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I’ve been scammed

(72 Posts)
BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 16:51:41

Well on Tuesday night I had a text from my phone company asking if I had changed my address and to text them back if I hadn’t. Well knowing about scams I didn’t want to text back in case I was opening a can of worms and texting the scammers themselves
I tried ringing my provider but the help desk goes off at 6 till next morning so couldn’t During the night I had a number of texts congratulating me on ordering 2 of the latest expensive new phones and they would be delivered shortly They also thanked me for changing to some new golden plan (of course I hadn’t)

The next morning I tried ringing I was about 25 in the queue so told work I d have to take an hour off to go and sort it out at their shop in town
I was there 11/2 hours The scammers had already changed my address to some flat in London and ordered two on the latest state of the art phones before the text asking me if I d changed my address One phone has already been sent out and delivered to the flat, they managed to abort the second phone delivery
I have spoken to their fraud office at length, I did everything right but now I m in a pickle as just now I ve had a text saying they want to talk to me and I ve no idea whether to answer it or not It appears to be the company’s number but it was before so how can I possible know what’s legit and what’s not and I had a phone call from the fraud people this morning so why are they texting me to call them again
Anyway I thought I d write on here as a warning, it wasn’t a scam I could have avoided, as the phone number was the company’s number.
They said they are losing thousands it a very sophisticated scam
It’s really bothered me

petra Thu 31-Oct-24 16:57:34

BlueBelle
Did your provider tell you who provided the phones?

Babs03 Thu 31-Oct-24 17:12:06

Oh no, that sounds horrible Bluebelle, wouldn’t answer any phone number but go into the shop again, I know is a faff but really and honestly these scammers are getting so tricky. Either do this or borrow someone else’s phone and ring the number for your provider that is given online. Have heard that these scammers can somehow arrange it so that when you ring back on your phone you are talking to them again.
I could be wrong but hopefully others will be on to advise.
All the best 🌹

Iam64 Thu 31-Oct-24 17:17:32

Best of luck sorting this out BlueBelle. How fortunate there’s a shop you can go to rather than on line, I know getting to the shop is time consuming but as least you know you’re dealing with your provider

I was hacked 2 years ago, after using my iPad on insecured WiFi at an airport in Greece. By the time I arrived home my social media and email compromised. It was awful and I hope yours can be sorted

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 17:21:44

Oh gosh Iam that was horrid
I m always conscious of scams and think I m reasonably savvy but my provider said there was nothing I did wrong I m just glad I managed to get to the shop before the payment went out
Yes Babs I m going to go back to the shop tomorrow as I just darent answer this text !!!
What a horrible situation isn’t it
I m telling you all to be careful but there’s really nothing I could have been more careful about !

karmalady Thu 31-Oct-24 17:23:51

Bluebelle, action fraud will help you

www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Elegran Thu 31-Oct-24 17:35:54

Does your phone provider have a website? If so, they will have a way to contact them if you have been scammed, and probably also a way to phone them direct via he internet. Just makesure that the website itself is secure, by checking that it has little pictures of a shield and a padlock beside the full site name in the box at the top of the browser page (as Gransnet does) You just have time, in case they close at 6 too.

Elegran Thu 31-Oct-24 17:38:57

Also, phone your bank and warn them that there may be fraudulent invoices wanting money from your account. They can block anything that isn't normal, or freeze your A/C

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 17:47:33

Well the original scam is being dealt with by their fraud department elegran I’ll go back to the shop tomorrow and see why they want me to ring Amy
Phew what a faff eh
Thanks for reminding me about the little paddock I’d forgotten that

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 17:51:36

Elegran thanks I did call in the bank on my way up to the telephone shop, and told the just that, but my phone company has also assured me that they ve dealt with cancelling any fees

TerriBull Thu 31-Oct-24 17:53:24

So sorry to hear that Bluebell what a palaver, We all need to have our wits about us these days, it's very concerning.

Allira Thu 31-Oct-24 18:06:36

Sorry to hear this Bluebelle
Thank you for the warning.

