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Fraud Issue as a new ATT customer

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MsRandall

MsRandall

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 27, 2011
1,230
742
Bay Area, Ca
Sorry a loooong read:

Yesterday on my way to work my husband called me and asked me had ATT fraud department called me. Apparently the lady from the fraud department called his number waking him up (he is retired).
When she asked for me he knew it was important and gave her the number to call me as I was in the beginning of my morning commute. He then called me to let me know the number. 2 mins into the conversation the call dropped. My iphone 5s immediately went to no service. I finished my commute and when I got to work I called the number my husband had given me. Immediately, I was connected with a fraud specialist who verified my information and reviewed my account. After 5 mins I felt like I had stepped in a FBI office. She fired off questions about my account, my numbers, my devices and then informed me that my account had been closed for insurance fraud.

Shocked and upset I asked for information and she informed me that the acct was closed, my ported numbers were gone and my devices would be blacklisted. Since it was time for me to go to work I started my day thinking after work I will walk into the same store I started service at on 3/18/14 and within 10 mins my phones would be back on my account restored. Boy was I wrong!!!!

I went to the store and after explaining the situation the fraud department had closed for the evening. Sidenote- my son has a line on my account and he traveling right now with his military unit. His phone is fraud suspended- Talk about bad timing.

I woke this morning thinking again this is a mistake and I can now call and speak to someone and get this straighten out. I called the fraud department and again I met with questioning but no one will give me information other than my account has been marked for fraud and that my numbers including my sons number he has used since he was 12 is gone PERIOD. Finally I was transferred to a manager who gave me some info. She told me that on 3/21 I called the business customer care twice, once at 8:30 – 8:33am to ask about stopping the daily text message I get in the morning. That was a call I made. The second call was from a John Randall at 8:31 am added insurance to my 3 phones I had bought to ATT as BYOD. She then stated I called back on 3/23 and verified the insurance had been added to my account.

On 3/23 a claim for my sons iphone was filed with Ausrion, they sent an iphone 5s to a person I don’t know and to an address in South Field Michigan. On 3/24 a claim was done on my husband phone and a replacement iphone 5s sent to Michigan again. On 3/27 another claim was filed on my iphone 5s sent to the same address. The fraud department claimed because my husband was born in Michigan and calls Michigan numbers it is too much of a coincidence. Yes he calls his mother and 2 sisters that still live in Flint Michigan. She ended the call with you make calls to Michigan, you just started service, you added insurance and now your account has been terminated but we aren’t going to press charges and you wont get your numbers back.

About 45 mins ago I just got home and they finally listened to reasoning that I didn’t, my husband didn’t and surely not my military son who has just been accepted in the Napa police department commit wireless insurance fraud. I will say it makes me want to take my numbers and go right back to Verizon because although I understand business I believe the way it was handled was an insult to me especially at the start of a new business relationship.

Sorry for the vent ....but I do feel better.:eek:
 
MsRandall said:
Sorry a loooong read:

Yesterday on my way to work my husband called me and asked me had ATT fraud department called me. Apparently the lady from the fraud department called his number waking him up (he is retired).
When she asked for me he knew it was important and gave her the number to call me as I was in the beginning of my morning commute. He then called me to let me know the number. 2 mins into the conversation the call dropped. My iphone 5s immediately went to no service. I finished my commute and when I got to work I called the number my husband had given me. Immediately, I was connected with a fraud specialist who verified my information and reviewed my account. After 5 mins I felt like I had stepped in a FBI office. She fired off questions about my account, my numbers, my devices and then informed me that my account had been closed for insurance fraud.

Shocked and upset I asked for information and she informed me that the acct was closed, my ported numbers were gone and my devices would be blacklisted. Since it was time for me to go to work I started my day thinking after work I will walk into the same store I started service at on 3/18/14 and within 10 mins my phones would be back on my account restored. Boy was I wrong!!!!

I went to the store and after explaining the situation the fraud department had closed for the evening. Sidenote- my son has a line on my account and he traveling right now with his military unit. His phone is fraud suspended- Talk about bad timing.

