After I obtained my month-to-month invoice from O2, I used to be shocked to see a cost of £914 had been taken. I phoned customer support and was advised this was due to a world telephone name I had made to Tunisia.
I don’t know anybody in Tunisia. I then logged into My O2 and found a fraudulent name lasting virtually 5 hours.
I spoke to 2 totally different O2 brokers who acknowledged the fraud. I additionally contacted my financial institution however it couldn’t assist as a result of the cost was included in my month-to-month invoice and it couldn’t override my cost settlement with O2.
In October, I obtained an e mail from O2 confirming a refund however, when it didn’t arrive, I saved phoning and ultimately was knowledgeable the provide had not been sanctioned.
This name ought to have been flagged by O2 earlier than it took such a lot of cash. I hardly ever use my telephone to make calls and by no means worldwide ones.
I’ve been an O2 buyer for greater than 15 years and can finish my contract when that is resolved.
EH, Loughborough
You shared your billing historical past with me and it confirmed an costly name akin to this was extraordinarily out of character and may have been flagged by O2 earlier than it took such a big cost.
After I contacted O2, it regarded into the matter and thinks you’ll have been the goal of a “wangiri rip-off”. Wangiri is a Japanese phrase meaning “one ring and drop”.
Fraudsters ring from a premium, or worldwide, quantity and shortly cling up, leaving a missed name, within the hope {that a} sufferer will name again. They then attempt to preserve them on the road to run up huge name costs, which they revenue from.
It isn’t clear what occurred right here, as you say you didn’t reply this name, however on condition that it was 5 months in the past, an excessive amount of time has handed to delve deeper.
O2 says: “We’ve taken motion to totally refund EH after they fell sufferer to what we imagine is a wangiri rip-off. If a buyer receives a name out of the blue from a world or premium fee quantity they don’t recognise, we strongly advise they don’t name again and report back to us instantly in the event that they imagine it’s a rip-off.”
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