Phone smart / plan.com phone contract scam

born_again

Best tack. Unrecognised number, don't answer. If important they will leave voicemail.

Alderbank

born_again said:

Best tack. Unrecognised number, don't answer. If important they will leave voicemail.

Absolutely.

If it's important they call back. If it's very important they will keep calling until you answer.

The pests don't call you back. They have moved on.

powerful_Rogue

Phonepartner said:

savergrant said:

Did phone smart ask your partner to request a pac? Was this all done in one phone call? What information was given before the pac and bank details were handed over?
Tbh buying from a cold caller is always risky 

phone smart called my partner but said they were calling from o2 and didn’t mention phone smart at all. The person said they were calling about my partner’s phone upgrade, they asked my partner to confirm their name, date of birth and address. 

They kept telling my partner they were going to send them a new phone, being very pushy when my partner was suspicious but my partner did say they would talk to them about renewing their current contact with o2. 

The person on the phone said they were going to send a code through to my partner’s phone and to give it to them, which my partner did. 

After this my partner rang o2 who said this was a scam and they would look into it.

I want to know if anyone here has experienced this and has advice on who to speak to apart from trading standards, OFCOM, O2 and the bank.

I watched a video on this scam this morning. Seems like the code is so they can hijack your O2 account and order a new phone. Would be worth watching this 13 minute video and see if it's what happened to your partner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEb6hWWMAaE

savergrant

Interesting. Quite clever how they worded 'a discount on the tariff you are on now' to avoid having to offer x gb.
I would guess that 'passcode' has become confused with 'pac code' in the original post.
There are also other aspects of concern, the 'trusted partner' reference and the signing up to a business contract. This is a bit more complicated than someone hacking your o2 account to order themselves a new handset.

HillStreetBlues

oldagetraveller1 said:

I received a similar call some weeks ago "from O2" as a customer, I am not, strung him along for a good 10 minutes. Yes, too much time  on my hands but he isn't conning anyone else for 10 minutes.

I asked for his name, "Peter Parker." Now bored I said "Are you a nosey Parker? Click.

I expect Clark Kent will be then next one.

savergrant

HillStreetBlues said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

I received a similar call some weeks ago "from O2" as a customer, I am not, strung him along for a good 10 minutes. Yes, too much time  on my hands but he isn't conning anyone else for 10 minutes.

I asked for his name, "Peter Parker." Now bored I said "Are you a nosey Parker? Click.

I expect Clark Kent will be then next one.

If they've got Diana Prince working there I'd love to hear from them.

ADM34

Apologies, I have just seen this post after having what must be the 9th or 10th call from a phone company purporting to be O2.  At least they identified themselves as Phone Smart today, hence me finding this forum!  These calls have been coming in since about June 2023.  I have asked them for info re my account, but they couldn't give me the info as they didn't have access, strange.  However, they did have knowledge of my previous contract with O2, and how much it was costing per month, details which I consider to be a breach of Data Protection regulations. I now forward the incoming number to O2 via their Spam number 7726.   Be careful out there.

born_again

Best bet. Do not recognise number, do not answer. If it's important they will leave a message. If not, then no worries.

Bjjb

Phonepartner said:

savergrant said:

The bit I don't understand is the partner gave them a pac. Op doesn't say which network partner was leaving, but if they were with o2 already why give 'o2' the pac?

My partner was with o2, the person called them and said they were from o2 (which was not true) and calling about my partner’s contract renewal. My partner’s contract was coming to an end soon so they thought it was someone from o2. They gave them the PAC code because they didn’t realise they shouldn’t do this and had a lapse in judgment.

The person did not explain what my partner was signing up for in terms of minutes, costs, etc. while plan.com may be a real company, they sold my partner a phone contract through deceptive means. 

