Mobile Phone Scam????

charlo_b

Hello, a friend of mine has recently recieved a mobile phone bill of approximately €2500. He was expecting a double or triple bill of around €1200 but got this and was shocked.

He went through the itemised bill and found quite a few numbers that he did not recognise and were calls to the value of €40-50. They also noticed that some of the calls were made when he was out at sea, (he's a fisherman) and would not have had coverage.

He rang the mobile provider and explained the situation, said he would pay the majority of the bill but not the calls he did not recognise (approx €1000 worth)..... they said he made the calls so pay up.....

He also rang the numbers he did not recognise and asked who they were and was told to f. off.....I don't know how tactful he was in asking however.


Anyone know what he can do from here????

Thanks

Stench Blossoms

Jesus thats terrible... but to be honest unless he finds out who made the calls he'll have to pay up. The mobile provider probably just thinks he doesnt want to pay the bill

Ruu_Old

probably cant do a whole lot..he'll have to pay the bill...

BrianD

Is the phone with him when he is out to sea?

He needs to document his case and take it from there. A €40 call is either a long call or a call to far off destination.

If he's convinced something is fraudulent he should report it to the Gardai. The phone co will know he is serious then.

lomb

morale of the story is use a pay as u go fone. tell him to get a garda report on file.
either someone borrowed his fone or his sim has been cloned. if its the latter tell him to have the current sim cancelled and a new one issued.

flywheel

charlo_b wrote:

Anyone know what he can do from here????

hi, has he tried to contact the various agencies that may be able to assist him like the Gardi, Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, ComReg... even his own Pubilc Representative or members of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources... the press / radio would be another avenue (although probably better to go through official channels mentioned previously, initialy anyhow)...

inigo

He didn't by any chance take the phone out to sea and made a phone call through a satellite, did he? I know they're pretty expensive, although I don't know if the call will go through just like one on the island...

With Meteor:
Calls to Mobiles Inmartsat (Satellite Phones) €7/min
Calls to Mobiles Skyphone (Satellite Phones) €10.50/min

Just an idea...

charlo_b

BrianD wrote:

Is the phone with him when he is out to sea?

Yep....he needs it when he gets back to land he lives on the east coast fishes of the west coast.

lomb wrote:

morale of the story is use a pay as u go fone....................either someone borrowed his fone or his sim has been cloned

He is now And saving a fortune by all accounts...
Sim cloning is the first thing that came to my mind....is this possible/common???

DubWireless wrote:

has he tried to contact the various agencies ....

I'll tell him to start contacting the different agencies you've mentioned.

inigo wrote:

He didn't by any chance take the phone out to sea and made a phone call through a satellite

I think they have a satelite phone on the boat



Thanks for the interest people i'll keep ye updated if I hear more.

One interesting sidenote....his wifes phone is also on the same bill and a number of calls from her phone have also been made to numbers that she does not recognise?????

BrianD

He really needs to get a representative from his provider to discuss it further. Probably better in person than over the phone. He might start the ball rolling by writing to them requesting this. If he is convinced that he or anybody who has access to his phone number did not make these calls then he should make a formal complaint to the Gardai.