Fraud - I fell for it!

[Thanksthankyou]

Hi all,

Last Wednesday I was victim of an ‘upgrade fraud’. A rather convincing chap called me from what looked like an O2 number, telling me that as a valued customer I was eligible for a discount on my tariff. I received a text with a code whilst on the phone, and wry foolishly I gave him the code - it all went south from there... As soon as the fraudster hang up, I called O2 as something didn’t feel right. Within 20 minutes they had taken over my account, changed my username and password and ordered an upgrade to an iPhone 12 top speck worth over £1200. My tariff was immediately changed to reflect the upgrade, and the device with a new SIM was being delivered to an address in Glasgow the next day (I live in London). Quite a few phone calls later, I managed to have the delivery cancelled the next day so the device and most importantly the SIM should never reach the fraudsters. O2 also guaranteed me that they blocked the handset and the SIM with it, so there should be no taking over my number. I am waiting for a call from the fraud department, which quite disappointingly is taking very long. I have some questions, which I hope someone in this community can answer:

- I am worried about identity theft, they might have managed to see my date of birth, bank account details etc. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?
- How can an upgrade order be processed so quickly? The fraudulent call ended at about 1740 and by 1830 the new device was being sent out to the scum... Besides, does anyone at O2 check that the upgrade is legit? My address with O2 has always been in London (for over 10 years), shouldn’t a delivery to an address in Glasgow ring alarm bells (especially in the midst of a pandemic)?
- O2 must have tried to restore my old account, yet three days later it isn’t fully back to my old plan and the device linked to it is an iPhone X (I have an 11 Pro). Is this normal?

Sorry for the long post, but it’s been quite stressful really and not being able to speak with the fraud team makes it even worse.

Thank you in advance for your help!

[Bambino · Accepted solution]

@Thanksthankyou If you haven't done so already, you need to contact your bank, and the police. You also need to get back in touch with o2. Numbers are here: Guide: Coronavirus Community Help and Support Use the Fraud option to get through. Best time to call is 8 am.

Here are some links you should take a look at too:

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/phishing-and-smishing-advice
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/unwanted-calls-and-messages

[Thanksthankyou]

Hi Bambino,

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated! I called my bank the night it happened and I should be fine on that front as they have put a flag on my account whereby any new direct debit will be checked with me over the phone (and they have voice recognition). I also changed my security answers with them and all the passwords o could think of - from Skype to Amazon, eBay etc including email. I filed a report with Action Fraud, which was a total waste of time as they told me it wasn’t a police matter as nothing had been stoked effectively... I’m wondering if I should just change phone number altogether. Also, do you know if the fraud department work on Saturdays? If so I’ll be on the case forst thing in the morning.

Thanks again.

[Bambino]

@Thanksthankyou It sounds as if you've covered all the bases. I'm surprised that the police said they weren't interested but maybe they have bigger fish to fry these days.
I'm sure the O2 Fraud department is available on a Saturday. Definitely try first thing.
O2 will allow one free number change if you want to go that route.
Good luck. Hope you manage to get this all sorted out.

[Moby]

Hi, your situation is now mine. Can I ask if things are ok now? Ive received a letter today from the fraud team, hoping its real as Im so paranoid now, its not on what Id call letterheaded paper from O2 so alarm bells are ringing. Feel like I need to go pay as you go!

[jonsie]

If you are in any doubt you should call them and ask for fraud

They will be better placed to advise you @Moby 

To get through

You need to call O2.

All numbers are in this guide

You can use Skype from your PC or phone to call the free numbers if you have no phone available

Guide: Coronavirus Community Help and Support 

Advice from an O2 Guru regarding a way to get through:

When you call, you will be asked for the reason you are calling,

Stay silent for 15 seconds and you will be taken to the keypad options.

Press 2 for Everything Else

Press 5 for More Options

Press 7 for Anything Else which will put you though to an advisor.

Press Upgrade, Lost/Stolen or Fraud if you have to.

8am is the best time to call

[Olomola]

Unbelievable, I only found these messages because I’m now experiencing similar fraud actions. It is overwhelming. I do sympathise with you. I had an experience like a wholesome attack of fraudsters working together to achieve the same thing. Strange is the fact that they all had information about me which only O2 should have. When I deliberately gave a wrong and misleading security answer, these fraudsters corrected me and supplied the correct answers. Very scary. They kept assuring me that I would receive a brand new phone and smart watch the very next day. They also sent me an O2 membership message from WhatsApp. At some point, I called O2 customer services which was a no no as they could not help and were worse off. The fraud department did not help also. I am now ticking my boxes to switch from O2. I personally believe O2 staffs of Indian origins are involved in this fraud scamming activities. They are all Indians with English sounding names and horrible accents (forgive my racial bias). My experience is the first with fraudsters. And they were bold enough to chat verbally with me several times. I ran to O2 for help, and even alerted O2 to incoming phone calls from scammers, but O2 could do nothing to help. O2 and the scammers asked same questions, made similar comments and suggestions. I persist in believing that O2 is complicit in this fraud and scamming activities. 

[Olomola]

This message is to send an alert and awareness to all O2 subscribers and phone Owners and Users. As with most businesses and public resources, there is now a plethora of fraudsters and scammers operating through O2. O2 is well aware of this issue but, as a public facing company, will do nothing to help victims of O2 scam and fraud.

in all my 40 years of owning mobile phones from many phone companies and third parties, for the first time, i had fraudsters and scammers plaguing my O2 phone most of yesterday 22/09/2022. I ran to O2 for help, and received none. Embarrassingly, the scammers were using O2 numbers and customer services techniques to scam me. O2 customer services asked me the same questions in exactly the same way the scammers asked me. It got so confusing that I could not tell one from the other. I had to come to the unswerving conclusion that perhaps in a bid to scale up her business, O2 is working with scammers and fraudsters.

The following are phone numbers you should be wary of: 01526 210024, 0203 840 4722, 2023 287 6812, 0800 840 0202. The scammers called my phone asking me my security questions, and when i gave a false answer, they corrected me by giving me the correct answer. This is an answer only O2 should have but the scammers also had it. There were other information which should have been exlusive to O2 only, but the scammers had it also. In addition to the phne numbers which the scammers used on me, they had names like "Peter", "Smith", "Ben", "Alex". Common with them is the accent which sounded very much of "Indian" origin. One of the phone calls was from Lincoln, London and others were from eslewhere.

Personally, I strongly believe there is an official O2 involvement in all these scamming and fraudulent activities. I hope someone out there can and would call O2 out for this as O2 appears unfazed about it.

[Olomola]

Your message, which i read much later-on upon finding this community and forum out of frustration with no help from O2, saved me a lot of heart aches. I cant thank you enough for posting your experiences. I am sure that, i wont be the only one who would gain immeasruably from what you wrote and shared. Thanks ever so much.

[Olomola]

Please also watch out for O2 WhatsApp business aoccount, which i believe is false and which is being used by fraudsters - It has O2 logo and the following number - +44 20 3695 6805. When you check out the information on this through its icon, you will see it registered as O2 business "Chat Support" and registered as "Telecommunication Company, opened 24 hours", headquartered in Slough, England owned by Virgin Media and O2 joint venture between Telephonic and Liberty Global.

i dont have a clue what all the above means, but, this is what i recieved while being scammed by fraudsters. The concluding address on the above whatsApp is from 260 Bath Rd, Slough SL1 4DX, UK, Ive since blocked this contact and all the other numbers used in the scamming efforts.