Identity Theft - Scammer Asked For Vodafone Pin & Ordered $6000 Worth Of iPhones

Hi @Soma, welcome to the community.

It is worth trying.

What a terrible situation you are in.

Also look at your account terms and conditions to see what it says about giving another party access to your account. If you knowingly gave them access (even though you didn’t know they were scammers and thought they were from Vodafone), it could be argued you have permitted the phone to be purchased on your account. It may also be difficult to prove you didn’t buy the phone.

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That’s where they have got me, although I have a police report & stat dec, seems like they don’t believe that…
Funny thing is, I called yesterday to enquire about cancelling my account & the guy said he was going to send me through a code via text message that I was to read out to him. I said you’ve got to be joking! That’s exactly what the scammers said & that’s how Vodafone is holding me liable. Honestly this company is a joke, their customer service is appalling and they do not offer any customer protection apart from a text message.

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Does sound surprising and possibly Vodaphone should review this method of providing one’s identity as it is being exploited by scammers. Their website states:

Vodafone will never call you and ask for your PIN or security code.

It appears that if you receive a call and the caller asks for the code, it is likely to be a scammer. But if you call them on a recognised Vodaphone number and they send you a pin to prove your identity, it is okay.

I was about to make sure you lodged a complaint with the police…which is something which should be done.

In relation to the fraud, I assume that the phone was not posted to your address but another the scammers use to collect ‘stolen’ items. Do you know this address or has Vodafone provided this to you as it may assist the police in their investigations?

The police are possibly the best option to try and get restitution for the fraud perpetrated on you by the scammers. Often time is of the essence and the quicker the police are notified, the more likely (even though it may still be remote), recovery of the phone and them being able to take action against the scammers.

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Hi Sonna, sorry to hear that. Have you contacted the Telecommunication Ombudsmen yet? any update from vodafone side?

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Thanks @MakingMyselfHeard. Have you got a resolution letter that you could share with those of us that have not received the same positive response. Please blackout and/or delete all personal details, I am more interested in why Vodafone is choosing to give a different response to different customers.

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I was just scammed by a person who claimed they were a Vodafone employee. They made a large on line order on my account. It appears to be a common problem for Vodafone including this from the Canberra Times “A man allegedly stole identity documents from 83 people while he was the owner of the Tuggeranong Vodafone store. The 33-year-old was arrested in September, charged with one count of identity theft”

I was recently scammed by a person claiming they were a Vodafone employee. They subsequently made a significantly large on line order on my account. Has anyone had a similar experience ?

Welcome to the Community @waynelee777 ,

I merged your post into this existing topic about some experiences with Vodaphone and scammers.

I trust some of it might be helpful, and your addition will bump up the topic for perhaps more recent experiences.

Ok thanks, much appreciated !!

The same Identity theft situation happened to me on 28 October 2023. I am jumping up and down to stop Vodafone from sending the fraudulent order to the scammer.

Welcome to the Community @Farz

How goes it with Vodafone with your issue? TPG now.

There are several discussed in the topic. Are you able to clarify how or which types of identity details appear to have been stolen? How did you find out about the order?

Scanning prior posts may provide useful suggestions on what actions to take if not already taken.

Datetime Event
28 Oct 2023 5:07 pm I received a call from a scammer from 03 4159 7785 and she pretended that the call is from Vodafone regarding an offer for a discount on my mobile plan and a free phone package. She got total access to my Vodafone account by asking and receiving my pin number and made an order on behalf of me to be dispatched to a unit at NSW 2117. Later, I checked the address in Realestate website and found it available for renting from 30 Oct
28 Oct 2023 5:15 pm The spammer made an order that cost $2832 and I received an email from Vodafone that the the order is confirmed
28 Oct 2023 5:15 to 5:39 pm I realised that this has been a spam call and dropped the call immediately and tried to call Vodafone customer service to inform them and ask to cancel this order before being processed for dispatch. I could talk to a Vodafone customer support person at 5:39 pm, and she she acknowledged that this has has been a spam call and my account has been compromised. she changed my pin number and mentioned that she has requested to cancel the order and I don’t need to be worry. She asked me to fill-in a Vodafone fraudulent form online as well.
28 Oct 2023 5:50 pm I filled up and submitted Vodafone fraudulent report form. I received a confirmation email that the case is being investigated.
28 Oct 2023 6:13 pm I contacted Vodafone customer service again to ensure that the order is flagged as fraudulent and stopped being processed. The support person assured me again that the order has been cancelled and I will receive a confirmation from for fraudulent handling team within 24 to 48 hours
28 Oct 2023 6:39 pm I also had a chat with Vodafone live chat and the assistant confirmed that the order is being cancelled. I took a screenshot from the chat for the records.
29 Oct 2023 1:11 pm Surprisingly, I received another email from Vodafone that the order is being processed!
29 Oct 2023 1:16 pm I contacted Vodafone customer support and asked why the fraudulent order is still being processed even though that I have been told several times that the order has been cancelled. The support person mentioned this time that I have to fill up a police complaining form and attach to the Vodafone fraudulent form.
30 Oct 2023 10:00 am Vodafone canceled the fraudulent order.
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It’s good to know Vodafone have been able to respond to your problem. Sometimes the ordering systems of large businesses take time to update/respond to pending changes. Which explain your need to follow up.

Have you checked your CC account to verify whether there is a charge against it and if so whether there is a corresponding credit?

Some businesses process the charge immediately the order is placed (IE in advance of dispatch). Others may not process the charges until the goods are ready/dispatched via post or carrier.

Vodafone provide the following advice and contact numbers:

Ensuring Your Security & Personal Details Are Safe | Vodafone Australia

The second dot point seems to suggest it’s OK to …. ?
Dot point 4 is putting the problem of identifying a scam call back on the customer.

I no longer trust any call offering a better deal on anything. The scam strategy is not only a risk for Vodafone customers. Any suggestion an offer is a one time only or just for you increases the likelihood it’s a scam. If the offer is genuine it will still be there when you phone back on a known customer service number found on your latest bill or other assured source.

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Two issues with Vodaphone then, one that their systems don’t respond immediately to fraud and second the requirement for a police report only happened after @Farz followed up a third time.

Whether the agents could see the flagged fraud in real time or not the first agent should have advised a fraud report with a police report was required. Considering an email comes in seconds there is little reason IT systems could not raise the priority of flagging fraud claims throughout their records in very few minutes.

I doubt many long standing systems were designed with addressing fraud in mind as a design criteria so there may be that problem also.

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