Lebara /Vodafone phantom SMS on my account

savergrant

PHK said:

We'd really need to know more about the phone(s) other than that one is old snd one is new.

Just to summarise what we've got so far:

It's a number range allocated to Vodafone.
It's either being sent by the OS to setup something (eg facetime, play store)
Or an app.

Also the op knows that they are being billed for sms messages to a particular number, so presumably knows when (to the day at least) the messages are being sent. Have they ever been billed fir an sms on a day when the phone has nor been switched on at all (mainly switched off most of the time isn't good enough)? If the phone hasn't been switched on for weeks but messages are still being billed it is a rather different story to 'only use the phone for ten minutes every day' which would give plenty of time for an app to send an sms.

Pete99

I'm more interested to find out how many other people are being charged for SMS to this number either in money terms or as part of their plan allowance, if it was only me I'd reset my phones and start from there, but there are other people affected as a google of that number shows, the mobile I'm concentrating on is switched off and in a drawer, I've used Malwarebytes and the phone is supposedly clear, I'm tempted to ring the number to try and find out who it's connected to, but it could be some sort of premium rate scam, so really I'm just calling peoples attention to it and maybe they'll check their account and find out if they too are having chargeable SMS sent to this number.

This is what appears on my account.

SMS

Date Time Number Dialled Cost

27/06/2023 06:46 447537 452 550 £0.19

31/05/2023 08:14 447537 452 550 £0.19

21/04/2023 10:18 447537 452 550 £0.19

17/04/2023 10:24 447537 452 550 £0.19

Pete99

Another thing, a search on who-calls.me.uk for that number reveals that it's been searched for 158 times so it's not specific to my phones and they're unlikely to have the same apps installed as me, so something else is going on.

savergrant

Pete99 said:

Another thing, a search on who-calls.me.uk for that number reveals that it's been searched for 158 times so it's not specific to my phones and they're unlikely to have the same apps installed as me, so something else is going on.

I should think they are quite likely to have the same factory apps installed (depending on whether they are android or iPhone possibly).
But can you confirm the mobile was turned off at the times of the texts? Have you also allowed for the possibility those times might not be UK timezone?

PHK

Pete99 said:

Another thing, a search on who-calls.me.uk for that number reveals  that it's been searched for 158 times so it's not specific to my phones and they're unlikely to have the same apps installed as me, so something else is going on.

Without the information you’ve been asked for we won’t get to the bottom of why they are being sent. 

You’ve overlooked the possibility that they should have been sent (so that something else works) but it’s the billing system that’s wrong because the message should be free. 

So we really do need the information you’ve been asked for. 

Pete99

The information is there if you care to read my posts, they appear as chargeable because I have this phone set on PAYG as I no longer use it, I'll have to investigate myself as to whether an SMS is sent every time I switch it on.

The main reason for my initial post was to alert people with Lebara or Vodafone accounts that these SMS texts are being sent to that same number automatically, whether they are chargeable or they come out of your plan allowance I would just like to know why because there's no information on the phone or on the account as to why they're being sent.

savergrant

If you don't know whether the phone was switched on at all during those dates I would suggest setting a test. Try switching the phone on for 5 minutes with no Internet connection, then maybe a week later switch it on with Internet connection and see whether either or both generate an sms. If other payg users are sending these messages i would expect they are being charged also, my guess would be that something is set to send an sms rather than use data/wifi.

flaneurs_lobster

FWIW I had two of these texts sent from my phone on 9 June. This coincides with setting up a new phone, including moving a Vodaphone PAYM SIM. This setup also included the reset of a smartwatch which shares billing with the PAYM account via its own e-SIM.

Any similarities?

Pete99

No, there's no similarities, the reason this is an old mobile is that it's too old to receive updates and I certainly didn't switch it on at 06:46 in the morning, in reality there's no answer to this until or unless someone can say what this number actually connects to, Lebara are no help, Vodafone are no help, if they don't know then something else is happening.

This number is only associated with Vodafone, if it was something to do with the normal apps associated with mobiles there would be people having accounts with other carriers searching for this same number charging them for SMS to it, anyway thanks for your help, I'll have to do some more research or just accept it as it is.

PHK

Pete99 said:

The information is there if you care to read my posts, they appear as chargeable because I have this phone set on PAYG as I no longer use it, I'll have to investigate myself as to whether an SMS is sent every time I switch it on.

The main reason for my initial post was to alert people with Lebara or Vodafone accounts that these SMS texts are being sent to that same number automatically, whether they are chargeable or they come out of your plan allowance I would just like to know why because there's no information on the phone or on the account as to why they're being sent.

It's not there which is why we've asked. There seems little point if you won't give people the information they need to help you.