Wangiri Calls and Calls from Armenia

[Enlli]

Another anti O2 article in the Guardian today which proves interesting 

I was drawn to this paragraph

O2 says customers can report suspicious calls from abroad by emailing nuisance@telefonica.com to allow it to bar the number on its network.

@Kei-M_O2 recently said they had been told there was no way to block the Armenian calls.  O2's reply to the Guardian seems to suggest otherwise, although I suspect it was said to get the Reporter off thier backs

Still, might be worth taking a note of the email address

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/aug/20/o2-phone-bill-call-wagiri-scam-mobile

[Cleoriff]

Interesting @Enlli 

Particularly the section about the 'sim swap fraud' from O2?

At least with the intervention of the Guardian, she was refunded her £150.

Thanks for posting.

[TallTrees]

Thank you for posting this article @Enlli 

I read it and it is very worrying.  

I don't have a spend cap on. Should I?

I should have premium bar and bill to phone bar put on quite early with advice from community. 

[madasaf1sh]

To be honest I do think this is someone either installing an Dodgy App which receives a call and then triggers a call out, as people just blindly accept all permissions when downloading Apps, or people get a missed call and blindly click on call back... 

Normally I would take the Guardian's Journalistic Output with a pinch of salt, but o2 have provided a new contact email address... which us good to see ..

[TallTrees]

Yes true @madasaf1sh 

Everything should be taken with a LARGE pinch of Himalayan salt because it's pretty pink 🙄 

However good to be awake to these scams and the variety. 

[Enlli]

@madasaf1sh Yes, this particular journalist does post problems with O2 on a regular basis. I suspect that at some point they had a run in with O2's excellent customer service and this is their reward🤔

I did post for the email address but also questioning the disconect between O2 inferring they can block such numbers and what we have been told here

[pgn]

And another article in the Guardian about Wangiri (2nd article, scroll down a bit!)

https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/sep/10/insure-car-churchill-police-told-renewal

Despite maintaining the calls were made, O2 added: "“We’re investing heavily in technology, including AI, to help prevent fraudulent calls from reaching customers, and to flag calls to them when we believe it may be a scam or spam. Customers can help us protect others by taking a few seconds to forward calls like this for free to 7726,” it says."

The article author then exhorts

"O2 customers to log into their account and set a bill cap at £0, or a low sum appropriate to the number of international or chargeable calls they make. This will stop this scam in its tracks."

Hmm.🤔