Scammers have been targeting consumers by stealing their details, pretending to be them and then stealing their cash or using their details to take out certain deals, with their victims often none the wise Criminals have been stealing O2 phone contracts, taking names of innocent Brits who are left with massive bill.
The problem has also ruined consumers’ credit scores in the time it takes the telecoms company to investigate complaints.
Criminals employ this information to create fake customers, and pass through difficult security checks and credit checks.
The criminals can utilize the stolen information to make purchases on phones, without the knowledge of the victim.
One Mirror reader, Susan says she learned about the issue when she received an email from her credit checker Clearscore on the 14th of November, the previous year.
She discovered the O2 phone contract as well as an unpaid loan, neither of which she recognized even though both were in her name.
“I have never ever had a phone contract in my entire life or had any interactions or dealings with O2,” she said.
Afterward, she informed O2 about the problem, along with her bank.
Fortunately, there was no money taken from her account, but this meant that her situation was not treated as seriously at the bank she used.
She admitted to “pulling the hair of my head” about the issue, that was finally resolved on February 10, with an PS30 settlement from O2 to apologize.
This is Money has reported that some members of the public have had the same issue..
In one case , a 76-year old woman was snatched by O2 for arrears in payment on an iPhone and an iPad that she had did not pay for.
Another one, Julie McCue, 37, received two O2 bills, totalling PS918.
Many times, the victims of these scams have had their information taken or given to criminals.
Security expert Jake Moore told This is Money: “Once scammers have identified a security flaw in the security procedures of a company they will continue to exploit the vulnerability until they have closed the door.”
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A spokesperson for O2 spokesperson stated: “At Virgin Media O2 we consider the security of our customers very serious and making sure they’re safe from fraud is a top priority.
“We have robust procedures in place and are able to act swiftly when we notice new patterns of fraud appearing to help protect our customers.
“Criminals who commit fraud are becoming sophisticated in the way they scam individuals and defraud businesses and companies, therefore they are becoming more sophisticated in their methods of defrauding companies and people.to stop this problemwe continue to introduce additional security checks. We are also leading industry-wide initiatives, in collaboration with government agencies and law enforcement agencies to safeguard our clients.”
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