Phantom phone call from 08434100683

savdefriz

I am with Talkmobile, and a very light user of my phone, so I was surprised when I recieved my monthly bill for £17. My usual bill is around £8 so although not a lot it was more than usual.

After looking through my itemised bill there was a call for around £8 to the number 08434100683 which I definitely did not make. I had previously had a call from the number and foolishly called them back and unsurprisingly it was a PPI scam.

More intriguingly though 2 days later my bill shows that I had a 40 minute call with this number at precisely the time I drive home from work, sandwiched between 2 calls I remember making to my friend.

Top and bottom I have disputed the call with Talkmobile but they insist I made it and have already deducted the money vis Direct Debit from my account.

I know it's only £8 but is this one for the ombudsmen as they have washed their hands of the matter?

DUTR

savdefriz wrote: »

I am with Talkmobile, and a very light user of my phone, so I was surprised when I recieved my monthly bill for £17. My usual bill is around £8 so although not a lot it was more than usual.

After looking through my itemised bill there was a call for around £8 to the number 08434100683 which I definitely did not make. I had previously had a call from the number and foolishly called them back and unsurprisingly it was a PPI scam.

More intriguingly though 2 days later my bill shows that I had a 40 minute call with this number at precisely the time I drive home from work, sandwiched between 2 calls I remember making to my friend.

Top and bottom I have disputed the call with Talkmobile but they insist I made it and have already deducted the money vis Direct Debit from my account.

I know it's only £8 but is this one for the ombudsmen as they have washed their hands of the matter?

Semi confused here, if you were driving home at the time of the call, how did you call your friend twice before and after the alleged call?

grumbler

IMO, all signs ("sandwiched between 2 calls I remember making to my friend") indicate an accidental call made by you, although it's difficult to explain why the call wasn't terminated earlier on the other side. Answerphone maybe?

savdefriz

I phoned my mate when I was leaving work, no reply. Drove home which takes me about 15 minutes got in sat down called him back and in between those calls I had apparently made a call to that number. Both calls to him appear on my phone log, but the other phantom one doesn't.

Not just me either by all accounts!

I checked the number out on whocalls me and it's happened to a few others.

savdefriz

See I thought about the accidental one, but tried the number using 141 from my landline and it terminated after 20 seconds.

Buzby

I've seen this happen too - but it was my fault. Depending of the phone and firmware - it is possible to instigate a second call from a phone with the number in last number memory. This will not show in the phone's log.

Because you called the number before, this is all the more likely, and in my case the handset was in my back pocket, but the keypad unlocked.

A complaint will not fly - the billing systems have been certified and there is high confidence by OFCOM in these systems. The networks can also identify the cell site where the call originated, and this will invariably be from the IMEI of your phone, which ends the argument.

On a different tack, it doesn't matter if you personally didn't make (or have knowledge of the call being made) as your contract requires you to ay for all correctly billed calls.

grumbler

savdefriz wrote: »

.... my bill shows that I had a 40 minute call with this number at precisely the time I drive home from work, sandwiched between 2 calls I remember making to my friend....

savdefriz wrote: »

I phoned my mate when I was leaving work, no reply. Drove home which takes me about 15 minutes got in sat down called him back and in between those calls I had apparently made a call to that number. ...

Is there no contradiction here (40 minutes and 15 minutes)?.

savdefriz

Thanks, that's pretty much what the mobile company said, but I'm absolutely adamant that the call was not made from my phone. I cant post a link on here as I'm a newbie (relatively) but if this had just happened to me I would be less sure....

If you can work this link out, have a look and let me know what you think.

whocallsme.com slash Phone-Number.aspx slash 08434100683 slash 7

savdefriz

Grumbler, please forgive me but from phoning before leaving work to the point of getting my bag etc, walking to the car park, driving home, parking the car, kissing the kids as I get in, and putting the kettle on before once again trying to phone took me 40 minutes!

savdefriz

No I apologise grumbler, I phoned him at 17:12, he then tried phoning me back twice at 17:16 and 17:20 while I was driving and I eventually called him again at 17:41. 29 minutes later...

The phone call I allegedly made happened at 17:13 for 25 minutes and 57 seconds.

So from memory I exaggerated slightly and I apologise.

DUTR

savdefriz wrote: »

Grumbler, please forgive me but from phoning before leaving work to the point of getting my bag etc, walking to the car park, driving home, parking the car, kissing the kids as I get in, and putting the kettle on before once again trying to phone took me 40 minutes!

So could it have been somebody in the house had dialled the number?