Scammed into a phone contract

SomebodyToldMe

Dear all

So I have recently found out that my teenage son was scammed into taking out a phone contract and never received the phone.

A friend's friend talked him into taking out a phone with the promise of selling on for a profit, but once he gave him the phone to sell on, was ghosted by him.

He ignored Tesco mobile letters and now he has Moorcroft debt agency chasing him for the money.

Other friends have also been scammed, but have been too afraid to contact the Police as they are a violent gang.

Obviously a stupid thing to do, but is there a way out?

fwor

"taking out a phone contract and never received the phone" and "but once he gave him the phone to sell on".

Those two don't quite match up. If he received the phone and then gave it to someone else, he remains liable for it. Unfortunately it's probably either the police, or treat it as a life lesson - it's not really a consumer rights issue.

eskbanker

my teenage son was scammed into taking out a phone contract

How old is he, and did he declare his age accurately to the phone company?

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82168028#Comment_82168028

Sounds like took out a new contract for (who needs reporting to police) Who then gave them the old phone.

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82168158#Comment_82168158

OP's son gave 'friend' the new phone , so son has a mobile contract which they are liable for and no phone .

OP, assuming your son was old enough to have taken the phone contract then he remains liable unfortunately. The police would be a place to start, but still with no guarantee of walking away with anything, but if they are reluctant to do that then it's a life lesson for them.

Lorian

Make sure hes not loaning out the use of his bank account too.

SomebodyToldMe

Thanks for the replies

He was 18 when it happened.

I have got him to contact Crimestoppers and asked CAB for help, but I agree it looks like he has to pay.

Teenage boys 😪

Grumpy_chap

I actually think the title of this thread is misleading. He was not "scammed into a phone contract".

One of his "mates" suggested the OP's son could make some easy money by taking a phone contract on monthly fee with a "free" iPhone (or whatever premium phone) and then sell the phone on social media.

OP's son did that.

Then the "mate" offered to sell the phone for OP's son.

"Mate" did a runner with the phone never to be seen again.

It was the phone OP's son was scammed over, not scammed into a contract which implies wrong-doing by the mobile phone company.

Choices are to report to the Police or take this as a learning curve.

Whatever, don't get involved with the same "mate" again and make sure he has no other ongoing involvement with the same group of "mates".

Ergates

As above - there is no real way of getting out of the contact. It was entered into legally. What he chose to do with the phone once he received it has nothing to do with Tesco Mobile.

Getting the police involved is unlikely to get the phone back - it is probably long gone - and won't have any impact on the contract.

Goes without saying that the "friend's friend" was never a friend - they were just a criminal looking for a mark.

This is a pretty harsh life lesson to have to learn in this manner.

donnac2558

Reading this thread made me think of the one that went around for years.

Get a new contract and a shiny new phone, then sell the phone on eBay, Facebook, etc. Then report the phone stolen, and it gets blocked, and the buyer is buggered.

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82169347#Comment_82169347

That is exactly what happens. Not one that did "do the rounds" (past tense) but very much alive and kicking.

The OP's son's part was to be gullible / naive and taken in by the "friend"