Stolen phone racked up charges. Why do I have to pay?

vuvuzela

Charliechoochoo wrote: »

Just to add, the thief clearly knew what they were doing. The phone had a lock on it that was active, so phone locks are clearly not great security. I had insurance, but this does not cover unlawful useage (I have now learned to read the small print on such insurance). I am mainly shocked by the unwillingness of the service provider to offer any other options regarding payment. It is becoming increasingly obvious that I am going to have to pay the bill somehow, its just finding the money within their set time periods is going to be a challenge - especially as I don't feel I should have to pay it. First I was the victim of a crime, and now I have to pay for it. It just seems unfair.

Phone had a lock or SIM had a lock ? If it's just the phone, there is literally nothing to stop them from taking the SIM out and using it in another phone.

Jon_01

pimento wrote: »

Can a thief get past a SIM PIN? When I power my phone up I have to put two PINs in. One that unlocks my SIM card and one that unlocks my phone.

Does the SIM lock mean that a thief cannot put the SIM into another phone and make calls without getting past the SIM lock?

The sim pin is 'almost' impossible to get around. Everyone should set one, the average phone thief (and even the above average) can't break it.

Charliechoochoo

This happened in Spain. Tbh I have never heard of a SIM PIN before, so thanks for that one. I'm looking into it now.

[Deleted User]

pimento wrote: »

Can a thief get past a SIM PIN? When I power my phone up I have to put two PINs in. One that unlocks my SIM card and one that unlocks my phone.

Does the SIM lock mean that a thief cannot put the SIM into another phone and make calls without getting past the SIM lock?

No - that's the perfect security.

The SIM pin stops someone using the SIM in a different phone, and the phone pin stops it being used in the phone it's currently in, even if you've unlocked the SIM when you turned the phone on.

spokeswoman

My son lost his orange mobile and when we finally did manage to report it 5 days later we are faced with a bill for £5170.00 for calls made to Pakistan - we have never called anyone in Pakistan in our lives. Orange immediately offered to cut the bill in half - but even £2400.00 is out of the question to me. My mobile phone bill is normally £60 - £70 per month, what kind of company allows an individual to rack up a bill of £5000!

System

Who actually signed the contract with Orange for your son's mobile phone?
If your son signed, but is under 18, Orange cannot enforce payment, though they could report him to credit reference agencies as defaulting.
In any case, he or you need to write to Orange pointing out that they have negligently failed to act on Ofcom's requirement that they enable you to set a cap on usage.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/mar/09/ofcom-mobile-phone-bill-shock
Say that you are therefore willing to pay a reasonable amount, such as £60, representing what Orange could reasonably charge before applying a cap.
Say further that if Orange harass you for any payment in excess of this reasonable amount, you will counter-claim against them for your costs in dealing with their unreasonable harassment, and seek compensation for your distress.
You must put all this in writing. It's probably worth using recorded delivery. Obviously, keep a copy of what you write.

Herongull

spokeswoman wrote: »

My son lost his orange mobile and when we finally did manage to report it 5 days later we are faced with a bill for £5170.00 for calls made to Pakistan - we have never called anyone in Pakistan in our lives. Orange immediately offered to cut the bill in half - but even £2400.00 is out of the question to me. My mobile phone bill is normally £60 - £70 per month, what kind of company allows an individual to rack up a bill of £5000!

Really sorry to here about this. I'm afraid mobile companies seem very ready to let people (or theives) rack up huge bills on contract phones because of all the profit they make on them.

For peace of mind (and avoidance of risk of big finance loss) avoid contract phones in the first place. Too late for you now, but perhaps in future.

And if you do decide to have a contract because the deals work out so much better for you use a sim lock (as mentioned above).

And never ever give a contract phone to a child (or allow a child to have an supervised access to a contract phone. Children are too young take sufficient care to report lost or stolen phones quickly or to avoid phone scams (where big bills are run up buying useless but expensive ringtones as such like).

mancitychick

Can't help the OP.

However this thread has prompted me to set up a SIM card pin and screen lock password on my phone....have never lost a phone yet but you never know.

Rusty!

spokeswoman wrote: »

what kind of company allows an individual to rack up a bill of £5000!

What kind of individual loses a phone and doesn't report it for five days?

wantmemoney

Rusty! wrote:

What kind of individual loses a phone and doesn't report it for five days?

you tell us.................

may be an individual, who like me for example, may not have used that particular phone for 'five days'?