Vision Direct - SMS texts not meant for me with links to personal customer information

Mark__H

Not sure if this is the right part of the  forum to post this – happy to re-post elsewhere if another section is more suitable.

Just over 12 months ago I started receiving text messages from Vision Direct, which in effect were prompts to re-order contact lenses. As I have never worn contact lenses, I was clearly not the intended recipient of these text messages.

There was an order number on the text messages, so I have, on at least 2 occasions, phoned Vision Direct to advise them of their mistake, the last time being in April this year. The person on the other end of the phone has given the impression that they have identified their customer from the order number I gave them, and assured me that my mobile number would be deleted from the customer’s record, as it had clearly been inputted incorrectly.

Earlier this week I received yet another text from Vision Direct with the same reminder to re-order message and also containing a hyperlink to the re-order website. Clicking on the link took me to a personalised page of the Vision direct website, which was pre-filled with their customers name, address, email address, order history and several credit card accounts (last 4 digits only), expiry dates and card names.

Putting myself in the shoes of the Vision Direct customer I would be horrified to think that this kind of personal information could end up in 3rd party hands so easily.

I have actually ‘googled’ the customer's name/ address with a view to speaking them to advise them of this data breach but no landline number was forthcoming. Although in a possible ironic twist, from search results, the customer in question does appear to be in the employment of a well known tabloid newspaper!

Not sure where to go from here.  No point ringing the Vision Direct head office as I tried that last time. From their website, the Data Protection Officer is based in France and I haven’t the inclination to start cross border correspondence.

Any thoughts / ideas?

Spank

Block the number

davidmcn

Why not just contact the other customer and tell them, if you have all their other contact details?

Mark__H

davidmcn said:

Why not just contact the other customer and tell them, if you have all their other contact details?

That was my plan if I could find a landline number. Obviously I could do that anonymously.
Yes, I could email them but (given historic issues re spam) I'm fairly guarded about who I pass my email address to, innocent customer or not.   

George_Michael

Mark__H said:

Yes, I could email them but (given historic issues re spam) I'm fairly guarded about who I pass my email address to, innocent customer or not.   

Simply set up a disposable email account on Yahoo, Google, AOL, etc and use that to contact the person concerned and if/when you've received a reply, either delete the account or leave it active for possible future use.

KatrinaWaves

So despite not being a customer you clicked on links? That’s a sure fire way to get viruses and scammed never mind anything else. 

Chances are the customer may have mistyped the phone number on initial sign up. 

Mark__H

KatrinaWaves said:

So despite not being a customer you clicked on links? That’s a sure fire way to get viruses and scammed never mind anything else. 

Chances are the customer may have mistyped the phone number on initial sign up. 

1. I clicked on the links as the text messages have all come from the same number and as per my original comments, I had comfort from previous conversations with Vision Direct that they were text messages from a genuine source.
2. Well obviously that's the likely explanation.
Thank you for your insightful comments. 

I posted because I just find it wrong that despite being advised that they hold incorrect customer information, a major company should continue to send me text messages that they've been told previously are not reaching the intended recipient.   

Aylesbury_Duck

How much are you after?

Mark__H

Aylesbury_Duck said:

How much are you after?

If that's meant to be funny - it's not
If it's meant to be serious - then it's just offensive
I guard my personal details closely, hence I don't want my mobile number on somebody else's account.
I've asked the company concerned twice to amend their customer's personal information, without success.
I could just ignore the texts but that goes against the grain.
I could block the number but my mobile number is still on a record where it shouldn't be.   
Not sure how else I can explain this. 

KatrinaWaves

Your mobile number without any other corresponding details is just an 11 digit number. It is not personal information, any more than your date of birth, or your address. It is random data with nothing tied to it. 

if you blocked the number nothing would happen, at all. 

davidmcn

Mark__H said:

davidmcn said:

Why not just contact the other customer and tell them, if you have all their other contact details?

That was my plan if I could find a landline number. Obviously I could do that anonymously.
Yes, I could email them but (given historic issues re spam) I'm fairly guarded about who I pass my email address to, innocent customer or not.   

You could also send them a letter.