Orange nightmare

bukko

I've had a phone from Orange since 1996.

In November 2014 my account was hijacked by someone in East London, who fraudulently ordered a new phone using my upgrade.
It took me a while to convince Orange it wasn't my doing but eventually I got my account back and they gave me a free month (woohoo).
They eventually admitted that there had been a security flaw which had allowed this to happen, and set up additional security on my account so it "wouldn't happen again".

The only lasting effect seemed to be that my online Orange account no longer worked, and I have since been told by Orange customer service that this is a fault affecting loads of Orange customers and it will probably never be resolved as all their funds are committed to EE rather than maintaining the old Orange customers!
As a result of this I switched back to paper billing, which they did for free as I can't see my bills online.

Anyway, on June 26th I had an SMS from Orange telling me my address had been changed. I hadn't done this so I phoned to query it. I was told there had been a fraud attempt but it had been foiled thanks to the additional security, and was now in the hands of the fraud team so all would be ok. Well done, I thought!

2 months later and I haven't received any bills lately so I phoned to check. Apparently, the reason I hadn't received any is because my address was changed on June 25th.

At this point I may have slightly "gone into one". However I was told that they would change my address back and they would resend my bills. I demanded they give me some assurance that this would not happen again, but all I got was reasons why it wasn't the fault of customer service because the fraud team was dealing with it, blah blah.

So:

(1) Despite knowing that my account was being targeted and adding more security, my account is still being successfully attacked
(2) my address was changed fraudulently even though I notified Orange of the fraud and their fraud team was dealing with it
(3) My bills - with my personal details on - were sent to someone else

(Note - have just had another SMS saying my password has been changed!)

No doubt a few trolls will be along soon to tell me why this is all my fault, but in the meantime, what on Earth can I do to sort out this ridiculous situation?

Jon_01

To get past the added security it has to be someone that's knows you well enough to answer the questions.

The only way to stop this is to add to your acc that you MUST be called on your mobile number whenever a change to anything on the acc is requested (even if done in store).

bukko

Jon_01 wrote: »

To get past the added security it has to be someone that's knows you well enough to answer the questions.

I don't believe they even ask the security questions. Usually when I phone, nobody asks me unless I mention it!

Jon_01 wrote: »

The only way to stop this is to add to your acc that you MUST be called on your mobile number whenever a change to anything on the acc is requested (even if done in store).

Yes they said they would add that feature. I might test it out to see if they are paying attention!

Jon_01

They shouldn't do anything until they've done a security check. I worked there for years (before the EE merger) and anyone not doing a check would be out. Full stop, no iffy or buts. If their staff aren't doing even that it's a breach of the DPA.

Don't underestimate poeple. Some &^*&er opened an acc in my mothers name 2 days after she passed away! That was someone she knew...

bukko

Jon_01 wrote: »

They shouldn't do anything until they've done a security check. I worked there for years (before the EE merger) and anyone not doing a check would be out. Full stop, no iffy or buts. If their staff aren't doing even that it's a breach of the DPA.

Don't underestimate poeple. Some &^*&er opened an acc in my mothers name 2 days after she passed away! That was someone she knew...

Whoa - some people are truly despicable. Very sorry to hear that

Anyway I decided to switch providers so I called EE today to get a PUC/PAC code whatever it's called.
Apparently my security question has been removed now because they consider the matter resolved, but they haven't re-instated my password!
So currently there is no security question and no password.
The only security questions I was asked related to my bill, which the fraudsters would know because EE helpfully sent my bills to them :mad:

I've had no response from EE about this, so I believe I'm doing the right thing by moving.
A shame after nearly 20 years with Orange, but what else can I do? They are a joke.

eDicky

bukko wrote: »

I believe I'm doing the right thing by moving.
A shame after nearly 20 years with Orange, but what else can I do? They are a joke.

I agree. The consistently good all-round service that I also enjoyed as an Orange customer since their beginnings 20+ years ago is now history. The only thing still keeping me loyal for now is the free home broadband I still get as long as my (monthly rollover) contract doesn't change.