Vodafone have acused me of being a Fraudster

kentgirl_2

I will do my best to keep this brief, but as I am so angry, may be hard.

I am self-employed and have the following products with Vodafone:-

Blackberry
Dongle
Sim card for vehicle tracker

I have two teenage children who also have Vodafone mobiles purchased by myself. They were both on PAYG. As my daughter's usage was increasing, I purchased online with Vodafone a 12 month Sim Card deal using my personal bank account. This went through with no problems.

As soon as my son realised, he too asked if he could stop being PAYG and do the same. This is where the problems started. I placed another order online with Vodafone a few days later. I was totally shocked to receive an email stating

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for your recent order. As part of our standard process, we’ve run a credit check with the external credit reference agency Experian using the details you gave us.

Unfortunately the details didn’t meet our credit criteria so we’re unable to process your order and you haven’t been charged

[/FONT]

I spent the whole of the next day trying to get through to Vodafone asking for an explanation. I was told that because I had placed an order on a different bank account (still in my name and with same building society), it had flagged up that I was trying to commit a fraud. I explained that this card was for personal use, and as such would come out of my personal account and not business account.

I was then told by another member of staff that until I had at least a months payments on this new sim card, they wouldn't let me have another. This is despite the fact that I have never missed a single Vodafone payment.

Out of interest, I again tried to place an order online with Vodafone for this 12 month sim only deal. This time, I used my business account. Surprise surprise, again I received the standard email about not passing credit checks.

What amazes me is that I have never had a bad credit rating and always pay my bills on time. I even paid for an Experian Credit Report which also backed up my excellent credit rating. As part of my job, I am not allowed to have a criminal record or have been insolvent at anytime.

I am totally insulted that Vodafone can treat me in such a way. I would love to take my business elsewhere, but unfortunately they have me over a barrel here, as Vodafone is the only network we can receive in my house.

Am I the only person who has been branded a fraudster by Vodafone?

Oscar_The_Grouch

I'd be tempted to take the following action:

1. Send in a letter of complaint to Voda head office
2. Get a cheap, unlocked, phone and a PAYG sim card for each of the other providers.
3. Speak to the other providers to see if they are improving reception in your area
4. Keep checking the reception using the PAYG sim cards and the unlocked phone
5. As soon as you have a good reception from another provider, get in touch with them and explain your financial/business position & begin migrating your business.

Hopefully, part 1 will actually resolve the issue for you and Voda will update their records, but do you really want to stay with them after that?

swilliam

Vodafones comments are the least of your problems. You will now have a CIFAS warning on your CRF which can really effect your credit rating.

CIFAS - the UK's Fraud Prevention Service aims to detect and prevent fraud, in order to protect innocent people whose names, addresses, or other details, are used fraudulently by others in order to get financial or other benefits. CIFAS member organisations include many types of financial service organisations such as banks, building societies, insurance companies, finance houses, mail order and telecommunication companies. All member organisations share details of applications for products or services, which are believed to be fraudulent. More information about CIFAS is available at http://www.cifas.org.uk/

kentgirl_2

That is absolutely fantastic and means that potentially I could lose my job. Ironically, it is normally me who investigates fraudsters which is why I am so angry about this.

OneADay

Applying for the deal twice is not going to help.
Just do what they expect - wait a month....or just use a different network.

kentgirl_2

OneADay wrote: »

Applying for the deal twice is not going to help.
.

Only reapplied as Vodafone informed me the problem was due to using my personal bank account for the second order.

Believe me, I would love to go with another provider.

parallax_20

swilliam wrote: »

Vodafones comments are the least of your problems. You will now have a CIFAS warning on your CRF which can really effect your credit rating.

