My EE data shows as open wifi, I have tried to make it private w/out success ☹️

[Phant1]

1. This has been on going for over 2years.

2. please be patient with my narration... here we go ...

My EE number was hijacked , EE account deactivated, and in that process my 3 month old Samsung Z fold 4 fell culprit of this attack and therefore has never worked ( might as well serve as a toy) after the device being diagnosed by the Samsung technical support engineers. This happened after confronting a purported Identity Thief , also a business owner in UK, over my phone at the time.. next 5  minutes into the conversation, my account and line were deactivated, very sinister immotive, I must say. I had no access to those no more..

I called EE and all they said was, " we will send out a replacement simcard and issue you with a new device as you're due an early upgrade ",I accepted the deal but it didn't solve the issue.....

Several PAYG simcards later, approximately 7, of which 1 I was locked out from after inserting passcode and calling a family member for 2 minutes..Alas! The number was nolonger mine. I return to EE with a bargaining plea to send me a replacement sim card. Kind enough to send these to me up to 6 times since July 2024 - date.

Since my devices were constantly cloned and sim card cloned and eventually swapped by these bully/bullies and scam/scammers, I kept acquiring new devices which were under £100 or £50 to date my son and I have 23 devices amongst us.

On this day , EE has changed my number but the Hidden apps embedded on my current device that I've used for 12 days has the same apps that my perpetrator/s may have shared through collaborative apps like cross device sharing , quick share , MTP and ADB/ ADT via USB.

I have exhausted options of communication digitally apart from accessing my local library to check and respond to my official Emails.

I am willing to give all these devices to the person who will help me fish out these culprits so that justice ise served accordingly.

Reports to the police have been made.

To Action Fraud, I reported, not heard a word from them.

Whilst these attacks and stalking are ongoing, my GP, CPN and psychiatrist have concluded that I should keep popping meds , (these meds are meant for I'll people with mental breakdown who see and feel imaginary things, I ).

Endearingly disappointed by the system, any cyber police willing to assist, please help! As of now, my data shows as open wifi eventhough I use secure VPN. I will be glad to put this to rest.

[Northerner]

Hi @Phant1 

Most of these issues are down to poor personal security and password choices.  I am also unclear why you would be "due a new device" on PAYG and some of your story makes no sense, however:

1. Use a new email address/s and password with 2 stage authentication using an app (Google, Microsoft). Do not prove this information to anyone.
2. If your devices are android factory reset these devices and use the new info in point 1.
3. Most legitimate apps use two stage authentication and activate this using the app installed on your new email account. Use the code option with the app in point 1.
4. Don't use WiFi on unfamiliar networks (even businesses ) unless you are using a VPN.
5. Turn off Bluetooth and use it with trusted devices.
6. Make sure your device software is updated.
7. Ensure anything with your address on is shredded (post) and labels removed from boxes such as Amazon.
8. Don't allow other people use your devices, laptop, PC. 

Thanks 

[Peter_W]

Good afternoon @Phant1.

Welcome to the EE Community, and thanks for taking the time to share your experience here.

It's so important to be vigilant when the risk of fraud and scams are out there, and I can't begin to imagine how awful it must be if you've been struggling with this for quite a while now. 

The details @Northerner has shared here are great principles to stick by for keeping your account safe, and just to expand on this we always advise customers to be careful when receiving texts and emails that claim to be from us. 

If you fear you've been a victim of SIM Swap fraud, we recommend customers get in touch as soon as they can and we'll aim to get on the case with restoring the line and recovering your number.

We don't have access to accounts here to check individual cases, but once a number has been restored on an account and SIM under your ownership, we wouldn't expect any further issues. 

If you're fearing malware has been involved on your devices, the best course of action would be to test the SIMs in totally new handsets, and also not restore any existing backups.

I've never come across instances of malware travelling between devices via SIM.

Finally if you fear that this is linked to a wider operation within the UK too, you've definitely made the right call raising this with Action Fraud and the Police.

Peter