@vodafoneuk I am getting calls I didn’t make on my Vodafone bill

[t1grm]

I am getting calls I didn’t make on my Vodafone bill for the last three months. The calls are all in the same number range.

 

Only the last three digits are different. They are not in my call history and I do not recognise any of the numbers. I download my itemised bills into Excel every month and cross reference them to a list of numbers I keep updated in another Excel spread sheet.

 

I can identify every number on my bills except for these ones. I have reported the issue to Vodafone several times, have spoken to several people about it and gone through all the escalation channels. They say the itemised call data comes directly from my SIM so I must have made the calls. They have given me several excuses none of which explain this:

 

The SIM could have been used in another phone – it hasn’t, the SIM has not been removed from the phone since I bought it The calls could have been made by friends or family – they weren’t, I am single, live alone and never give my phone to anyone, apart from which, they would be in the call history

 

The calls could have been made by accident whilst the phone was unlocked in my pocket or a bag – almost impossible that it could accidentally dial several different, valid phone numbers, multiple times, over three months, whilst in my pocket or a bag and then, the calls not be in the call history

 

The call, history entries could have been manually deleted – they weren’t, I have never touched the call history and no other calls are missing I pointed out the flaws in their excuses to all the people I have escalated this to and they just stone walled me with the catch all statement that the itemised call data comes directly from my SIM.

 

So I must have made the calls and there is nothing more they can do. I think my SIM has been hacked and someone is using my SIM details to make SPAM calls from another handset. Either that or an app is dialling up these numbers but I do not know of any app that makes calls and does not put them in your call history. Perhaps I have some malware on my phone?

 

It’s a Nokia Lumia 1020. Since Vodafone have point blank refused to investigate the issue and are adamant I made the calls, where do I go from here?

Edited October 3, 2014 by citizenB
formatting

[t1grm]

Not sure what's gone wrong with the formatting here but all the carriage returns are missing from the post above and it's impossible to read. I didn't look like that when I typed it out. Have tried editing it but the carriage returns don't save.

[ericsbrother]

have your tried to find out what these numbers are and who owns them? If they are just random person's numbers you probably wont get any help but if there is a pattern to the numbers you are probably right in suspecting something is amiss with an app or the like with your phone connecting to some game or the like when it feels like it.

[2Grumpy]

Have you googled the numbers?

[Sparks_]

could you use this website to find out who the numbers belong to?

http://www.whocalledme.com/

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi t1grm,

 

If you'd like me to take a look at this, email me with your details via the Contact us form here and quote the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line.

 

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post back with this and I’ll check I've received it.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[t1grm]

Hi all, thanks for the feedback. The numbers are not random. They are all identical except the last three digits (see list below). This is what makes me think they are SPAM calls made using my SIM details. I have tried a couple and they went to voice mail. Google just returns a load of hits for phone number lookup sites (such as who called me) without any info on the number. They look like private mobile numbers to me. The only thing I have been able to ascertain is that they are from the O2 network.

 

 

447748890103

447748890082

447748890390

447748890673

447748890726

447748890148

447748890406

447748890338

447748890128

447748890361

447748890334

447748890333

447748890134

447748890788

447748890171

447748890023

 

[t1grm]

Hi t1grm,

 

If you'd like me to take a look at this, email me with your details via the Contact us form here and quote the code WRT135 - CAG Forum in the subject line.

 

Once sent, you'll receive an automated reply with a reference number. Post back with this and I’ll check I've received it.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

 

 

 

Hi Lee. I already raised incident 7826427 and I was told that I must have made the calls and that it must have been family or friends using my phone or numbers dialled accidentally whilst my phone was unlocked in my pocket or bag. Neither of these suggestions explains the reasons for the pattern of calls above. However I was simply told I was mistaken and I made the calls without any further explanation or option to take it further. Hence the reason I'm posting on here. If I don't get any other suggestions I will take it to the ombudsman next. I would appreciate it if you could take a look another at 7826427.

[Lee Vodafone Company Rep]

Hi t1grm,

 

I'll follow this up and get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

Lee

 

Social Media Comms

 

Vodafone UK

[nuclearshark]

Now this is very interesting... I had a very similar issue around 2 years ago with a Vodafone Account.

 

However mine was more clearly a case of crossed wires. I would send a text message to a colleague or a relative. They would receive the text message without issue. When they responded to that text message, I never received it, but someone else did... Unfortunately the people who received the messages decided to respond with abuse. Explaining to my mother why my 15 year old sister (who was also bullied at school for learning difficulties) received the most profane text message I have ever seen was not a highlight of my life. When I received the bill I also noticed calls and text messages that I had not made including to an 090 number which definitely was not me.

 

One of my suppliers contacted me on the number and ended up speaking to one of these idiots, fortunately she realised she wasn't speaking to me and something very odd had happened. I didn't enjoy explaining that either and was totally mortified.

 

Needless to say I contacted Vodafone and after having to explain the issue from scratch 6 times I lost my temper with the 6th agent as well as my faith and trust in the service, said explaining from square one over and over again was a waste of my time and I would write a letter of complaint.

