Sony unauthorised payments

[Cakey1975]

Looks like this is a problem with Sony taking money via EE has anyone ever been refunded as EE say it’s not their problem basically and to contact Sony can’t get passed the BOT with Sony as I don’t have an account any help appreciated as we have had 4 payment taken out in 1 min ! 

[SteveMead69]

WARNING: Sony PlayStation UK PSN Network / Mobile Fraud.

Well to say I'm in a bad mood would be an understatement. Just went onto my on line banking and noticed that EE have taken out £280 which is strange as usually the charge for the 3 mobiles is usually £35.

So I phoned EE Store and asked why it was so high, apparantly my daughters mobile made £240 worth of game add ons on the PlayStation Network Store.  

My playstation has not been turned on since early July. When I turned it on today it needed to update to version 12 firmware which came out on the 12th September.

So it's nothing to do with my PlayStation or PSN account. My daughter has a child login under my parent account so she could not buy anything. Also my PSN account is not linked to a mobile phone for payments.

The daughters mobile phone number had been used but she has not received any texts or notifications regarding these purchases.

The time the daughters mobile number was used to make 4 purchases of PSN Game add ons were made over a 10 minuite period on the 3rd of November. I know we was out during the time the charges were made at a birthday celebration do it was definitely not my daughter

So these purchases are nothing to do with us.

During my first EE conversation they mentioned this is a known Fraud and gave me Sony UK PSN support number to call.

So I tried contacting Sony but the number was invalid so I then called EE back. The 2nd agent was friendly and advised Sony don't have a phone number you have to go through a Web link which they provided but then told me that if I reported it to Action Fraud and get a crime number they would refund the fraudulent Sony PSN purchase.

I tried the Sony link but it was just an automated response bot that said no agents were available at the weekend.

So I then contacted Action Fraud and got a crime reference number.  

I then phoned EE back with the crime number. When Ispoke to the agent 3 they were not initially aware of this scam, but after I explained what had happened he spoke to the manager who said yes this is a new Fraud they are seeing.

They then told me the advice from the 2nd agent was wrong and that they cannot refund with a crime number. They told me Sony will need to refund me.

I didn't have a contact with Sony and a mobile. My mobile contract is with EE so as they have taken the money, I thought they should refund the Fraud and then they would take it up with PlayStation Europe .

They were adamant that they could do nothing more at this point in time.

I thought I was being prudent when I set up the mobile contacts and set a Zero spend limit on all accounts So I knew I would only be charged the same each month with no surprise charges. So I mentioned this to agent 3. Their response was zero charges does not mean zero charges and I ahould have read the small print. As if it's my fault.

That's something that I think Ofcom should address. I think Martin Lewis and the The Martin Lewis Money Show Live should also take this up to raise public awareness of this Scam and the mobile industry's response to it.

So please be carefull check your bills, check your bank statements. Don't rely on the mobile industry zero charges.

I also think the news BBC News, ITV News, Channel 4 News, Sky News and GB News should also run this story to help raise public awareness and put a quick stop to this SCAM.

[SteveMead69]

WARNING: Sony PlayStation UK PSN Network / Mobile Fraud.

Well to say I'm in a bad mood would be an understatement. Just went onto my on line banking and noticed that EE have taken out £280 which is strange as usually the charge for the 3 mobiles is usually £35.

So I phoned EE Store and asked why it was so high, apparantly my daughters mobile made £240 worth of game add ons on the PlayStation Network Store.

My playstation has not been turned on since early July. When I turned it on today it needed to update to version 12 firmware which came out on the 12th September.

So it's nothing to do with my PlayStation or PSN account. My daughter has a child login under my parent account so she could not buy anything. Also my PSN account is not linked to a mobile phone for payments.

The daughters mobile phone number had been used but she has not received any texts or notifications regarding these purchases.

The time the daughters mobile number was used to make 4 purchases of PSN Game add ons were made over a 10 minuite period on the 3rd of November. I know we was out during the time the charges were made at a birthday celebration do it was definitely not my daughter

So these purchases are nothing to do with us.

During my first EE conversation they mentioned this is a known Fraud and gave me Sony UK PSN support number to call.

So I tried contacting Sony but the number was invalid so I then called EE back. The 2nd agent was friendly and advised Sony don't have a phone number you have to go through a Web link which they provided but then told me that if I reported it to Action Fraud and get a crime number they would refund the fraudulent Sony PSN purchase.