I woke this morning thinking again this is a mistake and I can now call and speak to someone and get this straighten out. I called the fraud department and again I met with questioning but no one will give me information other than my account has been marked for fraud and that my numbers including my sons number he has used since he was 12 is gone PERIOD. Finally I was transferred to a manager who gave me some info. She told me that on 3/21 I called the business customer care twice, once at 8:30 – 8:33am to ask about stopping the daily text message I get in the morning. That was a call I made. The second call was from a John Randall at 8:31 am added insurance to my 3 phones I had bought to ATT as BYOD. She then stated I called back on 3/23 and verified the insurance had been added to my account.

On 3/23 a claim for my sons iphone was filed with Ausrion, they sent an iphone 5s to a person I don’t know and to an address in South Field Michigan. On 3/24 a claim was done on my husband phone and a replacement iphone 5s sent to Michigan again. On 3/27 another claim was filed on my iphone 5s sent to the same address. The fraud department claimed because my husband was born in Michigan and calls Michigan numbers it is too much of a coincidence. Yes he calls his mother and 2 sisters that still live in Flint Michigan. She ended the call with you make calls to Michigan, you just started service, you added insurance and now your account has been terminated but we aren’t going to press charges and you wont get your numbers back.

About 45 mins ago I just got home and they finally listened to reasoning that I didn’t, my husband didn’t and surely not my military son who has just been accepted in the Napa police department commit wireless insurance fraud. I will say it makes me want to take my numbers and go right back to Verizon because although I understand business I believe the way it was handled was an insult to me especially at the start of a new business relationship.

Sorry for the vent ....but I do feel better.:eek:
Click to expand...
Sorry this happened to you , I would immediately switch phone company, that's just me
 
I'd be calling customer retention and asking for some sort of compensation for your time and frustration.
 
I would look into filing FTC and FCC complaints. If someone was able to access and modify your new account without your authorization (multiple times) and cause this much hassle - that is 100% on ATT. The FTC especially takes this stuff incredibly seriously.

Did you sign up in-store? Was it an offical ATT store, or a 3rd party. It could very well be an employee is being naughty (and not in the sexy way).

If you signed up online - was it on a computer that was potentially breached?

May be a good idea to run a credit report as well, in the next few weeks at least - you're entitled to 3 free ones per year. In the off-chance any of your private info got out. It could even be possible your identity was breached elsewhere, and someone saw a credit check by ATT and decided to act on it.

---

And yeah - I second the above comment as well - demand to speak with a retention specialist and demand compensation for this. Dont ask - demand it. Threaten to goto the media if you don't get anything - cutting off anyone is bad enough - but disconnecting military personnel (your son) is 100% unacceptable and I'm sure the media would love that story.
 
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I understand your frustration but also gotta see where AT&T or any company in general has to protect their business and assets.
And even though it might not be your fault identity theft is the fastest growing crime.
Anyone that gets ahold of a few pieces of your private information like date of birth or last 4 of your social can do a lot of damage to your credit and also cause a big loss for companies that have to eat the loss in the end. So I don't agree that is 100% on ATT or 100% or any percent your fault either that someone got access to your info and ended up ripping them off.
Its unfortunate and can cause a lot of hassle when criminals with your credentials try to open up credit cards, lines of credit, make fraudulent purchases and others using your name.
So I'd investigate further to make sure that doesn't happen again and doesn't go any further.
 
Wow #, just wow!!!

Any idea OP as to where or how your information was breached!? Could it possibly an inside job by some of your family in Michigan(gotta ask)!?

Please keep us posted and let us know how this turns out. Yikes!!! I remember you posting when you made the switch; I'm sorry this is happening to you.
 
I doubt my 67 year old mother in law or my two sister in laws in Mich would commit wireless insurance fraud. I mean all 3 have iPhones already

In regards to my data - the rep I spoke with about the daily text messages asked me to set a password and mins later my account was accessed again using that very same password the rep I was talking to entered - to me that employee is the key.

Being I work as a Manager in a large call center - I immediately asked for the call to be reviewed which oddly it was not captured so that means there might not have been a call but an inside job.

Either way I think my relationship with AT&T is done - I understand business and I deal with fraud daily. However I decide who I spend my money with and I plan to take my business back to Verizon

Btw I also filed a police report with my local police dept so they have the address of who received the phones- hopefully they will catch the real criminals
 
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MsRandall said:
I doubt my 67 year old mother in law or my two sister in laws in Mich would commit wireless insurance fraud. I mean all 3 have iPhones already

In regards to my data - the rep I spoke with about the daily text messages asked me to set a password and mins later my account was accessed again using that very same password the rep I was talking to entered - to me that employee is the key.

