i lost my mobile and have a big bill now!! should i tell the police?

[hammers83]

Hi,

 

I lost my phone and left it a day to phone orange.

 

I did this because i have lost my phoned before and got it back safe.

 

I have not got insurance neway just so you know.

 

The person who found it used it to call alot of abroad numbers and txt premium numbers which have now gave me a bill £269.

 

i can access the numbers the person called on my online account.

 

Is there anyway of getting out of this payment?

 

Also is it worth giving this info to the police so they can track the person?

 

hammers83

[cirian75]

The way I understand you are responsable for the costs until the moment you informed Orange.

 

 

But, I have on my account a £100 pm max spend cap.

 

may be worth you while seeing if you have a cap.

 

but don't hold your breath

[hammers83]

thanks for that i will have a go. even if i set one up for the future.

 

do you think its worth informing the police as i have the numbers the person rang?

 

Or shud i even do some investigating of my own?

[cirian75]

report it and get a crime number.

[hammers83]

what will that do?

[cirian75]

means you can deal with Orange better as it will be a recorded crime.

[Human Writes]

The way I understand you are responsable for the costs until the moment you informed Orange.

 

But, I have on my account a £100 pm max spend cap.

 

may be worth you while seeing if you have a cap.

 

Orange does not offer a capping service.

[buzby]

Was it on contract? By reporting it to Orange I'm assuming they blocked the SIM and the handset? The Crime Reference Number is really only useful for insurance purposes - but it costs nothing to get. Orange should offer to immediately replace your SIM card, and perhaps a discounted replacement handset. In future, I make sure you always PIN lock the SIM/Handset to ensure you don;t get caught out again.

[hammers83]

Was it on contract? By reporting it to Orange I'm assuming they blocked the SIM and the handset? The Crime Reference Number is really only useful for insurance purposes - but it costs nothing to get. Orange should offer to immediately replace your SIM card, and perhaps a discounted replacement handset. In future, I make sure you always PIN lock the SIM/Handset to ensure you don;t get caught out again.

 

 

yes its on contract. They blocked the sim and handset. They sent me a replacement sim free of charge.

I will from now on and phone up to block straight away.

 

So theres not much chance of getting out of the bill? The person ran up £180 in a day. Surely that should alert orange to something not being right?

 

As i know the numbers the person rang from my bill is it worth informing the police of this? Will they actually do anything?

 

Thanks for the responces so far

[buzby]

Unfortunately - unless they agree to a goodwill gesture for a reduction, there's little you can do to force the issue. It's just the same as if someone broke into your house and called the same premium numbers - you still have to pay the bill.

 

The networks are in a no-win situation. If they blocked all higher-than-normal usage, legitimate customers could find themselves stranded (say, a family tragedy, or whatever). You'd be pretty hacked off if they blocked your phone - so they're dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. If you were mugged (for example) you all immediately and block it. But if you simply mislay it, then that could be seen as being careless, and no insurer covers this - with leaving it on a bus/taxi being top of the list.

 

To be honest, the police are not going to bother with a list of numbers I've seen folk offering xheap calls abroad in London on the streets - individuals pay £5 and are handed the phone for up to 30 minutes to call home. Then the next person uses it - there's no mileage in pursuing the call recipients, and the police are aware of this. Sorry!

[hammers83]

if i was to put a pin on the fone wud that stop the person using the sim or just that fone? i.e could they still use the sim on another fone?

 

Ok so i need to put this down to experience and make sure that in future i phone up and block the phone and sim immediatly.

 

An expensive lesson, but defiantly learn't!!

[buzby]

There are TWO PINs available - the phone lock and the SIM lock. If you switch both to ON, it means you will have to enter the SIM PIN every time the phone is powered on, and every time you want to make a call. It is the most secure, but a real P.I.T.A. This prevents calls from your phone unless YOU make them. If they take the SIM to use in a different phone, it's still ask for the number, so remains secure.

 

I can't be bothered with this, so I protect the SIM alone. This means I'm only asked for the SIM PIN every time the phone is turned on, so if the handset is lost, they only have until the batteries run out before the SIM lock applies itself. Yes, if they put it in a charger they can keep it going, but as there is no way of knowing if the SIM lock is active, there's nothing to alert them that they are on borrowed time.

 

It happened to me back in 1992, touchwood - and won't happen again. If you learn the hard way, security becomes second nature!

[vusys1]

or use the call barring facility on your phone,stop all outgoing int calls etc

[buzby]

or use the call barring facility on your phone,stop all outgoing int calls etc

 

How do you stop the thief 'un-barring' those calls then?

[Mattyg2004]

For future referance if you every mislay your phone again give the network a ring and ask them to put a temporary block on the phone.

 

I had to do this just before I let a staff member go. They say they get it all the time.