Unsolicited emails from O2. Contract taken out in my name. Fraud or Phishing?

dosh37

Today I received four consecutive emails from O2:-

1 'Here are your pre-contract documents' (with two attached PDF documents)

2 'It's time to choose your included extra'

3 'Your O2 Tariff change'

4 'We've received your order. You're all set.'

I have never attempted to take out an O2 contract. I have never been an O2 customer.

I called O2 but they have no record of my home address or email address so they seemed unwilling or unable to investigate.

The email headers give:-

[email protected]

mail.o2.com [158.230.100.106] (which is from domain virginmediao2.co.uk).

Is there some fraud or phishing attempt going on here and what should I do?

k_man

Could someone have mistyped the contact email address?

This is quite common with large email providers.

e.g. dosh38@email.com (or dosh37@email.co.uk) is wondering where their documents are!

Any other contact details in the documents?

dosh37

k_man said:

Could someone have mistyped the contact email address?

This is quite common with large email providers.

e.g. dosh38@email.com (or dosh37@email.co.uk) is wondering where their documents are!

Any other contact details in the documents?

Unlikely since the emails include my full name including the first letter of my middle name.

Few people would have that information.

The second email includes:-

'Your tariff change is all sorted. You're now on: O2 Sim Only Unlimited  mins 24M 75GB'.

The fourth email includes:-

Thanks for your order - it's now full steam ahead our end.

'That new phone you ordered is being set up right now. And we've added
all your confirmation documents to your My O2 account, so you can view
them at any time.'

That suggests someone ordered a contract phone plus SIM from O2 using my name and email.

I'm not sure how they go about getting it delivered to their own address unless they somehow intercept the delivery.

How do O2 check the address given?

Also how would they go about obtaining a phone without making a payment unless they have my bank or credit card information?

I have not downloaded or looked at the attached PDFs from the first email since PDFs can contain viruses.

I found a 'This Is Money' article that looks suspiciously similar:-

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/beatthescammers/article-10539975/The-fraudsters-steal-identity-O2-phone-contracts.html

The O2 website gives this information:-

Reporting a scam email, text or call

Some scams might pretend to be from O2, or from an organisation you already deal with. It's important that we see examples of phishing emails, texts and websites so we can investigate and shut down scammers.

To report a suspicious email:

• for suspicious emails claiming to be from O2, create a new email draft with ‘Phishing’ as the subject. Attach the suspicious email and send it to [email protected].
• for emails, forward the message to the organisation that it claims to be from. You can look up the email address to send it to on that organisation’s website

I have forwarded the emails to [email protected] as described. I just hope that is sufficient.

k_man

I would try to contact O2 too, as, if this is an actual contract in your name, then that is beyond phishing/spam (which is what occurs before certain frauds).

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/fraud-advice

How to report fraud

If you've had any texts, emails, letters or calls saying you've bought any of our products or services when you haven't, or if money has been taken from your bank account for something you haven't bought, you could be the victim of identity or impersonation fraud. This could happen if you’re an O2 customer or not.

 

You should report any suspected fraudulent activity to us as soon a possible. Make sure you give us details of what’s happened, including any police or Action Fraud crime number. Please include any mobile or account numbers you might have received correspondence for, and let us know your contact details, so we can get back to you.

 

If money has been taken from your bank account or by using your credit card, let your bank or card provider know immediately, and they'll stop any further use. They'll also tell you how to get your money back. You should report this to Action Fraud straight away.

 

You can call us on 202 (free from your O2 phone), or on 0344 809 0202 (standard UK rates apply). Monday-Friday 8am-9pm, Saturday 8am-8pm, Sunday 8am-6pm.

flaneurs_lobster

Assume you have checked your bank account(s) for any unauthorised debits or DD instructions?

Be good to see the content of the PDFs (if they are PDFs) but I think you are right to be very wary of them.

Anyone suggest a way to view them safely or just don't?

ProDave

flaneurs_lobster said:

Anyone suggest a way to view them safely or just don't?

On a linux computer?

dosh37

flaneurs_lobster said:

Assume you have checked your bank account(s) for any unauthorised debits or DD instructions?

Be good to see the content of the PDFs (if they are PDFs) but I think you are right to be very wary of them.

Anyone suggest a way to view them safely or just don't?

I believe you can upload PDFs to an online viewer such as https://www.docfly.com/pdf-viewer. I have not tried it because it would mean downloading the attachments first.

I contacted O2 by phone again yesterday. The O2 telephone menu system only appears to set up to help existing customers or to sell products. They don't have a fraud dept you can talk to directly.

I was eventually put through to someone from virginmedia (now merged with O2).

They said they would look into it and get back to me next week.

I have already spent hours looking into this.

dosh37

Yet another unsolicited email from O2 this morning.

Apparently the mobile number ends in 0529.

I am getting really sick of this.

========

Hello, Now that you’re back with us, we want you to get the very best out of all the things you can do. It’s all waiting. So dive in and see where it takes you.

Need a hand? Got a question about roaming? Or want to know how much data you’ve got left? Just ask MyO2, it’s perfect for that and so much more, including checking your bill or accessing exclusive deals. Go get it

Just reach out Need a hand? No worries. Just head to the Help Hub to get tech support, learn more about getting set up and even make some friends in the O2 Community. Come on over

Priority: Active O2 customers only. 16+. Internet access & registration required. Offers subject to eligibility criteria and availability. Terms apply, see the Priority App.

How do I know this is really from O2? Real O2 emails always show the last four digits of your mobile number at the top. If an email doesn't, forward it to [email protected] and we'll investigate. There's more about phishing here. This email is from Telefónica UK Limited, a registered company in England and Wales. Regarding consumer credit, Telefónica UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference Number: 718822 Registered office: 260 Bath Road, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 4DX. Registered no: 1743099. Please don't reply to this email.

Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe

This is an official O2 email for the mobile number ending 0529

|

No pictures? See the email in full

dosh37

This morning I decided to risk downloading the PDF contract documents.

I uploaded them to an online PDF viewer just in case they contained viruses.

It turns out that the contract was taken out by someone with the same name as mine (including the same first letter of his middle name). The document includes his full address (Maidenhead).

It appears to be a valid name and address because it turns up in a 192.com search.

The email address given in the document is identical to mine but without a dot separating the first and last name.

Gmail ignores the dot, so it's the same address.

Gmail does not allow more than one account with the same email address so it appears that O2 were given an incorrect email.

I hope I can now get this rectified with O2.

At least it looks like it's not a fraud attempt.

flaneurs_lobster

You could give the other @DoshDot37 a ring, you've got his number. Get them to sort out the correct email address.

Pisspoor that O2 don't verify before shipping off contracts with full contact details (bank account details?) to the email address.

km1500

looks like a genuine mistake. They have almost certainly used their own bank details
 
Contact them and tell them to correct their email and- if you are feeling generous - forward all the O2 emails to them