Money taken from O2 account by Microsoft - Fraud

foogirl

Some money has been charged to a friend's son's mobile phone account. They got texts saying the payment was for goods from microsoft.

It appears they have been paid for using the O2 "Charge to Mobile" service, but it definitely wasn't her son who made the payment, and Microsoft have confirmed that none of their accounts have bought anything.

At the moment O2 are saying they need to check it with Microsoft.

Can anyone offer any advice?

Edited to add: So far she has discovered it has come through a service called Boku

powerful_Rogue

Im guessing your friends son has a Windows mobile phone?

How old is the son?

agrinnall

Boku is a mobile payment system, I'd guess he made a payment but it has used intermediaries that he wasn't aware of. In app purchase seems like a likely candidate.

foogirl

It is an iphone.

It happened at 11pm last night. He's 11 years old and was in bed, he didn't even have his phone with him at the time.

The payments were made in very quick succession, a hundred and something, two hundred and something, three hundred and something and finally after the third payment, o2 put a stop to it.

He has a £9 a month subscription and he hasn't ever used his account to pay.

o2 are saying they wont refund the payment. So she's faced with a 450 quid bill just before christmas for something that he hasn't paid for.

foogirl

Apologies for drip feeding - this is all happening as the morning progresses. A little more of the story. Earlier in the evening, they were playing on the x-box. Phone sitting in the room. All of a sudden, the phone screen flashed up on their TV (not a smart TV) and there was a message saying you tube had been paired with the phone.

It sounds like the x-box has been hacked in some way. Is it possible for someone to gain access to a phone through the x-box or something.

We've all totally confused here! Are O2 obliged to put a hold on the account if she is telling them it is fraudulent? She keeps being told her son must have done it but it really does sound like he couldn't have.

unholyangel

Boku's page seems to indicate the purchaser needs to authorise the payment first by inputting the number then by replying Y to the confirmation text message (which is perhaps why they're so sure the son has authorised it).

Have you contacted boku to see if they can shed any light?

You could also ask for a letter of deadlock to refer it to ofcom.

powerful_Rogue

Without knowing the full details, its hard to really advise.

What are the actual charges for? (What has been purchased?)
What time did the transactions take place?

I think the son is being a bit coy with the information he is supplying. To connect your phone to the xbox, you need to download the Xbox Smartglass App to your phone and go through a pairing process.

http://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-360/apps/my-xbox-live-requirements

foogirl

Whoa!

Well, things have moved on.

It turns out, earlier in the evening his "friend" had said "you're getting a code, send it to me" so he did.

This "friend" (11 years old) has bought 400 quids worth of games in 2 hours.

The son never mentioned it because he didn't think it had anything to do with the texts about the money.

His poor mum has been shouting at everyone about it. But it now seems she will have to pay!

powerful_Rogue

foogirl wrote: »

Whoa!

Well, things have moved on.

It turns out, earlier in the evening his "friend" had said "you're getting a code, send it to me" so he did.

This "friend" (11 years old) has bought 400 quids worth of games in 2 hours.

The son never mentioned it because he didn't think it had anything to do with the texts about the money.

His poor mum has been shouting at everyone about it. But it now seems she will have to pay!

I thought as much when you said they were playing xbox together and the phone connected to the screen.

Glad you got to the bottom of it and that your friend will get her money back.

foogirl

Ahh, no, the other lad has done it from his own account. They weren't playing together. Her son had no idea what the code was for, he just trusted his friend. None of the stuff they have paid for is on their xbox.

takman

foogirl wrote: »

Apologies for drip feeding - this is all happening as the morning progresses. A little more of the story. Earlier in the evening, they were playing on the x-box. Phone sitting in the room. All of a sudden, the phone screen flashed up on their TV (not a smart TV) and there was a message saying you tube had been paired with the phone.

It sounds like the x-box has been hacked in some way. Is it possible for someone to gain access to a phone through the x-box or something.

We've all totally confused here! Are O2 obliged to put a hold on the account if she is telling them it is fraudulent? She keeps being told her son must have done it but it really does sound like he couldn't have.

Just to point out this has nothing to do with what happened. If you have the YouTube app on your phone you can connect to an Xbox or Ps3 etc to play the videos on the TV and control it on your phone.

But I hope they go and visit this other boys house and have a word with his parents about this "theft". At the very least he should have the games deleted and his xbox taken away so he doesn't benefit from it!.