Free phones? Or is this a scam?

Nexus

Nexus

Nexus

Soldato
Joined
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Spent the weekend at my parents and before leaving this morning I received two courier deliveries. Firstly this was odd because I've not lived at my parents for a good few years now, so it's no longer my registered address, nor have I ordered anything lately.

What was more confusing is that each package contains a brand new Nokia N8, a T-Mobile Sim card and documentation, along with a packing slip which seems to mark the cost of the phone as nothing.

My Father had also received a similar looking package, so we opened that and it contains two brand new Samsung Galaxy S2s, however they are labelled as Orange. The packing slip however goes into a bit more detail and says that it's been sent by 'Everything Everywhere Limited'.

A quick google reveals that this is the new merger company that T-Mobile and Orange have formed.

Now I've never had any dealings with either of those companies, I had a contract with Vodafone for a good eight years before switching to O2 who I've used now for three. Although my Father isn't here, I don't think he has been on either of those providers either.

So I'm a little confused.
Is this a scam in that they are going to wait a while and send an invoice demanding we pay for them or send them back? I didn't think this kind of practise was really allowed?

Or is it simply some kind of promotion?
Baring in mind that both myself and my Father use iPhones. So perhaps it's to try and get us to switch and use another network?

Anyone had or seen anything similar to this?

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I expect it will be a mistake. I won't quote the laws because I'm not certain on them, but you are not legally entitled to keep them and use them without notifying the sender that you have received them and giving them a chance to come collect them, if I remember correctly.
 
Hi - I work for EE - this is a scam gone wrong. They (the criminals) used your details for an online order and they were supposed to intercept them but they got it wrong. You may have had a card cloned, check your bank balances / DDs but it's not always the case. We require the order delivered to the card holders registered address which is why it's possible your card has been cloned. There are other methods which just use the address from a dumpster dive but I won't go into it.

If you're OK with it please call up T-M/Orange and say you have received an order you did not request. If you need numbers say and I'll sort you out.

Edit: Don't do nothing - trust me. You have a lot more to lose than a handset if this is a scam.

Edit2: There should have been a document in there with a customer number / reference of some description - you may need this when you call them.
 
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I suspect it is as Myshra says, get on the phone to them and get it all cancelled. Same goes for your bank, etc.

That documentation you have is the stuff you get when you open a contract with T-Mobile.

Do you really think they would send a load of free phones to try and get you to change networks? :p
 
Both myself and my Father though?

What are the chances?
Also the fact that the slip doesn't mention the price of the units, they are declared as £0.00

Again this is also not the address my bank account is registered to any longer.
 
Ah I see, so they've opted for something like a £100 a month contract, with there being no charges until the contract starts so to speak.
 
I doubt it will be that high, it depends how considerate the scammers are :o

Let us know what happens when you've spoken to them, out of interest :)
 
OK, so this has just gotten a little hectic since my last post!

I was looking at my bank account and have two charges for £10 for the London Congestion charge number which I've never called or used before.

I spoke to my bank and they decided to cancel my account.

About 30 minutes ago, my Mother had just been given another two packages containing phones from another Courier. The Courier said that a Hispanic looking man with dreads was sat at the end of the drive and tried to intercept the packages, he said call the Police.

So I've spoken to them and filled out a crime report and I just met an officer in a patrol car who is having a look around for him. Considering the area my parents live in, this guy would stick out like a sore thumb.

So we now have phones from 3, T-Mobile and Orange... I can't not think he has tried others also.

Tried to speak to T-Mobile about it, but so far their phone system has been rubbish.
 
You may have one from every network. The mega clue is 2 - this is the limit per person per new deal, sorry you have been a victim :( It's likely you had your families details fished - the method could be anything but common ones are post interception (old long forgotten accounts work wonders), keylogging and card skimming. It costs the industry huge figures, many millions.

I don't post in any official capacity on behalf of EE so I can't really go through the ins and outs of your current situation sorry but if I were you I'd:

1) Lock all current cards, get them re-issued. Assume everything is cloned / details exposed. Go Madagascar
2) Check for not only LCC items but iTunes - a common card checker.
3) expect other items - phones are dead easy to do this with but it's not uncommon for other purchases to go through. I've seen 50" TVs ordered and other stuff in reports.
4) Ask your rents if they do online shopping and have done so recently. All of the big 5 use 3DSecure and getting through this is a huge bitch for criminals but the easiest method (assuming your own cards were used for the purchases) is keylogging. It's possible they could have used other cards but it honestly doesn't look like it :( Have you used their laptop recently? Do they like to click slightly odd emails that say they need to login to the bank at www.blahblah.notreallymybank.butuseme.com ?
5) You may have moved but is your card registered address set to your parents? They probably found you through the roll or something like pipl (this site is so nifty).
6) GET A CREDIT REPORT. RIGHT NOW. Experian do a month free IIRC - do this for you, parents etc... check you don't have anything else added recently on it.

It's kinda odd that both you and your parents got done together despite living apart, not seen that before I must admit.
 
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Glad I get online statements.

Also when you get it fixed, remember to get your credit report fixed.
 
Thanks for the advice.

Another Officer came around to do a full report, he has also taken all the phones with him, as he said it would probably be easier for him to chase them up than me doing it. I assume the Police have a special number or something. He's going to come back later, but said we can now call 999 if we spot him again.

Like I said, the only thing I spotted on my accounts was two strange Congestion Charges from a couple of weeks ago that I didn't make. The figures otherwise look in order, but they cancelled the account.

Managed to speak to my Father and he doesn't see anything odd on his accounts. The thing that struck me though is that perhaps they made a mistake, because my name is also my Father's middle name. As only one package came addressed to me so to speak, perhaps it's his name they mean't to use.

My bank confirmed my registered address is my London one, however my parents one was still down as a correspondence address for some reason.

I know that I'm careful when using my card because I've had fraudulent stuff happened twice in the past. I've not really made too many purchases lately and am very careful online, only using my own internet connection and computer.

Myshra, the credit report thing would highlight if somebody has tried to take out a contract right? Where as if there are no charges on an account, these would show up.
 
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Oh snap, next door neighbour got the licence plate number!

Apparently he had spotted the guy hanging around all morning and thought he was suspicious enough to make a note of it. So hopefully Police might get him on ANPR or registered address.
 
Just took the free Experian Credit Report, everything looks in good stead.

However, I spotted that in the credit searches section, I've got two credit searches on the 28th by Everything Everywhere Ltd.

So obviously this is part of the fraud, as I have no dealings with them.
Is there something I can do about this?
Or as my score is ok, I shouldn't worry?
 
Mr Paul said:
That the standard credit check by the mobile company. twice as two handsets I guess
Click to expand...

That's right.

What's further interesting about it is that my parents address has a house name, and then a number.

A new house has been built over the road from us which only has a name. The credit look up has the address under my name as the name of this new house over the road, followed by the number of our house.

The people who bought it only moved in a week or so ago. So perhaps he was hoping the address was free.

One of the Couriers actually just came back to see what the deal was, and he said the guy was very nervous when he asked for the package, so it's likely he was new to this and as the Police figured, probably part of a larger operation.
 
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