Vodafone, identity fraud, and a £3000 bill

rtmonkuh

In 2007 i took out a mobile contract with Vodafone for my partner to use the phone, as he was unable to get his own contract.

He reimbursed me each month for the amounts that were debited from my bank account.
In 2010 we split up, but he continued to use the phone and reimburse me as normal.
In September 2011, i became aware that he had not repaid me for the last 3 Vodafone bills. I attempted to contact him, however he would not respond, and deleted me from Facebook etc.
As a result, i telephoned Vodafone to cancel the contract. I was told by Vodafone that someone had changed the address on the account, so they could not speak to me as i could not confirm the address. Instead, i had to take proof of identity into a store.
I did this, and explained to the store the situation, and they changed the address for me and blocked the phone. They also told me that an ipad had been recently added to the contract! I explained i knew nothing of this, and had not even spoken to Vodafone about the account until now. They told me i would need to phone Vodafone and report it as fraud.

So i phoned Vodafone and reported the fraud. They told me their fraud department would look into what had happened, and how my ex was able to obtain a new contract and ipad in my name.

I heard nothing back from the fraud department, and was out of the country until earlier this year, at which time my bank notified me i was overdrawn. Upon checking, Vodafone had continued to debit my account each month, to the tune of over £1000.
I phoned Vodafone again. They told me the case showed as "resolved". They couldn't tell me why. They said they would pass it again to their fraud department, and i should also contact the police and report it, which i did.

The fraud department still didn't get back to me.

My next call to Vodafone revealed that in 2011 my ex had been called by Vodafone's upgrade department and offered an ipad. He had clearly pretended to be me, changed the address on the account and agreed to upgrade. He then made an attempt to collect the ipad from a store in London, but was unable to prove he was me, so was not given the ipad.
The operator told me that somehow he had collected the ipad from another store, although she couldn't tell me which one, or how he managed to prove his identity as me.

Meanwhile, the police are investigating and leasing with the Metropolitan police, yet nobody could explain to me or the police how he managed to obtain the ipad, as Vodafone said they would not give it to someone who could not confirm their identity.

The fraud department still didn't contact me (and have failed to do so to this day!).
As a result, i cancelled my direct debit, which resulted in letters from Vodafone chasing payment. I wrote to Vodafone to complain, and copied the letter to Ofcom.

On Saturday, i received a letter stating they had cancelled the contract, and i owed them a further £2146! If not paid, they would call in the debt collectors.
On Sunday i received a visit from the police, who have been unable to trace my ex. However, they told me that Vodafone have admitted to them that the ipad was never actually collected at all.

As it stands i have so far been charged over £1000 for a contract i didn't take out, and Vodafone want a further £2146 from me for an ipad which was never even supplied to anyone!

I really don't know what my next step is, as Vodafone have not ever called me back regarding this case, and have not responded to my letter. They have been totally uncooperative with me and the police, and i can't understand why they won't listen and deal with this.

Any advice would be really appreciated, as i have no idea where to go from here.

Silk

rtmonkuh wrote: »

On Saturday, i received a letter stating they had cancelled the contract, and i owed them a further £2146! If not paid, they would call in the debt collectors.
On Sunday i received a visit from the police, who have been unable to trace my ex. However, they told me that Vodafone have admitted to them that the ipad was never actually collected at all.

A Voda rep will be around soon when they see this and try to help you.
Meanwhile if it was me I would reply to the letter asap via recorded del.
Explain that you deny all liability and that you have been a victim etc etc. Make sure that you include the Police incident number and you are waiting for the fraud dept's investigation results

grumbler

Vodafone CS is abysmal.
Their fraud department is the same or even worse.
You have to be lucky to get to some competent person there that is really capable of doing something besides just fobbing customers off. Try contacting their web reps as advised in this thread: Vodafone complaints

Failing this, I would just send them a letter before action demanding full refund, dropping all charges and removing incorrect records from the credit file(s). If they refuse or ignore you, just sue them through the online small claims court.

That said, I think you were asking for a trouble by letting your ex to keep using the phone and not taking adequate measures for protecting your account from fraud.

rtmonkuh

Thanks for replying. Should i repost this in the Vodafone Complaints thread? As it looks like i need to be given a reference number to contact the web team?

grumbler

No, you can contact them as they advise in that thread and include a link to this thread.

chanz4

can you get the police to put in writing that voda said it was never collected, even from another store