Problem with 3 and fraud

Emma133

Hi I am hoping someone can give me some advise as we seem to be banging our heads against a brick wall.

My Sister was guarantor for her Ex's mobile phone contract, they split up he agreed to pay for the phone which was coming out of his bank account. When he realised the relationship was over for good he used her bank details to transfer the payments over to her. She phone three, changed her passwords and had the contract capped so he couldn't go over the contract amount. He then got a "girl" friend to phone 3 and pretend to be my sister, she only had to give her name, date of birth and postcode - said "she'd" forgotton her password and had the cap lifted. He then deliberately text lots of competitions and ran up a £60 bill. My sister has been in and out of the 3 shop and on the phone to 3 since september trying to deal with this, they then reported the phone stolen, and the ex did the same again got someone to phone pretending to be her got the phone unlocked and ran up a £160 bill. Three are doing absolutely nothing about this and keep switching the phone back on, we were told there is no direct line for the fraud team and that they would phone us within 24 hours - we are still waiting 2 weeks later.

We have absolutely no idea what to do next, the police are stating theirs not enough evidence to do anything, three keep switching the account back on and my sister is constantly getting bills.

Any help would be muchly appreciated.

visidigi

put a password on the account with three?

Emma133

It has a password which has been changed, but if you phone 3 and tell them you have forgotton the password they kindly ask for your name, postcode and DOB and access your account for you. Security is second to none NOT.

It really is quite ridiculous

grumbler

Report the sim (and the phone?) lost.
Make sure that the replacement sim is sent to your address.
Ask '3' to add a notice or an extra level of security to your account, so that the address couldn't be changed easily.
You sister will still have to pay the fixed monthly bill till the end of min term and cancel the contract at the end (with 1 month notice).

Emma133

Thanks for the replys the phone and sim have been reported lost/stolen, he just gets his new GF to rephone up and state that she is my sister and shes found it.

We are aware that the fixed monthly bill will have to be paid but are furious they keep switching the phone back on for them to run up bigger bills which 3 are stating she has to pay even though she reported it stolen.

I can't believe such a large company does not have a fraud team that will speak to customers in this situation.

Silk

Emma133 wrote: »

Thanks for the replys the phone and sim have been reported lost/stolen, he just gets his new GF to rephone up and state that she is my sister and shes found it.

As Grumbler has said order a new sim to your address, that way he won't be able to run bills up

grumbler

Well, if a sim is reported stolen, a new sim gets sent to a customer as a part of the procedure. I don't think that asking for a new sim can change anything.
I think it's time to start their official complaints procedure and to seek an advice from Ofcom as they obviously fail to handle the customers' data securely.
As a part of the complaint I'd claim a refund of all extra charges resulted from their incompetence.

horsepills

Well you've definately got nothing to loose. 3 should of guarenteed withdrawel of their account access after you seperated.

Guys_Dad

This is off the top of my head and maybe worth trying. If your mother was willing to take over the account in name, and 3 agreed, then the doppelgänger who impersonates you would be thwarted unless ex-boyfriend knows your mother's d.o.b.

Maybe someone else other than mum?

Just a suggestion if you keep going round in circles. Not ideal at all.

Herongull

If this is correct anyone who has a 3 contract is potentially very vulnerable to fraud?

If your phone is lost or stolen and you report it lost or stolen, then all the thief has to do is pretend to be you (and know your postcode and dob - perhaps they can get these details from hacking into facebook or some other social networking site), then they can keep making calls and purchases indefinitely via the phone.

You keep reporting it stolen and they keep reporting it found, and on they go racking up huge bills, perhaps taking the phone abroad to run up thousands of £ worth of bills? Your bank account goes further and further into the red, racking up overdraft fees....

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Why would anyone have a contract phone? Huge risk to your finances, and loads of stress until it is sorted out!

Guys_Dad

Herongull wrote: »

Why would anyone have a contract phone? Huge risk to your finances, and loads of stress until it is sorted out!

The same problem relates to sim-only as well, I am afraid. I can answer why I have sim only and not PAYG. I believe it is cheaper for me and I have a DD going out every month that more than covers my use.

I also have a PAYG as standby but can't be hassled with having to keep a check on my balance and top up. Certainly it is much more expensive per text/minute. (OK, it's not Giff Gaff)