Phone scam - calls made from my phone

blondeonblonde

Hi,

Just wondering whether anyone has ever experienced this issue. Just noticed this morning that calls have been made from my phone to a random number every month for the past 6/7 months. The calls are usually under 10 seconds long and though they are not hugely expensive, they have been adding up over the past 6 months unbeknownst to me! The number is an 0766 prefix and calls cost around 25c each time they are made.

I contacted my provider and all they could do was block the number. I also contacted Comreg and am awaiting response.

Just curious as to whether anyone has seen anything like this before and if they found out what was going on?

Thanks

ED E

Sounds like an automated dialer tbh. 076 is a non geographic landline (assuming no country code prefix) so it would tend to be an Irish service.

Find out what apps on your phone have permission to access the dialler, unless they 100% need it, remove it.

AndrewJRenko

Try dialling the number and see who/what answers?

blondeonblonde

ED E wrote: »

Sounds like an automated dialer tbh. 076 is a non geographic landline (assuming no country code prefix) so it would tend to be an Irish service.

Find out what apps on your phone have permission to access the dialler, unless they 100% need it, remove it.

Thanks, that's a good point re app permissions. Will look into it.

davo10

Sat nav app?

blondeonblonde

davo10 wrote: »

Sat nav app?

I don't have one apart from Google maps.

Not many random apps either so I don't know.
Its a sneaky one though, the calls were kept low few enough so as to not be noticeable each month. Added up to nearly 60 calls in total though over 6 months.

irishgirl19

Sounds like its your monitored alarm (if you have one) checking in with alarm company. These calls are automatic its the alarm tripping your phone to make them

blondeonblonde

irishgirl19 wrote: »

Sounds like its your monitored alarm (if you have one) checking in with alarm company. These calls are automatic its the alarm tripping your phone to make them

No we don't have one!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

076 are VoIP numbers.

DopeTech

Have you googled the phone number? If it's a scam chances are it'll be posted online already.

blondeonblonde

FrostyJim wrote: »

Have you googled the phone number? If it's a scam chances are it'll be posted online already.

Yep, I googled it but it seems to be danish language sites come up...

Meteor are looking in to it at the moment...

endofrainbow

A lot of the health boards use 076 numbers

chuckles30

Bank of Ireland also use 076 numbers

blondeonblonde

Comreg just mailed me to say its not in their remit to investigate so its still a mystery.

Only thing Meteor have said so far is that its possible that the number called me and reversed the charges somehow? Although I don't know how this could be possible without my authorisation.

Wherever it came from its a reminder to check your bills! So easy not to bother now that everything is gone paperless.

AndrewJRenko

Have you tried ringing the number and seeing who/what answers?

RossieMan

I know one of the major Irish banks uses the 076 prefix.

The_Conductor

DSP and Dept. of Agriculture use 076 nos too.

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Curb Your Enthusiasm

blondeonblonde wrote: »

Comreg just mailed me to say its not in their remit to investigate so its still a mystery.

Only thing Meteor have said so far is that its possible that the number called me and reversed the charges somehow? Although I don't know how this could be possible without my authorisation.

Wherever it came from its a reminder to check your bills! So easy not to bother now that everything is gone paperless.

What is the point of Comreg at all? What a useless organization. :rolleyes:

The_Conductor

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

What is the point of Comreg at all? What a useless organization. :rolleyes:

I've had a recent run-in with Comreg- over an app on my phone triggering premium rate texts without any interaction from me. I couldn't even figure which app. The company *are* registered with Comreg- and Comreg are toothless to do anything. It ended up costing me a little less than 40 quid- and the annoyance of backing up and resetting my phone etc.

Comreg 100% are not there to protect consumers- I'm not entirely sure what their supposed function is- however, from personal experience- it appears to be a body who protect telecoms companies who either accidentally or deliberately, defraud consumers.

They do not protect consumers- they do not want to know.

If you do manage to jump through their hoops and lodge a complaint- they are unlikely to do anything whatsoever. I sent them my original Vodafone bills months ago- and haven't heard a peep out of them (despite numerous phone calls and e-mails querying the case).

Comreg are there to protect telecom companies- not consumers.

L1011

Telecoms operators fund comreg directly. They have clear interests in the operators well being and none for the consumer

Their first line call centre does nothing of use - even if you fight though that they rarely care

Stoner

The_Conductor wrote:

Comreg are there to protect telecom companies- not consumers.

Comreg were helpful to me when dealing with Virgin media, once I copied them the mails etc and included them on my correspondence to Virgin media. It was all sorted very quickly once they were involved

Baron Kurtz

I had a similar issue to this a few years ago. Texts were surreptitiously being sent from my Eir account to some number in the States. They had been accumulating for a few weeks. When my bill arrived I knew something was off. I'd rarely check my usage but upon refreshing the data recording of my account usage you could see the texts add up, in realtime as it were.

I spoke with a customer service rep, reported the issue and they put me onto their technical staff. As I was on the phone to them, they also noticed the activity and acknowledged (proof that I wasn't sending the texts) the scam.

Long story short, despite them knowing I wasn't sending the texts I still got charged for it. The bones of 100 euro iirc. Their resolution in total was for me to change my number . Suffice to say they never got that 100. I did end up having to change my number but promptly ported to another network.