 

I stopped paying the bill from that point also. The account went to Incasso just as I made a formal complaint over the account. Vodafone responded to my complaint (which was a good 3 pages long and included various correspondence from Apple and The Police over the whole affair) with a 1 page letter and that's when I realised they weren't taking the complaint seriously. So I decided I was not going to take their termination bill seriously.

 

Incasso went away the moment I told them I was disputing it with Vodafone. But since that and the complaint I have heard nothing since and have let that sleeping dog lie.

 

My only reason for posting was that in a sick way, it's nice to know I'm not the only person to have had this problem with Vodafone. I'm now with EE who have given me more than enough problems than I care to deal with. But at least random abusive scoundrels don't receive my text messages...

[citizenB]

nuclearshark - if you ceased payments on the account, you might want to check your credit file - Vodafone do report to the CRAs.

[nuclearshark]

Thanks CitizenB. I did have a look a while ago and didn't spot it on there. I saw a Vodafone account marked as settled which was active for 1 month which was odd. But as it was settled with a Zero Balance didn't think much of it. I might have another look. This thread just reminded me of the terrible experience and I was some what relieved it wasn't just me having further bad luck. If I do find something, I will then start to poke that sleeping dog right in the eye... But they certainly are not getting any money out of me. I left out some of the more gory details for reasons that might be obvious. But I will be clear when I say this: The Police were not involved lightly.

[king12345]

Had the same problem with virgin in 2010/2011.

Calls to numbers I didn't know and some of them billed twice at the same time and date.

How can anyone make two calls of 11 minutes to the same number, at the same time and date?

I was in the process of renewing my mortgage at the time, so I paid the odd £100 in the end, but surely there's something wrong with these phantom calls.

Unfortunately it's impossible to disprove that you've made the calls and unless they give you a goodwill refund, it's unlikely you will see this resolved in your favour.

Just a little advice: When I changed network I made them place a cap on my bill, all in writing.

If you do that write very clearly: I will pay a maximum of £xxx every calendar month and I want the service to be restricted to this sum.

Any extra service charged to my account will not be paid and so ,should you decide to offer it to me, you agree that it will be free of charge.

After they acknowledge this, it would be their fault if they overcharged you, but strangely enough, since doing this my bills have been a steady £9.90/month, no surprises

[citizenB]

Unfortunately it's impossible to disprove that you've made the calls and unless they give you a goodwill refund, it's unlikely you will see this resolved in your favour.

 

Yes, this is a problem with mobile phones - obviously with a landline you might be able to prove that you weren't at home at that date/time.. but with a mobile, not so easy.

[CrappoMan]

Vodafone should have geo-location and ID info on the actual mobile phone that made the calls. They know the exact cell tower used, the IMEI and the SIM number. These can be used to prove the OP's phone didn't make the calls, as that phone will have its own geo-location and ID info.If the IMEI and/or SIM number have been cloned, they will (more than likely) have used different cell towers at the same time. Let Vodafone explain how that can happen ?

[king12345]

Vodafone should have geo-location and ID info on the actual mobile phone that made the calls. They know the exact cell tower used, the IMEI and the SIM number. These can be used to prove the OP's phone didn't make the calls, as that phone will have its own geo-location and ID info.If the IMEI and/or SIM number have been cloned, they will (more than likely) have used different cell towers at the same time. Let Vodafone explain how that can happen ?

Problem is: Would they be willing to disclose such information?

Especially if they're gonna lose money, I doubt it very much

[CrappoMan]

Try a SAR, but not just for the bills, but for all the info used to generate the bills. They do have that info, or else they couldn't be able to create the bill in the first place.

[t1grm]

Interesting to see others have had similar problems. This is not a cost issue for me. I have unlimited minutes so I am not charged for the calls in question. It's a security issue. Anyway I have a new SIM now and there have been no calls to the phantom number range this month yet so I will monitor it closely and see what happens. No explanation on where the calls originated from but I guess I'll never get one. The most important thing is that they stop. It's ironic to hear the comments about EE. I left EE for Vodafone because they screwed up my account and the customer service was so bad!

[nuclearshark]

Also interesting... Mine took 2 SIMs before it eventually stopped. I'm sorry, but tell an autistic person (Who understands technology very well) that changing the SIM will fix the issue and then it doesn't. I was not going to believe them when they said "OK a second SIM will do the trick" throw in a psychotic illness and it wasn't hard to conclude that Vodafone thought I was making it up...

 

Then their Newbury Office contacted me to find out what my issues were... That was an interesting phone call... But the girl I was speaking with I felt DID take the complaint more the seriously and it was very evident she was just as frustrated as I was for not being able to do anything about it.

 

Either way, EE have given me massive headaches as it is. I am tempted to take my complaint to the ombudsman just to spite them and knowing they'll pay for the privilege of the ultimate ruling (see my other thread). But I am tempted to take the compo and leave next year in Q1. Might take the 30 days SIM only sharers I have to Virgin Media also, but do that right now... Not sure yet

[nuclearshark]

nuclearshark - if you ceased payments on the account, you might want to check your credit file - Vodafone do report to the CRAs.

 

Forgot to add... Checked Equifax and nothing... Not sure I want to look on Experian :-\