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WHY do Vodofone give away a PAC Number??

fififlower14
3: Seeker
3: Seeker

On Tuesday Vodafone gave a PAC code to an individual. This person Hijacked my phone, took control of my Bank Account, and TRANSFERRED £35,000 from my account......

Since then I have had NO access to my Bank Acc....

HOW did they pass the sucurity questions?? 

Any friend that called me will now have THEIR numbers compromised....

whilst I am at the beginning of a contract I wish to end it,

I’ll return the phone.

I have no faith in a company who’s incompetence has caused me such stress and inconvenience... 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi @fififlower14

 

I'm sorry to hear of the situation your in.  :Sad_face:

A Pac should only be given to a person who clearly passess security measures. 

Your Bank should also have it's own security measures. 

Wether £35 or £35,000 has been taken if this is confirmed as fraud then thankfully your Bank will return the funds. 

Vodafone UK Customer services on 191 can check things at their side and I believe can also add a password on request. 

If a person has used a Pac then I assume your Vodafone Account will have ceased as a Pac moves a person's mobile number to another UK Network which auto closes the Vodafone Account. 

Alternatively a SIM swap moves a person's mobile number to another SIM card which is the usual option a fraudster uses to gain control of a mobile network account.

Vodafone UK have installed further security checks if a person visits a store as they need to show photo ID and or pass various questions. 

Fraudsters are very good at what they do in regards to collating info and data to be able to try and convince customer services they are the account holder. 

If your within your first 30 days then you can cancel without fee. 

If your after those 30 days then Vodafone UK could want an early termination fee paying.

Speak to customer service on 191.  

I'm sure the Vodafone Social Media Team here will want to help too. 

Let them catch up with your thread and bring you in away from the open forum to pass security checks.

I wish you all the best with this awful situation. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

View solution in original position

15 REPLIES 15

BandOfBrothers
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Hi @fififlower14

 

I'm sorry to hear of the situation your in.  :Sad_face:

A Pac should only be given to a person who clearly passess security measures. 

Your Bank should also have it's own security measures. 

Wether £35 or £35,000 has been taken if this is confirmed as fraud then thankfully your Bank will return the funds. 

Vodafone UK Customer services on 191 can check things at their side and I believe can also add a password on request. 

If a person has used a Pac then I assume your Vodafone Account will have ceased as a Pac moves a person's mobile number to another UK Network which auto closes the Vodafone Account. 

Alternatively a SIM swap moves a person's mobile number to another SIM card which is the usual option a fraudster uses to gain control of a mobile network account.

Vodafone UK have installed further security checks if a person visits a store as they need to show photo ID and or pass various questions. 

Fraudsters are very good at what they do in regards to collating info and data to be able to try and convince customer services they are the account holder. 

If your within your first 30 days then you can cancel without fee. 

If your after those 30 days then Vodafone UK could want an early termination fee paying.

Speak to customer service on 191.  

I'm sure the Vodafone Social Media Team here will want to help too. 

Let them catch up with your thread and bring you in away from the open forum to pass security checks.

I wish you all the best with this awful situation. 

Current Phone  >

Samsung Galaxy s²³ Ultra 512gb Phantom Black.

 

 

Would Vodafone issue a PAC when the contract has only just started? You would have received a PAC by text when it was generated. Did you question this?

If someone has managed to get this much information about you that they get access to your bank acocunts then something else must be going on here.

I assume you have reported it to the police already? 

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud-including-online-crime-questions

Ensure you raise a complaint with Vodafone, and follow their complaints process so it gets tracked properly.

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/help-and-information/complaints

if a person wished to transfer their old number to their new phone, it apparently needs a PAC Code. Despite both accounts being with Vodafone...

 

you must forgive me, I’m not very savvy with all this stuff!!

to complete this task I asked for a code but went on holiday, as it didn’t expire for 30 days I thought I’d sort on return...

vodaphone then issued ANOTHER PAC and sent the sucurity code TO THE SAME PHONE.... SOMEHOW, the fraudster got hold of both these codes...

How, I have no idea....

jeffkinn
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

@fififlower14 wrote:

if a person wished to transfer their old number to their new phone, it apparently needs a PAC Code. Despite both accounts being with Vodafone...

 

 


That isn't true - it only happens if you've taken out the contract with a third party dealer such as Carphone Warehouse or a web based dealer. They sign you up as a new customer rather thana an upgrade becuase they earn more that way. Where did you get the contract from?

 

If it was a third party dealer it's likely they are the source of all of your terrible troubles.

Jeffkinn_Sig.png

Curious as to how they took control of your bank account once they had a PAC code???

A PAC code is for transferring your old mobile number to a new account.

 

The amount of security you have to get through with mobile banking these days, I can't see how it could happen.

 

Are you sure the bank fraud isn't just coincidence that it happened at the same time?   I once had fraudsters transfer £13,000 out of mine - turned out they just rung up the bank, pretending to be me, and asked to do a transfer.  This was Barclays and their telephone security was dreadful, just asked for date of birth and postcode, which anyone could find out.   I've since moved to a different bank with better security.

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

This is a known fraud and mobile networks have security measures in place to prevent it.   However, if someone has sufficient information to impersonate you, this can be circumvented.   It's usually quite a lot of information and will have taken time to gather, so you'll have been targeted.   It can be someone you know (even if only tangentially) or via malware.   Once the fraudster has your mobile number, they can iintercept security codes sent by your bank for online transactions.   All they need is your login, which can be acquired via malware or social engineering.

Tash
Moderator (Retired)
Moderator (Retired)

@fififlower14 We really would like to take a look at everything on our end for you.
I've not been able to locate an email from you through the address registered on your Community profile. If you'd like us to take a look into your account with you, please follow the details provided in your private message and we'll be happy to help you further.

Thank you Natasha-

having replied to my ‘private message ‘ whilst receiving no further communications from yourselves, I emailed your CEO.

 

it has now been sorted an an earlier message, posted today, from myself will explain.

Thank you 

Once Fraudsters have a PAC code they can transfer your number to a phone they control thus they take control of all incoming text messages !!

Fraudsters can set up an account to transfer money from my bank account to their own.

As this is a new payee my bank would send a 6 number security code via text to ‘my’ mobile.

As these people now control my phone, they receive this code and use it to confirm that it is a ‘genuine’ payee!!!

 

Taking over people’s mobile via PAC code theft is huge.

It’s  the latest weapon used to by criminals to steal our money!!’

 

As per a privious message, sent my me, Vodofone have acknowledged they were at fault as an individual couldn’t answer ANY of my security questions, yet we’re still given the PAC..,

Following this incident, I now have the safest Bank Acc and Mobile Phone on the Planet!!!

Thank you for your reply.