Mystery SMS "charges when abroad"

[Quackduck]

According to my Pay Monthly bill this month I've been charged extra for 5 (so far!) SMS messages to the following number while abroad: 07860 019210 

I don't recognise the number, I have not sent any SMS while I've been away, and I have no record on my phone of having sent these messages.

A quick Google of the number suggests it's either a scam, or it's related to O2 somehow, as other O2 customers have experienced the same while abroad. I am using an eSIM for mobile data since the O2 plan was too expensive.

Does this ring any bells for anyone?

I've been trying to get hold of someone at O2 customer service for the past 24h but no luck. I'd just like to understand what I'm being charged for, or whether it's a scam. (Blocking the number won't help since my O2 bill claims I sent the messages myself.)

[Emily25]

It happened to me and I dont have the airbnb app.  I had my o2 Simm switched off for most of my holiday as was on an esim.  For one day I turned it back on as I was waiting for someone to contact me from the hospital where I'd given my number.  They never did contact me but at 9:58 and 10:58 on that day I got charged for two text messages to that number (which I didn't make) the rest of the holiday I had the Simm turned off for calls and data and was never charged for any other day.

[Oxonian]

@Emily25 

There are a couple of guides dealing with this sort of thing :-

Guide: A Guide to Deal with Spam/Scam Calls and Text 

Guide: Have you fallen for or been conned into a premium rate scam? What to do next 

[DaveBatty]

Hi Oxonian,

Please could you stop fobbing customers off, suggesting this is a scam and not an internal issue with O2! Especially when the only customers being affected by this specific number are O2 customers.

I’ve just finished a 2 hour phone call with O2 customer service where I was passed pillar to post. This has happened to me 3 times in the last few months with extra charges from £12 to £24 on either O2 travel or text messages, all related to this (REMOVED) number which I have no record in my phone to ever have contacted.

Again they offered the standard reimbursement of charges, after reading this forum, this time I refused as it’s clearly a bigger issue than just one customer. I then had to hold for 35 minutes until I could get to a manager. Eventually I spoke to Michelle who admitted the number is indeed LINKED TO AN O2 CHANNEL THEY USE TO CONTACT CUSTOMERS ABROAD! I again explained I have no record of ever contacting said number so it seems very suspect how it’s linked to O2 and seemingly reverse charging customers.

It’s been passed up to the head complaints team for investigation and hopefully, any customers wrongfully charged will be reimbursed accordingly. Shame on O2 for being way too presumptuous, on customers complaints of being wrongfully charged!

[Oxonian]

@DaveBatty 

We are not "...fobbing customers off..." ; this is a customer to customer forum, we are not O2, and we are simply giving guidance based on our experience and perception of the situation in front of us. 

You have clearly obtained new information which I thank you for bringing to the community's attention. 👍  

[cjw296]

@Dave-02 - why have stripped out the number from @DaveBatty 's post?

@Oxonian - you may consider that you've posted the same boilerplate several times in this thread, is that really helpful? 

[Cleoriff]

Deleted by me

[cjw296]

> We always ask for personal numbers to be removed. This forum is open for reading by anyone. The last thing any member wants is to be called by scammers, simply because their number has been left in a post for everyone to read. It's courteous to remove it.

@Cleoriff - I don't believe it was a personal number, rather the 07860 019210 number that O2 appear to be charging customers to receive spam messages from when they're abroad. The spam being the "you are abroad" messages sent by O2!

I came to this thread after being billed 50p for just such a message which abroad recently.

Maybe @Dave-02 could provide some explanation for that rather than just eliding peoples posts of important details?

[Cleoriff]

@cjw296 

Exactly so, and  that was the reason I hastily deleted my post (although I knew you would see what I'd originally written via email notification)

I really must learn to read a post thoroughly before jumping in with an answer @cjw296 😂

My Apologies 🤗

[Oxonian]

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@cjw296 wrote:

@Oxonian - you may consider that you've posted the same boilerplate several times in this thread, is that really helpful? 

---

It is intended to be helpful @cjw296/. The problem is that when community members join a lengthy thread such as this part way through, you never know whether they have read and digested the earlier posts, or have just skimmed them or read to the top of the page that their post is on. Some will read the earlier posts but some will not ! 👍

[cjw296]

The irony is that you've now posted the same set of links twice on this thread, appearing to indicate that you have just skimmed it, rather than reading and digesting earlier posts: this thread is about foreign text message charges being billed for the 07860 019210 number, that appears to be originating from O2! Guides for spam/scam calls and texts really aren't helpful, figuring out how to get O2 to stop egregiously billing for messages they are sending without consent would be more useful...