catalogue fraud! Not my address or name but my account number

chalkychickas

I'm in desperate need of some advice.
I have an ace 24 catalogue account of which I Do a little bit of shopping but not much so much to my horror when I receive an email saying Ive order two blackberry mobiles at a cost of nearly £300 each!!!
I quickly logged on the account to find that they had used a different address and had stolen my surname while using a false first time.
I got straight on the phone to them in tears explaining that this was NOT my order! They told me they couldnt cancel the order as it was already in progress and so they had to let the item be delievered however they had passed all my details to another part of their team who would look into it!
Then I was told I would have to wait 14 days before an investigation would happen as this is standard practise! I was totally shock at their attitude as in 14 days this so called Jessica was well away with £600 of new phones and I'm left with the bill!!!!!
I can't sleep and I'm always worrying about what's going to happen! It's not something I can afford to pay!!!
Can Anyone offer any advice as to how I can deal with this or if this is how they deal with things???
Many thanks

UnderPressure

This is quite simply fraud and is a criminal matter, you have notified the company who for all intents do not seem all that bothered, I would pop along to your local police station with all the information and report it as a crime, if anything it will strengthen your case with the catalogue company.

Good luck

bod1467

Agreed. Be aware though that the police are unlikely to do anything other than give you a crime reference number.

However you can then go back to the catalogue company with this reference number - that may put a rocket up their butts and force them into action.

JimmyTheWig

I agree.
It should all get sorted.
Chances are the company will write it off as a loss rather than try to get their phones back. But that's up to them.
As far as you are concerned, they should remove the items from your statement and ensure that if it took you over your limit that this isn't reported as such to credit reference agencies.

halibut2209

You'd have thought the company would check first before sending high value goods to a different surname and registered address. Idiots.

fluffnutter

Easier said than done, OP, but try not to worry. You firmly have the law on your side and this will get resolved, I'm sure. As already advised, get a crime number from the police, contact the company again giving them this number and ask for a swift resolution. I assume you have a credit account with them in which case at least the money's not been taken from your account. Make sure they have this £600 sum marked as 'in dispute' or similar so that they don't chase you for payment whilst they're investigating.

And lastly, cancel your account with them. Whilst fraud can happen to anybody and any company, it's seems safer to cut your ties with this company. Plus they've not fallen over themselves to reassure you of a quick resolution.

chalkychickas

Thank you everyone for you helpful advice, I feel alot more confident in what i need to do now!

LPJL

The exact same thing happened to me this morning ! Received an email from 24Studio telling me that they will be dispatching 2 Blackberry phones to an address in London, to a person that I dont know, the bill totalled over £600, phoned them immediately and explained that it wasnt me and that they better put a stop on order immediately and they said they would try and stop the order and that they would cancel my account but didnt seem that bothered by it all, they have also said that I have to send in a utility bill confirming my real address so that they can stop everything, not impressed by them at all so will be reporting this to the police !:mad:

vickynleon

maybe this is a scam within the company seeing how many they can get away with. i have an account with them but i will be ringing them in the morning to cancel it. really hope you both get it sorted but i cant imagine the worry. i'd be mortified. good luck.

chalkychickas

Hi,
im so sorry LPJL that this has happened to you as well! I still feel sick to my stomach that people think its ok to do this, makes me so angry!
well update.....
I have been to the police who wouldn't report it as a crime as at the moment because what this 'person' has done is commit fraud againist the company and not me personally as i haven't actually lost any money YET! As soon as i personally loose money because of this fraud then i can report it as fraud.
so at the advice of the police, i have confirmed with Ace/Studio24 that they have logged my complaint of fraud and will be getting it in writing. They also said i will have to wait the 14 days as the company have the responsibility to sort this as a fraud crime within that time scale.

Just praying this gets sorted!
LPJL keep us updated with what happens?

Thanks again everyone x

vickynleon

what a worry for you both though, how many more people will this happen to and it go unnoticed for 2 people on here to have had this problem theres bound to be soo many more, really hope you get it sorted as soon as possible so you don't have to worry. i have rung up this morning and cancelled my account and they asked the reason why and i said what had happened to 2 people so i dont trust their system so hopefully this will be noted down.