BBC You and Yours are running a second report today (follow up to one
last week) on a scam to switch people's mobile contract from their
normal mobile phone supplier..

A quick Google search suggests it has been going on for some time but
they seem to have got more active. They made the big mistake of cold
calling one of You and Yours reporters!

Last week's programme is on iPlayer and this week's will there later.

Sure regular users here are aware of the scam but worth watching out for
any elderly relatives getting ripped off.

UK OFCOM and IoM OFCOM are investigating but sounds more like something
the police should be investigatinng.

On Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:23:35 +0100
JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:

> BBC You and Yours are running a second report today (follow up to one
> last week) on a scam to switch people's mobile contract from their
> normal mobile phone supplier..
>
> A quick Google search suggests it has been going on for some time but
> they seem to have got more active. They made the big mistake of cold
> calling one of You and Yours reporters!
>
> Last week's programme is on iPlayer and this week's will there later.
>
> Sure regular users here are aware of the scam but worth watching out
> for any elderly relatives getting ripped off.
>
> UK OFCOM and IoM OFCOM are investigating but sounds more like
> something the police should be investigatinng.
>

This sounds like an echo of the Long Distance "Slamming" that took
place some years ago in the USA. Every local 'phone line had to have a
selected L. D. supplier, usually AT&T, but there were others available,
such as Sprint. Suddenly, your 'phone bill would include the
information that you had successfully changed your L. D. Supplier, and
there was a charge added for the privilege. It happened to me in
Georgia. Later, in Michigan, the monthly bill included a flyer
warning about the scam. It also included the news that I had been moved
that month!

In both cases, it took a lot of time on the 'phone to get the changes
reversed, the Georgian local Telco even wanted to charge me again to go
back to my original supplier. They failed.

--
Davey.

On 10/04/2024 14:17, Davey wrote:
> This sounds like an echo of the Long Distance "Slamming" that took
> place some years ago in the USA. Every local 'phone line had to have a
> selected L. D. supplier, usually AT&T, but there were others available,
> such as Sprint. Suddenly, your 'phone bill would include the
> information that you had successfully changed your L. D. Supplier, and
> there was a charge added for the privilege. It happened to me in
> Georgia. Later, in Michigan, the monthly bill included a flyer
> warning about the scam. It also included the news that I had been moved
> that month!
>
> In both cases, it took a lot of time on the 'phone to get the changes
> reversed, the Georgian local Telco even wanted to charge me again to go
> back to my original supplier. They failed.

They are claiming people agreed to the change but it just seems to need
someone in a call centre to tick a box to say they agreed.

The big question is how their agents got hold of people's personal
details, the Information Commissioners seem to be looking into that.

Responsibility seems to be bouncing around between the mobile companies,
PLAN.COM and their agents.