MSE News: Bogus mobile top-ups could spell greater fraud danger

cazp4

Hi, I've just noticed a couple of transactions like you've mentioned. One was from 3-Maidenhead for 1.95 and the other was from Virgin Mobile for 104.95. I am living overseas at the moment and don't even have an English mobile so I knew something was dodgy straight away. I was thinking to myself, but if someone commits fraud why would they start with such a small amount but then I read the various forums about 'testing' your account first to see if they get away with it. The bigger amount was made later on the same day. I just called Natwest and they shut down that account straight away so at least the bas#ards won't be able to steal anymore money. It makes me really mad that this seems to be commonplace but no rules have been introduced to clamp down on it!!! I used to be an O2 customer so I guess someone there leaked my bank details??

jksg123

Ive just had the same thing £15 to O2 prepay.
Ive not really used this credit card much, i had the details of it saved in both Marks & Spencers online and Paypal.
I remember getting an email from M&S saying customer details had been hacked, but only names & addresses. Well im convinced my credit card details were taken from here.

Just rang barclaycard who were not the best, got to fill a form in to get it investigated.
I said i wanted a new card, and they said there was no need as they would block any future transactions from O2.
I said its not O2 im worried about, i think that was a test transaction by cloners.
I had to insist for a new card to be issued. I would have thought that blocking the old card and sending out a new one would be standard practice!!

Smartie24

I have been a victim of this fraud - £30 taken in the name of O2 Prepay Slough. Having read though many forums on different sites, things don't seem to add up.

Many say that O2 can't do anything about it if people are slack with keeping their details safe.

Others say that O2's security is at fault, which is why they continue to be targetted by the fraudsters. As I am not on pay-as-you go, I looked up the process for online top-ups with O2. From O2's own website:

Do I need to register to Top-Up?




There is no registration process involved all you need is the mobile number you wish to Top-Up and a valid credit or debit card to follow our easy to use 3 Step process.

Step 1
Just enter the mobile number you wish to Top-Up, the credit/debit card type and the amount you want to Top-Up by.

Step 2
Enter your credit/debit card details and registered billing address.

Step 3
Confirm your Top-Up request.


This doesn't seem to align with the statement that O2 gave at the top of this thread, and suggests that all you need is card details and an address. Where is the "verification" they say they use and the usual additional security questions which are used by more secure sites?

I will be contacting O2 complaints, although as this seems to have been going on for years, I don't expect to get very far. Has anyone got any response to the conflicting information given by O2 which I've highlighted? Can anyone on Pay-as-you-go who has used the online top up confirm that the process is as insecure as the steps above suggest?

chocsessential

iansoady wrote: »

Just happened to me - £30 to O2 prepay. Smile were great - cancelled the card immediately and have just refunded the £30 the day after I called.

I have never used the card (debit) for anything other than drawing cash and shred all paper with account numbers etc so am puzzled as to how they got hold of the info.

Update: This site describes the method by which fraudsters can generate plausible and valid card numbers without ever seeing your card itself. Fascinating........

Thank you Ian for linking to that page. I had £30.00 taken from my card a few months ago for 02 top ups. I feel really angry now that O2 could do something about this by improving their security and they haven't bothered. Thankfully Barclay's were on the ball and spotted the transaction before I did and they soon refunded me the money and sent me a new card.

renovation.girl

is it just 02 because im having the same problem but with orange

crazydaving

Hi all, got back from holiday yesterday and tried to get cash out in Gatwick and found my current account had £540 missing - three Visa Debit transactions under the name "ORANGE (A/EQ/02)DARLINGTON" of £179.99 each were taken on 6th September 2011. Thing is I was in Majorca and my wallet was in the hotel safe all week!

The bank refunded my account immediately and I called Orange (whom I have a pay monthly contract with) and they have no record of the requested funds and have put a note on my monthly account for when the HSBC fraud team get in touch to dispute the transactions.

God knows how they got my Visa card details but I've requested a new card which is on its way to be safe. :T

malah1de

My CC was compromised in November - usual 2x£15 for O2 pay & go. No dealings with O2 personally, and the card used was one I only ever use online, and with a limited credit amount. Bank and O2 notified, card cancelled. Bank fraud dept. seem uninterested and said they wouldn't investigate, but would send the usual declaration form so that a refund can be made in due course. Spoke also to local police 101 service. Operator (civilian) said that as I was likely to get a refund there was no fraud! Escalated to police officer who said much the same but with a twist. According to them, the bank, or O2 should make a report to Action Fraud (AF), eventually to be sent on to National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. This seems to be the intent behind the on-line reporting system operated by AF. Fair enough. Now call me cynical, but is there any data on the diligence with which banks or O2 (amongst others defrauded) report such events to AF?

lushlady

Bumping this thread, because this has happened to me today and wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar experience recently...

£30 taken from cc to O2 Slough (UK)

my prime suspects are paypal or amazon...?

Waiting to hear back from fraud dept at HSBC

rb10

lushlady wrote: »

my prime suspects are paypal or amazon...?

What reasons do you have for suspecting those two?

I'd be very surprised if you were correct there.

lushlady

well rb10, ive been using those two most frequently. and they crop up on this forum often

its the first time this has happened to my cc, and the first time in using paypal heavily, but only as a guest

please, why are you so sure it isnt?

edit - HSBC been on the phone, and are refunding the £30