I've always suspected that people who are victims of cyber fraud must be pretty stupid to fall for it, but not any more. I received an email a couple of days ago from my phone company (O2) notifying me of the PAC number that I had requested. I hadn't requested this, but didn't take any action immediately. The next day I couldn't access my phone account any more, so phoned O2 to find out why and they told me that the account had been terminated. When I told them that I hadn't requested this, they said they'd check it out and eventually told me that this was an internal error and that they would reconnect me within 24 hours. This didn't happen,so I phoned them again this morning and found out that my phone number had been ported to a new account with Vodafone. I reported this as a fraud but they said I should contact Vodafone also. When I did this, Vodafone told me the number was now registered in another name and that there was nothing they could do. Meanwhile, whoever has my number has used it to make purchases on my credit cards.
Who was the email from (what email address did they use - i.e was it a genuine O2 or Telefonica address?) and did you click any links in the email? Report this to your bank and card issuer, they should be able to refund you the money. Their fraud investigatora may also be able to pinpoint where the transactions are coming from if it's UK based.... Major inconvenience of course. Vodafone customer service is next to useless, ask to speak to their fraud department as well
The PAC code message was a text, not an email as I said earlier. It appears to be genuinely from O2. I cancelled all my cards, one had already been blocked because they'd tried to process a transaction for £899.99 which they decided was suspicious - I normally just spend money in pubs! It's now down to the O2 fraud team to deal with Vodafone to retrieve my number, which could take 10 working days. Found this.... SIM swap fraud explained and how to help protect yourself - Norton
These fraudsters are very sophisticated nowadays and have a lot of technical knowledge. If only they put their know-how to good use instead of ruining the lives of ordinary good folk. My sympathies, hopefully you will get all your money back through the card company.
Cheers, this explains it,I think.... SIM swap fraud explained and how to help protect yourself - Norton
Sorry to hear that Strolls. Sounds like a nightmare. It’s a clever hack and just shows how susceptible we all are in this day and age to being scammed. We all think we wouldn’t be but you’ve proved even the cautious can be caught out. Hope you get everything straightened and your monies back safely Strolls.
You're not alone...unfortunately.... https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/Fraud-Awareness-amp-Learnings/td-p/1602907
It's very worrying that they were able to do this without you clicking on any scam links etc. I treat everything as a scam, but if that text was a genuine one from your mobile provider as you say, there doesn't seem to be anything you could have done differently.
Yeah, the mistake I made was not getting in touch with O2 as soon as I got the PAC code message. Pretty sure I won't lose anything at the end of the day, though. My current account is secure and one of the credit card companies had already blocked the card due to a suspicious transaction. Can't get in touch with the other one until tomorrow, but these companies are normally good for refunding fraudulent transactions. No phone for 10 days is a pisser, though.
Thinking I've probably got a claim against O2. They were the ones that were fooled by the scammers into making the SIM swap, after all.
Sorry to hear this cuz. Apart from the intrusion into your personal life, which I find intolerable, it's all the time used calling the blocking, changing passwords, new cards etc.. it takes ages!!
Yeah, but they initially told me that it was an internal O2 issue. They must be aware of these scams and should have been more alert to this. Possibly.
Sorry to hear this mate, it must be horrible. I hope you can get everything sorted out as soon as possible.
Sorry Stroller. My immediate neighbour had his O2 account hacked just last week and thousands of pounds of tech ordered on his account. Implies that O2 have an internal problem. Hope you get it sorted soon.
Porting Authorisation Code.- it's a code that gets sent when you wish to change operator but keep your existing phone number