Being I work as a Manager in a large call center - I immediately asked for the call to be reviewed which oddly it was not captured so that means there might not have been a call but an inside job.

Either way I think my relationship with AT&T is done - I understand business and I deal with fraud daily. However I decide who I spend my money with and I plan to take my business back to Verizon

Btw I also filed a police report with my local police dept so they have the address of who received the phones- hopefully they will catch the real criminals
Click to expand...

Wow, what a crazy story. Definitely sounds like a inside job, My mother had Verizon a few months ago and some what the same thing happened to her, we added a line to our 3 phones and a few days after we get a call from Asurion that a replacement device was delivered. Long story short they were able to trace it back to the 3rd party store and the employee who did this obviously got fired and charged for insurance fraud and possession of stolen property.
 
MsRandall said:
The second call was from a John Randall at 8:31 am added insurance to my 3 phones I had bought to ATT as BYOD. She then stated I called back on 3/23 and verified the insurance had been added to my account.
Click to expand...
If John Randall was not on your authorized users list, then he should not have been allowed to make changes to your account. I'd say definitely file complaints on this matter.
 
Who paid the $199 deductibles? I thought Asurion would want to collect these up front and not bill you later.

Do they have a record of these being paid?
 
ricktat said:
Who paid the $199 deductibles? I thought Asurion would want to collect these up front and not bill you later.

Do they have a record of these being paid?
Click to expand...

Good point. Someone would of had to pay. Of course $199 is way cheaper than actual value. It would benefit the person committing fraud.

A thought, Asurion should keep records as they don't accept COD's right?
 
rui no onna said:
If John Randall was not on your authorized users list, then he should not have been allowed to make changes to your account. I'd say definitely file complaints on this matter.
Click to expand...

I don't know a John Randall so he was not on my acct as an authorized user - I don't have any authorized users not even my husband or son because they have me manage their wireless needs and won't be calling or visiting the store without me

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ricktat said:
Who paid the $199 deductibles? I thought Asurion would want to collect these up front and not bill you later.

Do they have a record of these being paid?
Click to expand...

Good question - the answer is I did - they are on my acct today / my balance is $475. They were charged to my account

----------

Correction my balance was $475 last night this morning it is $581.xx - what a mess
 
I had a similar issue with ATT where someone somehow got access to my account, opened up 5 lines using a diff address and ran off with the phone, never pay the bill. I didn't even know about it until I tried to add another line to my account, they told me I have a delinquent account that owe $1600, I was in shocked. What I did was I went on att forum, made couple of posts, contacted their rep on twitter and someone were able to help me out. Don't bother calling the fraud department, all they do is going to accused you of fraud, and stick you with the bill. Whoever contacted me from customer relation did clear it up, I have a letter from ATT saying that after their investigation, I was not liable for it. Give that a try
 
If you have any more problems, I would contact your local news.

Retired husband and Military son makes this a story. Plus they get a bash ATT.
 
I ended up contacting the Executive Team or Office of the President this morning and they are working on my acct - thanks for all the suggestions. More to come soon.
 
Did you open your new ATT account directly through ATT or through a 3rd party cell phone store? Lots of those hole in the wall stores will give you a phone for a good deal and then use your account fraudulently.
 
garycoleman2 said:
Did you open your new ATT account directly through ATT or through a 3rd party cell phone store? Lots of those hole in the wall stores will give you a phone for a good deal and then use your account fraudulently.
Click to expand...

I opened the account at a cooperate store with a rep I have known for awhile because my other son used to work for ATT about 3 years ago

I still believe the key is the rep who asked me to set up a password on my account.
 
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MsRandall said:
I opened the account at a cooperate store with a rep I have known for awhile because my other son used to work for ATT about 3 years old.

I still believe the key is the rep who asked me to set up a password on my account.
Click to expand...

So what are you doing for Cellular service at the moment!?
 
Set a password on your account, after all that crazy stuff, I set up a password on my account. If u claim insurance, they will ask you for a password and the last 4 of your social. That will add another level of security to your account
 
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