I tried the Sony link but it was just an automated response bot that said no agents were available at the weekend.

So I then contacted Action Fraud and got a crime reference number.

I then phoned EE back with the crime number. When Ispoke to the agent 3 they were not initially aware of this scam, but after I explained what had happened he spoke to the manager who said yes this is a new Fraud they are seeing.

They then told me the advice from the 2nd agent was wrong and that they cannot refund with a crime number. They told me Sony will need to refund me.

I didn't have a contact with Sony and a mobile. My mobile contract is with EE so as they have taken the money, I thought they should refund the Fraud and then they would take it up with PlayStation Europe .

They were adamant that they could do nothing more at this point in time.

I thought I was being prudent when I set up the mobile contacts and set a Zero spend limit on all accounts So I knew I would only be charged the same each month with no surprise charges. So I mentioned this to agent 3. Their response was zero charges does not mean zero charges and I ahould have read the small print. As if it's my fault.

That's something that I think Ofcom should address. I think Martin Lewis and the The Martin Lewis Money Show Live should also take this up to raise public awareness of this Scam and the mobile industry's response to it.

So please be carefull check your bills, check your bank statements. Don't rely on the mobile industry zero charges.

I also think the news BBC News, ITV News, Channel 4 News, Sky News and GB News should also run this story to help raise public awareness and put a quick stop to this SCAM.

[Customer13]

Hi SteveMead69,

This is the same pattern that everyone gets, EE claim no liability and do and say everything to fob you off.

In an email complaint I raised it was also inferred that it's the customers fault for not realising the lack of security EE provide.

Every time you speak to someone from EE they say a completely different solution while saying the previous solution provided was wrong, I've had this many many times and am about a month away from finally leaving this terrible service.

As I'm sure you might be aware already the only solution for you is to contact Boku which is the billing company Sony use for this. The refund is credit back to you in your next bill. 

Not sure what the actual support on these forums is doing as there is never a response by them, paid to do nothing it seems.

[Christopher_G]

Hi @SteveMead69 

Our Mobile Care team have access to your bills, they will be able to check the charges from our side and find the contact details for the provider of the service which has been billed to you.

I know others on the thread have had some success with contacting Boku. I realise you've already spoken to us a couple of times, but if you speak to our team on 150 again, they'll be able to check if they were the service provider in your case and find you some contact details.

Hope you manage to get sorted, please keep us updated.

Chris

[Nick______]

It is the case that when opening a contract for a phone for a child that EE's default setting are to allow unauthorised spending to take place. I have just been told by EE that I was resopnsible for changing their settings to disallow such events. How am I supposed to know or understnd this. 

Shame on EE

[M_Cat]

I have had this exact thing happen - someone scammed my daughter so she gave them codes which meant they could buy Sony Playstation games on her mobile phone bill. EE have said it is not their problem and closed the case, and I cannot get past the BOT with Sony to get a refund. Also 4 games/payments in 2 minutes.

[M_Cat]

I agree - they should have flagged that these payments were being requested as it is such unusual activity on my account! The EE guy I spoke to about it was nice but said there was nothing they could do.

[M_Cat]

Did you get your money/credit back from Boku?

[Peter_W]

Hi there @M_Cat.

Welcome to the EE Community. 

I can imagine this must be especially tough if your daughter was scammed into giving these details away, but ultimately any dispute for charge to mobile need to be addressed to the merchant directly. 

Have you tried checking this out over on our charge to mobile checker?

This should give you the phone and email contact for Sony to query this, and also highlights how you can prevent these charges on your account moving forwards.

Peter

[GinnieB]

Hi All, 

I've got the same issue - 4 x £39.99 taken within 2 minutes on 12th Jan with ref:  B Sony.  I'm very upset that this can happen as I thought I'd capped and additional spending at ZERO.

Reading this thread I've now text BAR to 150 and had a confirmation text reply stating that charges can no longer be applied to my phone account in this way. 

Now starts the battle to get my £160 back... I can't afford to lose this (who can!!!).

I've already called EE billing from 150 on my phone - they can't do anything (as per previous comments). 

I'm also appalled that this issue has been ongoing for so long and EE don't seem willing / able to do anything about it!

Please re-assure me that there have been some success stories and people have managed to get their money back!

Thanks!!!