Fraud!! How can this happen ....

[Anonymous]

I am still waiting to hear from the fraud department and 02 have been most unhelpful which is leading me to believe that possibly this is an inside job!

Apparently 02 called me on the 21st December to change my address but will not tell me what prompted this phone call. They didnt call ME and apparently on the same day not only was the address changed but someone took out a new contract and ordered themselves a nice swanky phone! 

My account shows the order for the phone on that date but what I cant understand is that my email has not changed so why was the normal notification of change of contract, new phone, etc emailed to me as is the normal course.

As I sit here fuming just out of frustration I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen?

When I spoke to the fraud department they didnt seem too bothered and apparently this happens a lot and the person just wants a nice phone to sell on. Thats great, but in the meantime, whilst I wait for them to think about sorting this out I have to pay the high monthly charges that this lovely little blighter decided to choose on my behalf!

Once this has been sorted and after 11 years of being with 02 I shall be moving to another company!  We also have two other phone contracts with 02 which shall also be moved!

[Anonymous]

Do O2 honestly still charge you the mega contract, even whilst investigating and more than likely deciding it was indeed fraud?!

If it happens to me, i shall only be paying what i genuinely owe!

If that means cutting me off, then so be it. That's disgraceful, but i can believe it.

[Anonymous]

they are charging me the contract the "fraudster" took out! Unfortunately, my payments are always due at the beginning of the month so they have taken it already! Quite disgusting really when the account has quite obviously been tampered with but they say until the fraud investigations are complete, they can do nothing about it.

Yeah, they say you get put back onto the contract you were originally and that you get reimbursed any costs but thats not the point and after phoning the fraud department this morning, they dont seem to be in any particular hurry to sort this out!!!!

Giving them 11 years has counted for nothing in my opinion!

[Anonymous]

@NotAHappyBunny - yes you are correct to assume that until the investigation is complete, you are bound to the contract that has been set up, including the end date and the cost.

@Foshiznik - its currently a case of "suspected fraud" not "proven fraud". Thats why there is an investigation ongoing. Once it becomes "proven fraud" then of course the contract would be reset and any monies owed back would be dealt with.

But when you first call, the fraud and security team don't know for certain that its a genuine fraud case - they won't just make an assumption until the investigate. So until that happens, its business as usual as far as the contract is concerned.

[Anonymous]

@NotAHappyBunny - 11 years of being a customer doesn't mean that they will assume its a genuine fraud case. Fraud & Security are trained not to make any assumptions about anything without evidence to support it. Its the nature of their job.

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah, they say you get put back onto the contract you were originally and that you get reimbursed any costs but thats not the point and after phoning the fraud department this morning, they dont seem to be in any particular hurry to sort this out!!!!

Giving them 11 years has counted for nothing in my opinion!

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How else can they deal with it?

What has 11 years got to do with it?

[Anonymous]

Maybe a protocol of a person not being able to change address details and then order a handset on the same day.

Perhaps a phone call from customer services to the account holders mobile to authenticate the changes first.

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe a protocol of a person not being able to change address details and then order a handset on the same day.

Perhaps a phone call from customer services to the account holders mobile to authenticate the changes first.

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That's what would make sense, in my case an address was added to an order on my account, my address was not changed.

It was only when the emails for a new contract came through that I was able to phone O2 and get it stopped.

[Anonymous]

I understand what you are saying Pablo but surely if the genuine customer has called up, the phone locked and an investigation started, then the contract should be frozen until it is proven either way.

[Liquid]

I do agree with this.

If I phone my bank and submit a fraud refrence then they block the account from making further payments to the fraudent destination.

[Anonymous]

Trying to rack my brains on what O2 CS ask you when you phone up. 

Sure it is your full name, Postcode and the answer to your security question? 

If I was in the OP situation would be asking how somebody got my name, address and password. I would then be checking with my bank and changing details as well as changing passwords for every account be it bank or email. I would be running every known anti virus known to man. 

I suspect the phone account is the tip of the iceberg and I would expect letters for pay day loans etc through the door very soon.