Scammed!

I get loads of phishing emails and never click. I just forward them to report@phishing.gov.uk and block the sender. 

And (not as many but) a lot of scammer phone calls get intercepted by our landline call filtering system. Calls on my mobile from unknown users I generally ignore - often they are missed calls anyway because I don't carry my phone around all the time like young people (that's anyone under the age of 55!) do.

But this time I answered. Big mistake. Saturday April 6, 2024: a woman said she was from O2 and my SIM card was going out of date so they wanted to send me a replacement. As a courtesy they would also reduce my monthly payments. (Clever, huh?) I agreed! She then passed me to another agent, a man, who would arrange the changes.

I was totally taken in by all this, and am still feeling embarrassed and guilty that I allowed this bastard to persuade me to give him a code which then allowed him to change my O2 password and then username and then order an iPhone 15 and new payment contract! Yes, yes warning bells should have rung and I'm a mug. It wasn't until later that afternoon I read on the O2 website that they would never ask for any codes over the phone that I realised I'd been talking to a fraudster.

The final remark from the fraudster ("Is there anything else I can help you with today?") was preceded by a promise that the new SIM card would be delivered on Monday.

No matter - when I finally looked at my emails there were several from O2 about an order for an iPhone having been received - but also one saying that fraudulent activity was suspected and that "If we don't hear from you within 72 hours , your application will be cancelled".

Will it bollocks!

When the penny finally dropped I rang and reported the incident. I was given a Fraud Report number and also a Complaint number, and was assured that the issue was being dealt with. 

Next thing I got an email to say my "package is being delivered on Monday". I ignored this, as it looked like another scam email. But, sure enough, there's a knock on the door on Monday and I'm handed a package with a box inside which is clearly a phone.

No sooner had this arrived than my mobile rang - someone "from O2" checking I had received the package. I expressed outrage that this purchase had gone ahead and the caller apologised and said a courier would be round to pick it up. 

This time I wasn't so gullible. A call to O2 confirmed it was not them calling, with advice not to trust anyone who rang "from O2" unless they knew the Fraud number. Apparently the O2 Fraud Team would send packaging so I could return the phone.

Next the fraudster called back to say the courier was not available today and could I post the phone to them. At this point I challenged them and they were, of course, able to quote my details, gleaned from my online O2 account - but not the Fraud number. I then terminated the call and thought that was the end of the matter.

But a couple of days later a postman knocked on the door to pick up a (postage paid) package "for return". I told him 'no way' and took a note of the London address to which the package was to be returned. Persistent sods, these fraudsters.

Nearly a month later and I still have an unopened, unwanted iPhone, I'm getting texts and emails about my "new contract", and am in debt to O2 because I haven't paid the new charges. But that's another story.