that as there was no lost sim reported, we have to pay the bill. The travel company is shut atm but I'm aware that they did not provide travel insurance and she doesn't have any mobile insurance.

I know this is a long shot, but can anyone suggest an option as she or the household cannot pay this money out.

Thanks for your help.

[perksie]

This is a very tough lesson, a pay monthly mobile sim is as good as cash if lost or stolen.

If not reported immediately they can insist on being paid the full amount.

You may be able to ask for some consideration from O2 and I hope you get it.

If this were me and I couldn't pay I would consider taking out a loan.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

O2 are right. It's up to you to notify them of any loss of the SIM card. Untill they receive your loss notification your liable for the bill. After your notification the sim would have been locked and a new one sent through if you have phone insurance give them a call as some provide cover for calls. I know mine does

[adamtemp64]

This is the problem with sim cards that have no sim pin setup.

Only o2 etc can assist you if there is no travel insurance etc,

In future ensure that you enable a sim pin so as soon as the sim is removed anybody trying to use the sim will not be able to.

As the sim was not reported lost / stolen then the sim owner is liable for any calls made.

This is not what you want to hear but are the facts.

P.s. we are all mainly customers on here helping when we can.

[Anonymous]

So Adam if I set a sim pin on my iphone will that stop the sim being used in any phone completely sorry just not sure

[perksie]

That's correct:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1316

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but you didn't report the lost sim card to O2 before the charges started rattling up.  Had you done so, you wouldn't have been liable for the charges.  Like others have said, an expensive lesson.

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Like others have said, an expensive lesson.

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and a damn scary one 😞

[perksie]

We've seen bills of several thousand pounds on here before.

Please everyone lock your sim and your phone.

[adamtemp64]

@perksie thanks for confirming and the link it is friday and I am now in the pub.

Sim Pin and phone lock codes will stop all excessive bills as long as a short time is enabled of phone lock etc.

As soon as a sim with sim pin is inserted into a new phone it will ask for the code and avoid all risks.