Possible Identity Theft scam

[Tramontana]

Today I received a call from someone claiming to be from Three, offering to sign me up for a 45% discount on my bills. I went along with it, being careful not to supply information like bank account details. The caller didn't need this information as he already had it and read it out to me. He also told me how much my most recent bill was and my address and postcode. Most of this information can only be obtained by accessing my account

I was perhaps foolish in going along with the offer. He gave me his contact number and requested a £30 activation fee for setting up the new direct debit. My phone received an active card check from Three. I provided my credit card details and a payment was taken, also by Three. When I check my account I see the £30 is sitting there as a credit.

A couple of hours later I had another call from the number given by the first caller but from a different person, regarding a pack of legal documents that they said would be sent to me. When I started asking further questions they closed the call rather hurriedly.

It seems to me this might be an elaborate scam to persuade me to sign some document when it arrives by post. Is this likely?

So - a whole raft of questions. How did these people get details held by Three? How did they cause Three to do an active card check? Has there been a data breach in the last 5 years (since I signed up with Three)? When I ask Three these questions on their on-line chat they avoid answering directly and in one case they closed the chat and logged me out.

I saw a post from another user reporting a similar experience. Can anyone throw light on this?

I have changed my password and am contacting ActionFraud to see what other actions I may need to take.

[Openside_07]

I have just had a phone call offering 45% discount on my Three contract, the number they used (01913499187) traced back to the "Central Oven & Pizza" a bona fide business in Newcastle upon Tyne. His accent certainly wasn't Geordie, more like Indian, when I mentioned I'd just been woken up from a rather long night shift on undercover duties, the line went dead rather quickly. I've passed the number onto some acquaintances within the Northumbria Police fraud prevention team.

[JonathanB]

Hi @Openside_07,

Thanks for helping raise awareness about this. The scammers will be "spoofing" most likely, software can be used to alter the caller ID, and most scam calls will generally appear to be coming from a UK number these days, although the criminals won't really be using the corresponding phone line.

There's more info about this, other common fraud, and how to report them on our fraud to watch out for page.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[KentTree]

I've just had the same, apparently from a number in Sunderland. When I told the Indian guy that he should already have my email when he asked for it, he promptly hung up. 

[DOI209]

I had a similar call on 7 September.   50% off a new 12 month contract and free Apple watch.  They 'confirmed' my account balance and contract date ( I gave them wrong information ).  They sent a link asking to enter a new password ( I refused ).   Very persistent but I hung up on her.    The phone no was 0121 8186271 and others have recognised this as a scam. It was not 0333 number.

[JonathanB]

Hi @DOI209,

Thanks for helping raise awareness about these scams, and glad to hear you caught on to what was happening without giving any info away to them. You can find more advice about fraud, spam, and scams and how to report them on our Fraud to watch out for page here.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Benjo94]

I have just received the exact same call. He offered the same as yourself and asked me to confirm my email which I did. He then asked me to spell my email which I refused as they should have it on file, the call then abruptly ended.

[Mariia]

I had the same call today. Once I received a link to change my pw I hanged off as I understood what they wanna to do. They are providing you pw - three100001. 

[Afaq]

Same happened to me. They provide me same password.

[JonathanB]

Hi @Afaq,

Thanks for helping raise awareness about this. We definitely wouldn't prompt you to change your My3 password to a specific password of our choice. We wouldn't ever ask you to share your My3 password either.  There's more advice on how to report scams here.

Thanks,
Jonathan