DH has had two scam attempts by phone so far this week.
He had some shares in a company he'd never heard of, which still owe him money and he has apparently won £70 in a competition.

sassenach512 Thu 31-Oct-24 18:31:27

It fills me with dread when I hear about scams like this and how clever these scammers are getting even when you've done everything right.
You must have been in torment getting those texts Bluebell knowing those despicable people were running amok with your account. I hope it all gets sorted out and that karma bites them right where it hurts

fancythat Thu 31-Oct-24 18:34:55

Yikes.
Poor you.

I think that the behaviour of scammers is despicable.

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 18:38:05

Thanks sassenach yes it’s been difficult and a big old headache I don’t want to go through this again

Georgesgran Thu 31-Oct-24 18:44:16

So sorry to hear this Bluebell. Doesn’t it show that despite all the publicity about scams, they’re often so cleverly executed that even the best of us can be conned?

This sort of happened to DD2 when I was paying her bills. She rang me distraught from Sheffield saying she had no service. Luckily I was near the EE shop and was told they’d disconnected her service as her number had ordered the very latest iPhone to be delivered to somewhere in Guilford.
Obviously, it was eventually sorted and EE admitted it was their fault and gave us 3 months free.
I was so annoyed as DD2 who is disabled was about to drive back to Durham that evening and would be completely out of touch, should she need help - I think I shocked the EE Shop with the number of expletives I got into one sentence, when phoning their fraud department! The Associate had inferred that we were behind the fraud - I told her in no uncertain terms that I couldn’t even find Guilford on a map, if she paid me!

gentleshores Thu 31-Oct-24 22:11:25

karmalady

Bluebelle, action fraud will help you

www.actionfraud.police.uk/

I second that! Also you can open an Experian account and it alerts you if anyone opens anything in your name or whatever. Downside is there is a monthly fee. It helps prevent identity theft or stop it if it happens.

Awful experience for you.

gentleshores Thu 31-Oct-24 22:12:32

When you say your phone, do you mean your smartphone and is it Apple? One tip is to never use the same email address for your apple id as your usual email address. Set up a new email address just for the Apple ID. If you use the same email for the phone it's much easier for them to hack you.

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 22:19:03

Interesting that sounds the same scam Georgesgran
They ordered two of the latest phones on my account to a flat in London but under my name and account ( one was dispatched the same day so they lost that one they intersected the second one before it was sent)
( they didn’t cut me off though and didn’t offer any compensation !! 🤣)
Thanks for the ‘action fraud’ link I think it’s going to be ok this time and fingers crossed it won’t happen again but I ll keep it in my diary

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 22:25:13

It is an Apple phone (I always buy my grandkids cast offs 🤣🤣🤣) but it’s nothing to do with emails gentleshores
I don’t have email contact normally and this all happened without any of my knowledge and only knew when I started getting texts from provider asking if I d changed my address on my account (obviously someone else had…. the man at the shop did say they can sometimes be inside jobs)

Retread Thu 31-Oct-24 22:29:55

How awful Bluebelle.

Am I understanding the scam correctly in that it doesn’t matter which provider it is, it has to do with having accessed your phone number. In other words it could happen to someone who is with e.g. O2 just as easily as someone who is with Tesco Mobile?

BlueBelle Thu 31-Oct-24 22:35:21

I think it could happen to anyone , but they didn’t have access to my phone retread it was all set up before I was alerted to it, I don’t know how they choose people or get contact to accounts I ve changed my password and the provider has assured me it happens to so many and I did nothing careless or anything to cause this Just luck of the draw I guess

welbeck Thu 31-Oct-24 22:55:09

karmalady

Bluebelle, action fraud will help you

www.actionfraud.police.uk/

No they won't unfortunately.
They are just a way of diverting consumers from bothering the police from incidents they don't investigate.
Unless there are multiple reports pointing to the same perps or the sum is in excess of 100K.
It's St
Of course patterns of offending can only be identified if everyone does report but don't expect action or any response.

BlueBelle Fri 01-Nov-24 06:01:54

Thank you Wellbeck I ll just continue to work with the phone company itself

mum2three Fri 01-Nov-24 06:37:35

There used to be a lot of scams coming from India. People working for BT were passing on customers details. Perhaps something similar has happened in this case?