SIM Card cloned and number stolen

[bassl1ne]

Today I noticed our business line wasn't working, showing as Not Registered on Network.  I contacted Vodafone but could not pass security as it appears someone had called them, changed all the registered information including my date of birth, payment methods have been wiped and basically I was told there is nothing they can do as i'm no longer the registered account holder.  I was told in no uncertain term they will not discuss this any further with me and any further calls will be terminated!

Anyone had this before, also if I'm no longer the registered account holder does this mean I've managed to get out of the contract and not have any obligation to pay the bill or reminaing contract?

[BandOfBrothers]

To my knowledge Vodafone take this type of activity very seriously @bassl1ne so should escalate this to be investigated and I would have thought maybe stopped its SIM card. 

This link gives some information from Vodafone > Vodafone - protecting-our-customers/protecting-your-identity.

There is a step process in the above link ^ which involves ringing 191 as I understand you have done but I would urge you to try again. 

"What can fraud involve?
Individuals taking out credit cards in your name
Using your personal details to take over your existing accounts
Changing the details of your personal accounts so you can't access them"

I would also suggest to check with your bank as some fraudsters take hold of mobile numbers to try and take access of bank accounts too.

Maybe beneficial to check your credit report too , perhaps via http://www.experian.co.uk (there are other ways to check your Credit report too.)

We have a Social Media Team here who read all posts and engage where they can but they are currently unable to help / access Business Accounts unfortunately. 

I wish you all the best with this. 

[Gemma]

@bassl1ne - I’m disappointed to hear what’s happened.

We’ll need to investigate this further. Please send us your details by following the instructions in this private message.

Once you’ve done this, please post back with the email reference number from the auto reply (it looks like #123456).

[donnyguy]

Hopefully this is some system driven error rather than a human actually being clever enough to breach the DPA on your account.

Have you tried calling your number and speaking to whoever picks up? They might be able to fill the gaps here? (e.g. they just took out a contract and were given your number randomly)

Either way, really hope this gets resolved. 

[bassl1ne]

Finally got this sorted today after having our business effectively shut down for 3 days. My persistence of constantly calling them paid off, although in the end i'm still not exactly sure what happened, the operators seem very reluctant to give me any information.  After so many calls i'm convinced staff have a sticker on their monitors saying "I'm sorry but there's nothing else I can do (repeat as many times as neccessary)" also repeated in the Vodafone store. Poor service overall and a significant financial loss to me.

[donnyguy]

Really glad you got this resolved! 

I'd still recommend following the instructions in the PM though. I think Vodafone need to do the investigation to understand what went wrong here so steps can be put in place to ensure it never happens again.

If your personal data was compromised and not kept secure then Vodafone would be obligated to report themselves to the ICO so they really need to look into this.

[bassl1ne]

It would seem that Vodafone have covered up this data breach to prevent further investigate.  If I look at the facts, Sim card is disconnected, seeming my number transfered to another sim, my phone being IEMI blacklisted, then 30 mins later my online banking is taken over...  I would conclude someone called vodafone to say they lost their phone and needed the number transferring.. hence me losing my number and phone being IMEI barred, simply using this they could get a reset code from my bank to reregister the internet banking details.

Vodafone concluded nothing happened on my account... doesn't seem to add up.  I would advise anyone not to use text message validation codes from banks or online sites in order to recover accounts because it seems all too easy for a hacker to gain access over your phone and account.

[hrym]

I'm sure you'll appreciate that the policy is that frontline staff won't talk to you if you can't pass the security check - and you'd want that if someone was trying to access your details.  The fact that someone has apparently done that suggests that it's a deliberate target and may be someone known to you.   As it's a business, a disgruntled (and possibly ex-) exployee perhaps?

Quite rightly, this has to be escalated and I'm glad to hear it has been.   There would be an audit trail showing what happened when and also the previous details.   This can be checked in order to establish that fraud has indeed taken place.   No company should reveal details in these circumstances so that the method and the way resolving it are not revealed.

It sounds as though this was quite sophisticated and elaborate, so I;d be inclined to change passwords and security questions in as many places as you can.   It may be that the fraudsters will move on (they don't want to leave too many traces), but also possible that they'll persist if they think they've detected a weakness in your security.

[bassl1ne]

I understand the security as explained to me a million times and so therefore cannot understand how someone can call you to change a date of birth, that doesn't sound very secure.  

I requested someone to listen in to the fraud call and received this message from Vodafone in repsonse today ... "At the moment the call listening was rejected as there is an ofcom ruling that states that anyone can put a bar on a device, but only the account holder can remove the bars."

[chistery]

Raise a complaint, follow the process, either get them to say the magic word, deadlock, or wait 8 weeks and go to the ombudsman.

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-uk/complaints/

This costs Vodafone money, they will want to resolve it.