Orange sent me letter but i never opened a phone with them?!

JellyIcecream

this is my story.

OH received a letter from Orange the other day which basically thanked him for opening a phone account with them and confirming that the insurance will be paid by direct debit through his account.

The problem is, my OH never opened an Orange phone (altho WAY back years ago, he had a phone with them which he cancelled YEARS ago).

The letter has my OH's correct name and address. It also states that the direct debits will be coming out of HSBC. Now, the thing is, he does bank with HSBC but the sort code/account number provided on the letter by Orange is not one of his accounts.

He rang up Orange who were rather unhelpful in that they wouldn't deal with him unless he gave more personal details, which understandably he didnt want to! They said they will 'investigate' but didnt give any indication of procedure or timescale.

He rang up HSBC who have confirmed he only has the accounts he is aware of with them and none of them have the same details as that on the Orange letter.

I was more concerned than OH as I was convinced that some sort of identity fraud is going on here as I cant understand how Orange would send a letter as such from out of the blue unless the details were provided for them.

Question now is, what do we do? Although HSBC have logged his query there is nothing they can do. Orange are just useless in helping.

Has anyone heard of similar? Obviously, i'm worried from a fraud point of view with regards to affecting his credit ratings or identity etc.

help pls anyone?

deborahgreen_2

Hello OP, I don't think you should worry about this as the account details given by Orange to you is not yours. Its better you just ignore this. May be Orange has taken your OH's name and address by mistake.

whiskydry

I disagree, I would worry because when whoever bought the phone doesn't pay their bills, it is your husband's name and address they have. So although the fraudster isn't dipping into your bank account, he could very easily still be landing a whole heap of trouble on your doorstep.

I would contact Citizen's Advice ASAP I think.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

DarkConvict

I would ring orange, and ask to speak to fraud department. State you have received letter indicating that a phone contract has been taken out in his name and address. He has never signed up for it or received the phone.

Ring 07973 100 150 for PAYG, or 07973 100 450 for contract. But either way ask to be passed to the fraud department.

BritRael

I would write (also to the bank) stating the details that you have stated here. Keep a copy and send it registered. The ball is then firmly in their court.

By phoning, it's already cost you money and unfortunately you have no idea if it's done any good.

Good luck.

Jon_01

OK, Call in now. I work in the fraud dept. You ned to get this killed off as soon as possible.

Call CS (150) and tell them what's happened. Give them the info from the letter (acc number) and they'll pass it to the fraud team and that'll be the end of it.

JellyIcecream

Jon_01 wrote: »

OK, Call in now. I work in the fraud dept. You ned to get this killed off as soon as possible.

Call CS (150) and tell them what's happened. Give them the info from the letter (acc number) and they'll pass it to the fraud team and that'll be the end of it.

hi there.

by CS you mean Oranges Customer services right? we dont have an orange phone so would that be 07973 100 450 which DarkConvict provided?

If so, i believe thats who he spoke to and they didnt do much? should he ring again?

whiskydry

deborahgreen wrote: »

May be Orange has taken your OH's name and address by mistake.

I just had to come back to this - how on earth would it be possible for Orange to have taken the OPs name and address by mistake?! The customer stands there saying "Joseph Jones, 23 Arcacia Avenue, Orange Town, England" and the salesman somehow writes down "Arthur Smith, 55 Culdesac Road, Expert Town, England" and by some miracle, having done that, there just happens to be a person of that name in that house?? A leeeetle bit unlikely as scenarios go I think!

JellyIcecream

whiskydry wrote: »

I just had to come back to this - how on earth would it be possible for Orange to have taken the OPs name and address by mistake?! The customer stands there saying "Joseph Jones, 23 Arcacia Avenue, Orange Town, England" and the salesman somehow writes down "Arthur Smith, 55 Culdesac Road, Expert Town, England" and by some miracle, having done that, there just happens to be a person of that name in that house?? A leeeetle bit unlikely as scenarios go I think!

thats exactly how I feel! I said to OH that someone, somewhere had to provide his name and address to Orange and/or HSBC to get an account.
Its actually the bank account I am more worried about, imagine the amount of money that could be fraudulently obtained!
But HSBC have come back to confirm that he only has the accounts that he knows of, which is even more confusing! I mean, why would Orange have his name/address and some bank details that HSBC say dont belong to him?
It REEKS of fraud but no one at Orange can seem to help?!

Jon_01

JellyIcecream wrote: »

hi there.

by CS you mean Oranges Customer services right? we dont have an orange phone so would that be 07973 100 450 which DarkConvict provided?

If so, i believe thats who he spoke to and they didnt do much? should he ring again?

The number ending in 450 is payg customer service, change that to 150 and you'll get contract CS.

Yes, ring again, if they didn't tell you it was sorted they didn't do it right, which if it was payg would be about right...
They 'should' put you on hold while they give the info to the fraud dept and then come back to you with some info.

DarkConvict

I can't agree with Jon01 on this more, you need shot of it asap. Regards of what the CS might say, insist on been put though to the fraud department. It would be a good idea to keep a log of phone calls to orange, incase they don't do anything and try and charge you. In which case you can inform the police you notified orange but they failed to act.

Your covering your own back.