Scam Alert! Early mobile handset upgrade & contract

[Sean_D]

Hi Everyone,

We have noticed a rise in a specific scam which is related to Mobile contracts and handset upgrades.

Consumers are being cold-called by individuals impersonating employees of legitimate mobile network operators and suppliers.

Victims are offered early handset upgrades, or new contracts, at significant discounts. Once customers have been convinced that the deals are genuine and agree to proceed, suspects then ask for their online mobile account credentials, including log-ins, address and bank account details.

Suspects then place orders with genuine companies on behalf of victims, however, select a different handset to that requested and have it shipped to the customer’s address.

Upon receipt, suspects assure victims that this has been an error and instruct them to ‘return’ the handset to a different address not affiliated with the mobile company. These addresses are usually residential.  Upon intercepting the ‘returned’ handsets, the suspects cease contact and victims find themselves stuck with no phone and liable for the entirety of a new contract taken out in their name.

The advice given by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau is:

• If you receive a cold call about mobile upgrades and contracts and you are unsure that the person calling you is an official representative of the company they claim to be from, hang up and do not reveal any personal information.
• Only contact your mobile network provider on a number you know to be correct.  If you are unsure of the number, visit the company website's contact page
• If you receive a device that you did not order or expect, contact the genuine sender immediately. The details for this will be within the parcel.
• NEVER post a device directly to a given address. All genuine Mobile Network Operators would send out a jiffy bag for you to return without you incurring additional cost.

Stay safe and please share this example with your friends and family.

Cheers

Sean

[Chris_B]

@Sean_D   This needs to be sent out to customers via email/text, by only post on here it’ll only be a few customers who see this and I’m sure not everyone coming to the community  will look at this anyway.  

[Sean_D]

Hi @Chris_B,

Thanks for the reply and for the suggestion.  I agree with you, I think it would be great to proactively send example scams direct to customers.  The more people know of these scams the better we can all protect ourselves.  We don't have a process for this at the moment ☹️ but I will feed this back to our security team. 

At the moment our security team will let us know when they see an uptick in certain types of scams, this information comes from both customers reporting scams directly to us as well as information shared by action fraud and the National Cyber Security Centre(NCSC).

When I get information about new scams I will create a post on Community.  Please share this with your friends and family to make sure they can protect against these bad actors.

Cheers

Sean

[Charlie123451]

😢 hi I have just been scammed with exactly this scam they set up an account with o2 and today I got another phone call from apparently CPW again saying because I sent the phone to the wrong address even tho that was the address they give me through WhatsApp account  they said I had to give the £200 and he would than be able to clear the contract. Needless to say I told him where to go how do I resolve this with 02 now 😢. 

[James_B]

Hi @Charlie123451,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

Have you tried contacting O2 directly?

James

[Anakin290481]

I actually had a call the other day from someone claiming to be from Carphone Warehouse, and that I was eligible for a mobile phone upgrade, and I decided to have some fun with her. She asked me what phone I had, what network I was on and what my current monthly tariff was. I told I had an old Motorola, etc - I was never going to tell her what my actual phone and network was… she tried to offer me the new Samsung but I told her I wanted an iPhone and proceeded to waste her time by asking her a dozen questions like if the phone had Bluetooth, two cameras or three cameras, and what colours were available. All that just to tell her I changed my mind and wanted her to tell me about the Samsung phones. I then told her I knew she was a scammer and that I was wasting her time, she did not like that at all. She told me to prove she was a scammer and I said I was a “manager at Carphone Warehouse” upon which she hung up. Best fun I’ve ever had with a scammer. 

[Aify-etta2022]

I received a call from a spam number claiming to be EE. Said I can upgrade my data for free. I had to end the call instantly as I don't know if EE truly does data upgrade after one must have bought data pack from them. 

[Jon_K]

Hi @Aify-etta2022.

Thanks for coming to the community.

If you'd like to speak with our Customer Care team about upgrading your data, I'd recommend giving them a call yourself.

Thanks for letting us know that this may have been a scam, so others can watch out for this too.

Jon

[LB102]

Hi,

I wish this information was sent out via post or e-mail.

Unfortunately I have been scammed .

I am really careful but somehow they mask things so well.. that I went for it.

All has been reported, but I think as customers (some of us for donkey years) we should be looked after better.

Please stay safe everyone . 

[Leanne_T]

Morning @LB102

I'm very sorry to hear this, was an upgrade or new contract set up? 

Have you changed all your passwords and spoken to your bank? 

Leanne.