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!
