Home Phone Line Fraud - Not Possible??

lady_lurkalot

This is the first time I've ever posted on any MSE forum (although as my name suggests I do 'lurk' a lot) but I really need some help and advice please. My 86 year old mother who lives alone has somehow had her home phone line 'hacked' and has received a bill of £1,600+. All the calls were made to 09 sex line numbers in the early hours of the morning (usually between midnight and 4.00 am). There is no way that my mum made these calls, and no way that anyone else could have been in her house at that time of night. Her telephone provider (who I won't name at the moment) is investigating this as (in their words) a 'possible' fraud but is insistent that the calls were made from that line. They have asked BT to send an engineer to investigate, but I get the impression that they think this is a waste of time as he won't find anything. Has anyone else had any experience of this happening before and if so how was it resolved? Thanks

lady_lurkalot

I had a reply to my message earlier but it has now disappeared from this forum - not sure why? (Thanks to the person who posted - sorry I can't remember your name). This reply confirmed my suspicions that this is NOT an isolated case and BT has known for a long time that this hacking is going on. WHY HAS THERE BEEN NO BIG OUTCRY AND INVESTIGATION OF THIS FRAUD? I'm not sure what to do next, might try and get in touch with BT Fraud Dept myself tomorrow. If anyone else reading this forum has recently experienced a similar problem, please post and let me know.

wantmemoney

hi lady lurkalot,
I posted it but deleted it when you didn't return. For goodness sake do not allow your mother to pay that bill.

Contact
http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/For-the-Public/Make-a-complaint.aspx

Contact your MP if need be.

you could also speak to your mothers neighbours to see if they have also been affected.

WHY HAS THERE BEEN NO BIG OUTCRY AND INVESTIGATION OF THIS FRAUD?

The Networks pay the UK Government Billions each year in licences and taxes.

If you need me to replace the emails let me know

lady_lurkalot

Thanks for getting back Wantmemoney

There's no way my mum is going to pay that bill but its such a worry for her. I will do as you suggest and lodge a formal complaint with Phonepayplus and also investigate who her MP is, with a view to involving him also. Do you think its worth reporting this to the police? (mum's phone provider said they will not be involving the police when I spoke to them today). I will also get my mum to ask around her neighbours to see if any of them have been 'hacked'.

One thing I didn't make a note of from your first reply was the name of the website that you can use to check phone numbers. If you could repost it that would be great. Thanks again

Buzby

Until BT complete their investigation she should ensure the bill is flagged as being in dispute. It is often possible for a line to be hacked, especially if she is in a flat and there is easy access to her line. The first thing she needs to to is make her line less attractive - ask BT to immediately block all access to premium rate numbers. This will result in the inability to dial anything commencing 09xx and will prevent these calls being made by anyone.

lady_lurkalot

Thanks Buzby the line was eventually blocked by the phone provider from 09 numbers but by then the calls had been going on nightly for a week and the bill was already £1,600. Various 09 numbers were being called one after another continuously from midnight to about 4.00 am every morning. The phone provider said they have asked BT to check the line but so far they haven't done so as far as we know. Meanwhile my mum is worrying herself sick over this bill. Interestingly enough my mum does live in a flat (sheltered accommodation) which you say could be easy to hack into the phone line? I have now submitted an on line complaint form to PhonePayPlus.

wantmemoney

it might be an idea to post the numbers here

Buzby

It sounds as though it is in 'inside' job - and clearly there is a criminal action taking place, she needs to advise the site manager that she is aware of the interception of the line, and before she makes a formal complain to the local police station, could they confirm whether this has happed before?

This should put the cat amongst the pigeons!

wantmemoney

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Calls.aspx/090

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Calls.aspx/091

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Calls.aspx/098

here are the 'who calls me'

and
ps remember to post the numbers

Phones4Chris

If/when you report it to the Police, don't be fobbed off with "BT have do do an investigation first" excuse, tell them very clearly there has been a fraud, you are reporting it and you want a crime reference number and a log number for the call and the call taker's collar number and make a note of it all along with time and date, for future reference. If you are still being fobbed off and they won't give you a crime reference number, you can insist on a log number and the collar number and if you are still having problems ask to speak to the duty inspector.

lady_lurkalot

Thanks everyone for your replies. My mum lives in local authority accommodation so perhaps she should report this to the council? Two of the numbers which are listed on the bill are:
09828736666
09059151234
I've tried to trace them through Whocallsme and Phonepayplus but can't find out anything although the phone provider has said that all the numbers called were sex chat lines. We chased them up again yesterday to see what they are doing about investigating this fraud, they said they have requested BT to carry out checks (end to end? and other checks) but do not know if these have been done yet. We did contact the police when we first found out about this, but they didn't want to know. Will contact them again and be more insistent as suggested by Phones4Chris