CIFAS - the UK's Fraud Prevention Service aims to detect and prevent fraud, in order to protect innocent people whose names, addresses, or other details, are used fraudulently by others in order to get financial or other benefits. CIFAS member organisations include many types of financial service organisations such as banks, building societies, insurance companies, finance houses, mail order and telecommunication companies. All member organisations share details of applications for products or services, which are believed to be fraudulent. More information about CIFAS is available at http://www.cifas.org.uk/

I had a fraudster use my personal details to obtain a credit account with an online retailer. Luckily they detected the details used failed the credit check (they were not all correct) and notified me of the fact. I agreed to be registered on the CIFAS database. I was told it would not affect my credit rating in anyway and is there to serve as an extra layer of protection in verifying your identity. Which is good in my books. All it means from my point of view is that any credit applications would be credit checked as normal, but those flagged on the CIFAS database will probably get a call to verify your identity before its finally accepted and processed.

kentgirl - Did you apply for the SimOnly deals online? I suspect it would look a bit dodgy if you were to take 2 subsequent contracts using the same details. Its a bit like credit cards....you make 1 large purchase once in a while and they'll let it go. If you make 2 within a short period that immediately flags as potential fraud. I had this when I was a bit indecisive with my laptop purchase.

I suspect if you called us CS and requested the purchase of the other two sims you would have been fine.

dave2

Vf havent accused you of anything. You've simply tripped over their anti-fraud security measures. Nothing special against you, simply their standard policy. It's actually there to protect both them and you against a fraudster; that is, their system thinks there is a high risk that someone is impersonating you.

Twice I've had my CC ripped off and both times it is systems like these which have flagged it up, once by the CC company once by the company being purchased from. After that I'm not so bothered when I have to jump through some hoops.

Let it go and don't take it personally. There are lots of fraudsters out there and companies need to protect themselves and us in ways that sometimes are annoying and frustrating. The real criticism is that despite flagging up a possible fraud they haven't followed up by notifying you via the known-good accounts.

However have a read of http://www.cifas.org.uk/default.asp?edit_id=954-28 if you're worried about swilliam's point.

swilliam

dave2 wrote: »

However have a read of http://www.cifas.org.uk/default.asp?edit_id=954-28 if you're worried about swilliam's point.

CIFAS warnings on your CRF are a pain. Yes a warning will flag a potential creditor to make further checks. BUT most checks are computer based and WILL be rejected, no human will be involved in the follow up check.

The outcome will be a failed credit search which will further effect your credit report.

IF a human was doing the search they may make the phone call and confirm all is well, but the majority of credit checks are computer scored.


Source : CS at Equifax and Experian when I suffered the same fate on an unblemished perfect credit report. It took me 12 months to resolve the issue. I have since cancelled all subscriptions to any form of credit card or bank fraud protection. It was there very protection that trounced my credit record with CIFAS warnings.

Some things are self defeating

greyster

there is a restriction in place for how many lines you can take out. Do you think a company will let a customer take as many contracts out as they like? They do a risk assessment like any company that handles credit and apply certain restrictions to your account. For the vast majority of people they will never go over the restrictions and therefore will not know they exist or care. However you had 3 lines, you then immediately wanted another two... my suspicion is that you've exceeded the limit. I think even if you went elsewhere, you would have had the same problem (I work for a competitor).

The people there haven't labelled you a fraudster, you've just fallen into the net. Non-fraudsets sometimes do and it can be quite a pain I understand but the rules are there to a) adhere to credit rules set by regulators b) protect your account from being highjacked with people taking out more phones in your name and c) protect their profits by reducing the number of 'non paying' customers. The system is not perfect, hence this issue but it protects o2 and as many customers as possible.

I would do what they suggest and just pay for a month on the additional line, and in a month or two, take out another line. It will show you are a genuine customer like I know you are.

mobilejunkie

Vodafone allow me 6 contracts without referral to another check; T-Mobile allow me 5. I have also had multiple contracts with Orange and O2 and at one time had 10 simultaneous contracts. Networks aren't like banks (who pass on your personal information with government blessing even though they aren't allowed to look at your information with them in another department of their own organisation). One network won't be aware of how many (if any) contracts you have with another network and won't care. I also don't believe applying for a contract outside any limits would throw up a sign saying "suspected fraud". I have also applied for two contracts with the same network (when I already had existing ones with them) within either thre same day or successive days without being denied on at least two occasions.

In fact, some dealers put a much more limited restriction on how many contracts you can have through them regardless of which networks they are with - even though said networks would be quite happy for you to take out several more with them.