Unauthorised charges

[GarethHollis]

My wife found she has £130 of extra charges this month and then further charges this month from my daughter's phone. 

Looking through her phone, she has a couple of text messages which come from a phone number which Google says is scammers but other than that, we can't see anything else that could have caused this. Whether she clicked something, I don't know but surely any legitimate company is not going to set up a contract with a 12 year old however the charges are apparently from Sony (whether it is the same Sony or a different company using their name for credibility, I have no idea). Between last months charges and this month's charges so far, it's already around £170 and I have no idea where we are going to find that money (that's more than my car cost; we are not well off). If it were a legitimate company, I have to assume you would know if you'd had nearly £200 of product from them whereas my daughter was in complete shock. I can only assume that it is fraud but have no idea what we are supposed to do about it or why we were not informed of these charges as soon as they came in rather than just sending a bill at the end of the month. We didn't even know extra charges were possible without the bill payer first approving it.

Very disappointed but, above all, freaking out about this. 

[GosforthUK]

You should be able to set SPEND LIMIT on any SIM from EE on Pay Monthly contract...

To find out more, You might want to contact 150 from Your mobile (assuming You are the account holder and pay bills) and try to sort this out with EE directly, whilst this is a Community forum, and not really a place to discuss personal details such this)

[James_B]

Hi @GarethHollis,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

That's great advice from @GosforthUK. Please see How Do I Set Up and Manage Spend Cap? | Mobile Help | EE for more information.

You can also charge to bill services by texting BAR to 150 from the EE phone.

Hope this helps.

James

[RAHSouthDowns]

Exactly the same thing has happened to me! Just discovered it this evening, called EE and got a bar on the service charges but they don’t seem like they take any responsibility for the charges, telling me to contact Sony PlayStation. They said if I think I’ve been the victim of fraud, I need to contact the card provider - in this case that would be EE as they authorised the payments I think… Have you had any luck in finding out how to get a refund?

[LeyS93]

Happened to me as well, awful way of finding out that paying for someone's number is also providing them with a care free credit card apparently. I can't buy anything without getting notifications on my email etc, but one of "my" other accounts can spend thousands without me knowing? I think that's insane.

[Cate1011]

Just been reading this thread. Had a bill in January for additional charges of approx. £237 on my daughter's phone. Itemised bill showed numerous transactions to PlayStation ranging from £6.99 - £25.99 from 1st -10th Jan.  We don't own any of their products. My daughter did not receive a one-time code or share one to authorise such payments. When I spoke to EE, seemed ro suggest there was little they could do except prevent these additional charges in the future by putting a block on such purchases. Was surprised to learn that such payments could be paid up to £240.00p/m without notification to me as bill payer. PlayStation are useless as without an account they won't even talk to you and advise you to speak to your mobile provider. I'm concerned at how much of this occurs and the bill payer seemingly just has to accept it. EE have not got back to me so no discourse around refund. They suggested my daughter must have bought these products for herself or on someone's behalf but when I checked her phone, no evidence of this or even the one-time code being sent. Very frustrating. 

[Rach_H]

Hi @Cate1011,

Welcome to the Community!

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you've had with these charges, as we know how important it is for you to know what it is you're paying for.

I'd recommend reaching back out to our team, and they will be able to open a complaint for you regarding this, and work with you until this is resolved satisfactorily.

Rach

[LeyS93]

Reaching back to the team isn't going to help. I've been on a phone all day, I knew I can't get my money back (they'll tell you theres a chance but no there is not as Sony and other companies will send you back to EE) but was asking for some sort of security to be put in, so it doesn't happen to others. This has obviously not been taken seriously and it'll continue as it is. Sad.

[Minkey1]

@LeyS93 @Cate1011 

Sorry to read this. Have your EE accounts/payment methods been hacked? How are your bills paid? Is there any recourse via your Bank or CC company? Have you changed all passwords?

Personally I’d use ceoemaildotcom and complain to Sony UK CEO.

Good luck both.

[LeyS93]

No, if you pay for someone's sim, they can use that sim as a credit card with no limit except there's no security. You'd think a "spent cap" would stop it but it has nothing to do with it, you need to block 3rd party app/websites use for that. So if you have a family who you pay contract for, they could spend a lot of money on games/gambling etc without your knowledge (unless you often check the EE app and your upcoming bills as it shows there!  - not that you can stop it, but you can see it. That's what I've been told by EE anyways)