Exactly the same is happening to me right now. Until 3 weeks ago, I'd never heard of Plan.com or Phone Smart. Had some sort of communication from someone (can't find it in my email or messages, it may even have been a cold call. It happened the day after I'd moved house so was quite stressed. They told me my 3 year contract with 02 was coming to an end. (Only 02 should know that, even I didn't know 'cus I've been with 02 for 20+ years and just carry on with them, unlimited texts and calls, which is more than enough for me). Genuinely thought I was speaking to 02 and only wished just carry on as always. Last thing on my mind was shopping around for mobile phone deals! It's dawned on me recently that plan.com is for business. I am not a businessman, never have been a businessman, in fact I'm on benefits through I'll health (and these people are interfering with my recovery, but presumably they're on commission so who cares?)
 I truly didn't understand a word that was being spoken, she spoke so unbelievably quickly, giving me no time to think or ask questions. The noise in the background was deafening. The only real sense I made of it is that they are partners with 02, but not quite 02. I just thought that they were probably handling 02's finances maybe. The business world confuses me, parent companies, trusted partners, sister companies, puc codes, platforms, it means nothing to me. I only phone my two children, my grandchildren and my pastor for goodness sake! Never did she say the contract was for business. It's exactly the opposite to what I wanted, what I had, and what they so wickedly took from me.  It may be considered my fault , no matter, I'm a vulnerable adult who was already at breaking point with the house move! Tried to call plan.com several times, and they will not budge an inch, always pulling you back to what they wish to say, or ignoring your well worded clear questions, all presumably to avoid telling you the truth. Is this how business is done now, in a nightclub (noise reference),one saying everything they've been told to say, speaking far too fast for you to understand, in a language that you're certain you once understood,  being sold something that you neither wanted or asked for! Absolutely appalling! 02 have passed it onto their fraud department, heard nothing yet! 

born_again

Bjjb said:

Phonepartner said:

savergrant said:

The bit I don't understand is the partner gave them a pac. Op doesn't say which network partner was leaving, but if they were with o2 already why give 'o2' the pac?

My partner was with o2, the person called them and said they were from o2 (which was not true) and calling about my partner’s contract renewal. My partner’s contract was coming to an end soon so they thought it was someone from o2. They gave them the PAC code because they didn’t realise they shouldn’t do this and had a lapse in judgment.

The person did not explain what my partner was signing up for in terms of minutes, costs, etc. while plan.com may be a real company, they sold my partner a phone contract through deceptive means. 

Exactly the same is happening to me right now. Until 3 weeks ago, I'd never heard of Plan.com or Phone Smart. Had some sort of communication from someone (can't find it in my email or messages, it may even have been a cold call. It happened the day after I'd moved house so was quite stressed. They told me my 3 year contract with 02 was coming to an end. (Only 02 should know that, even I didn't know 'cus I've been with 02 for 20+ years and just carry on with them, unlimited texts and calls, which is more than enough for me). Genuinely thought I was speaking to 02 and only wished just carry on as always. Last thing on my mind was shopping around for mobile phone deals! It's dawned on me recently that plan.com is for business. I am not a businessman, never have been a businessman, in fact I'm on benefits through I'll health (and these people are interfering with my recovery, but presumably they're on commission so who cares?)
 I truly didn't understand a word that was being spoken, she spoke so unbelievably quickly, giving me no time to think or ask questions. The noise in the background was deafening. The only real sense I made of it is that they are partners with 02, but not quite 02. I just thought that they were probably handling 02's finances maybe. The business world confuses me, parent companies, trusted partners, sister companies, puc codes, platforms, it means nothing to me. I only phone my two children, my grandchildren and my pastor for goodness sake! Never did she say the contract was for business. It's exactly the opposite to what I wanted, what I had, and what they so wickedly took from me.  It may be considered my fault , no matter, I'm a vulnerable adult who was already at breaking point with the house move! Tried to call plan.com several times, and they will not budge an inch, always pulling you back to what they wish to say, or ignoring your well worded clear questions, all presumably to avoid telling you the truth. Is this how business is done now, in a nightclub (noise reference),one saying everything they've been told to say, speaking far too fast for you to understand, in a language that you're certain you once understood,  being sold something that you neither wanted or asked for! Absolutely appalling! 02 have passed it onto their fraud department, heard nothing yet! 

One thing to remember is that you control the call. Do not understand them, busy or stressed. Simply end the call, or if unrecognised number. Don't answer. If it's important they will leave a voice mail.