Virgin to O2 - contact from O2 (?) - scam or legit?

Yorkie1

I was recently transferred from VirginMobile to O2 along with everyone else.

I initially received 2 texts from O2 at the start of July with what seemed to be my O2 username and password.

Then, on 24 July I received 2 texts in the same text chain, which said:
a) "*SECURITY WARNING* The one-time code you requested will arrive shortly. If someone's calling you and asking for a code, please end the call because they DO NOT work for O2. If you suspect fraud, call us on 202 so we can protect your account." and
b) *Be alert to fraud* NEVER share this code, including with O2 staff. Help us protect your O2 account, To retrieve your O2 account, enter code XXXXXX." 

I had not requested a one-time code.

I also received a call from an unknown number (0292 code) that day.

I received the same 2 texts on 25 July (different code). And again yesterday (different code).

Yesterday I also got a phone call from an 0204 phone code number (very noisy, call centre type of environment in the background), saying that there was a promo code for a discount on my monthly bill for loyal customers. I couldn't really hear well, but I think they asked for the code, saying they already had my bank account details. I asked them to email me but they said it had to be done by text/phone. I hung up.

Today, I got another phone call (which I didn't answer) from an 0161 number.

What do you think may be going on here?

• Given that I haven't requested a one-time code at all, does this have the hallmarks of a scam?
• Are the text messages likely to be legitimately from O2?
• Are the calls likely to be legitimately from O2 - do they offer discounts to loyal customers?
• I never had any such trouble when with VM; has my O2 account been compromised?
• Do I just ignore these calls, or do you think I should be doing anything else to protect / prevent the issue occurring again? My emails with billing information are coming through fine, and I can make / receive texts & calls with others without difficulty. Should I be dialling 202 and/or retrieving my account?
• Is my number likely to have been compromised and will have to be changed?

Thanks for any thoughts if you've got to the end of this post!

flaneurs_lobster

It's a scam. Crooks pretend to be you, request your access code from O2 which is then sent to your phone. They then ring you and ask for the code (pretending to be O2).

If they get that code they will have access to your account and will use it to order as many high-end iPhones as they can. The phones will be intercepted somewhere along the delivery chain and you'll get the bill.

Don't think that there's much you can do to stop these kind of scams other than what you are doing which is to ignore them. At least it shows that O2's warning SMS is working. Block the numbers of the scam calls if you can. Ring O2 on 202 and let them know you are getting these texts and they might be able to flag up extra checks if they get more requests.

brewerdave

As an aside the 0161 call is most likely an "energy adviser" type scam

flaneurs_lobster

brewerdave said:

As an aside the 0161 call is most likely an "energy adviser" type scam

Quite right. All calls from Manchester (or, actually, from The North in general) should be treated as suspicious.

Yorkie1

Thank you everyone for putting my mind at rest that the texts were from O2, albeit triggered by scammers.

I'll take appropriate action and make sure not to engage with any further phone calls!

brewerdave

flaneurs_lobster said:

brewerdave said:

As an aside the 0161 call is most likely an "energy adviser" type scam

Quite right. All calls from Manchester (or, actually, from The North in general) should be treated as suspicious.

OK -Fair cop - should have expanded my comment - I have had a number of 0161 calls lately that have been identified as "energy adviser" calls when the number has been put into "who calls me" or similar sites.

amanda1024

This is a scam - I've had the same thing. Keep following the instructions in the O2 messages saying not to share the code with anyone even if they say they work for O2. But I do wonder how the scammers got my and OP's phone numbers and somehow knew we were on O2? 

Yorkie1

amanda1024 said:

This is a scam - I've had the same thing. Keep following the instructions in the O2 messages saying not to share the code with anyone even if they say they work for O2. But I do wonder how the scammers got my and OP's phone numbers and somehow knew we were on O2? 

Thanks for the reiteration to leave phone calls well alone!

I had wondered the same. I had never had a call like this until I was moved to O2 from Virgin Mobile ...

upsetbyscams

Hi All, I've just been caught up in a scam involving O2. In sorting it out I found out that the O2 shop I sought help from told me they have between 5 and 10 reports per week of identical situations. This seems to suggest to me that if this is occurring in 1 shop there must be a HUGE number of these being reported around the country. That leads me to think that there must have been a data breach of some magnitude which has yet to be made public. Comments on this welcomed. Thanks.

PHK

upsetbyscams said:

Hi All, I've just been caught up in a scam involving O2. In sorting it out I found out that the O2 shop I sought help from told me they have between 5 and 10 reports per week of identical situations. This seems to suggest to me that if this is occurring in 1 shop there must be a HUGE number of these being reported around the country. That leads me to think that there must have been a data breach of some magnitude which has yet to be made public. Comments on this welcomed. Thanks.

That's a bit of a stretch and strange logic. 

The whole point of these texts is to stop scamners gaining access to accounts. If there had been a data breach they'd already have enough information to access an account, be in the systems and able to place orders.