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Fin24 user Muriel Gass writes:
I read with interest the story of Gail who suddenly lost money from her Absa Group [JSE:ASA] account, via it seems her MTN Group [JSE:MTN] account.
I have a relatively new Samsung Galaxy phone which had been connected and coordinated to my PC and iPad. I am not yet familiar with using all the functions – I am 65 years old and it takes a bit longer to learn these things.
On Easter Sunday afternoon I was out walking with my dog when I received an Vodacom alert: unusually high usage has been detected on your cellular number exceeding R6323.34. For data usage queries contact 082155 or enquiries 0821946.
I was completely shocked as I had the phone in my pocket and had had it with me all day – it had not been out of my sight.
I tried to phone my son about this message, only to receive a recorded message that my SIM card had been blocked and I was to make contact with Vodacom. When I did, this I was told that this was data usage, not phone calls of any description and it had happened on Easter Sunday.
When I contacted Vodacom they said they would look into the matter, but did unlock my card again and they have still not been able to say how the account could have been run up to that extent before they notified me, or locked the SIM.
The following week I had an answer to my complaint to the effect that the data was taken from my phone and they are not able to tell me where it went.
Brooklyn Vodashop assistant Sune was very shocked when she compared years of phone and data usage and agreed that it was not possible for me to have run up that type of bill in a few hours – it would be the equivalent of downloading 50-odd movies!
Later that same week my internet and email stopped working and when I contacted Atlantic, I was told I had used 10 Gigs of data in a week! Again no explanation as to how 12 Gigs was ever loaded on my account and where the data has gone seems to be more than they are prepared to try and find out!
I am absolutely sure that I was the victim of cyber theft in both instances – someone it seems must have cracked into my WiFi (which had a password) and it has cost me close to R8 000.
The worst is that neither company will try to help in the slightest to get to the bottom of the matter – the customer it seems is always wrong and definitely to blame. The manager of Brooklyn Vodashop Craig Ortmann even had the temerity to ask me if there were not perhaps any ‘naughty children’ who may have got hold of my phone!
I returned today again to the shop to find out from Sune if they had had any sort of response from Vodacom and to ask for a copy of their request. Sune has left apparently with 24 hours' notice last week!
I am going to take this further to Hello Peter and ask Third Degree to investigate – I am hearing from all sorts of folk that they have also had data stolen or used, so it is perhaps within the companies that this is happening.
I am at my wit's end and sick of being ignored by the corporates!
- Fin24
Read more news from SIM swap victims here.
I read with interest the story of Gail who suddenly lost money from her Absa Group [JSE:ASA] account, via it seems her MTN Group [JSE:MTN] account.
I have a relatively new Samsung Galaxy phone which had been connected and coordinated to my PC and iPad. I am not yet familiar with using all the functions – I am 65 years old and it takes a bit longer to learn these things.
On Easter Sunday afternoon I was out walking with my dog when I received an Vodacom alert: unusually high usage has been detected on your cellular number exceeding R6323.34. For data usage queries contact 082155 or enquiries 0821946.
I was completely shocked as I had the phone in my pocket and had had it with me all day – it had not been out of my sight.
I tried to phone my son about this message, only to receive a recorded message that my SIM card had been blocked and I was to make contact with Vodacom. When I did, this I was told that this was data usage, not phone calls of any description and it had happened on Easter Sunday.
When I contacted Vodacom they said they would look into the matter, but did unlock my card again and they have still not been able to say how the account could have been run up to that extent before they notified me, or locked the SIM.
The following week I had an answer to my complaint to the effect that the data was taken from my phone and they are not able to tell me where it went.
Brooklyn Vodashop assistant Sune was very shocked when she compared years of phone and data usage and agreed that it was not possible for me to have run up that type of bill in a few hours – it would be the equivalent of downloading 50-odd movies!
Later that same week my internet and email stopped working and when I contacted Atlantic, I was told I had used 10 Gigs of data in a week! Again no explanation as to how 12 Gigs was ever loaded on my account and where the data has gone seems to be more than they are prepared to try and find out!
I am absolutely sure that I was the victim of cyber theft in both instances – someone it seems must have cracked into my WiFi (which had a password) and it has cost me close to R8 000.
The worst is that neither company will try to help in the slightest to get to the bottom of the matter – the customer it seems is always wrong and definitely to blame. The manager of Brooklyn Vodashop Craig Ortmann even had the temerity to ask me if there were not perhaps any ‘naughty children’ who may have got hold of my phone!
I returned today again to the shop to find out from Sune if they had had any sort of response from Vodacom and to ask for a copy of their request. Sune has left apparently with 24 hours' notice last week!
I am going to take this further to Hello Peter and ask Third Degree to investigate – I am hearing from all sorts of folk that they have also had data stolen or used, so it is perhaps within the companies that this is happening.
I am at my wit's end and sick of being ignored by the corporates!
- Fin24
Read more news from SIM swap victims here.
