Consumer Electronics Someone has opened up a mobile account under my name

[Mr_Bojangles]

So I was in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and got a recorded phone call from Telstra saying I owe around $200. When inquiring further I found out someone OVER THE PHONE has opened an account under my name and only needed my name and date of birth.

I asked for them to take my name off the account, wouldn't do it, said I have to get a signed police statement despite me having ID and berating them for letting someone open an account over the phone. So I've done that and now they have to fax it somewhere for anything to happen. In the meantime the one who opened the account has racked up $300 on this account and put a password on the phone account so I can't talk to anyone about it over the phone and have to do it face to face in a Telstra store.

Do I wait on Telstra so sort this and run the risk of damaging my credit rating or worse or go to the Ombudsmen? Telstra are being very very s**t over this and I need to get it sorted ASAP. Getting worried about it to be honest.

Has this happened to anyone out there in BF land?

 

[RU_]

So I was in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and got a recorded phone call from Telstra saying I owe around $200. When inquiring further I found out someone OVER THE PHONE has opened an account under my name and only needed my name and date of birth.

I asked for them to take my name off the account, wouldn't do it, said I have to get a signed police statement despite me having ID and berating them for letting someone open an account over the phone. So I've done that and now they have to fax it somewhere for anything to happen. In the meantime the one who opened the account has racked up $300 on this account and put a password on the phone account so I can't talk to anyone about it over the phone and have to do it face to face in a Telstra store.

Do I wait on Telstra so sort this and run the risk of damaging my credit rating or worse or go to the Ombudsmen? Telstra are being very very s**t over this and I need to get it sorted ASAP. Getting worried about it to be honest.

Has this happened to anyone out there in BF land?

That's a s**t predicament, just wait it out is what i'd do.. if it gets too high though go to the Ombudsmen.

 

[Selective Retention]

Report it to the ombudsman straight away.

They won't sort it out for you until a time lapse (x amount of weeks) but what they do is log the problem with telstra and someone from Telstra with authority to sort it out will get back to you, waste of time going through the monkeys in billing/complaints whatever in the call centres they don't/can't do s**t.

Similar thing happened to me at the start of the year and I haven't had an account with Telstra for 5 years. Some moron added an account, from someone with the same name as me, to my inactive account with Telstra. Only reason I found out was that I had given an old prepaid number to my brother, he had attached an email to this, and they started sending him bills in my name for this new account. I went into a Telstra store and saw on their database that they had put this other guys details in under personal details and had all my old details under the billing details. Took 4 months for them to fix it. They all said they had sorted it out, until the bill came again the next month, and after they had disconnected it I started receiving $2000 bills for breaking the contract. In the end they wouldn't give me any documentation to say my account balance was 0.00 with Telstra, I lost patience and got the ombudsman involved, should have done it 3 months earlier. The higher power from Telstra fixed it in 15 minutes

 

[2009premiers]

always go ombudsmen. it is the only way they start to take things seriously.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

That's a s**t predicament, just wait it out is what i'd do.. if it gets too high though go to the Ombudsmen.

I wouldn't wait it out myself. Get straight to it MB.

 

[grizzlym]

So I was in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and got a recorded phone call from Telstra saying I owe around $200. When inquiring further I found out someone OVER THE PHONE has opened an account under my name and only needed my name and date of birth.

I asked for them to take my name off the account, wouldn't do it, said I have to get a signed police statement despite me having ID and berating them for letting someone open an account over the phone. So I've done that and now they have to fax it somewhere for anything to happen. In the meantime the one who opened the account has racked up $300 on this account and put a password on the phone account so I can't talk to anyone about it over the phone and have to do it face to face in a Telstra store.

Do I wait on Telstra so sort this and run the risk of damaging my credit rating or worse or go to the Ombudsmen? Telstra are being very very s**t over this and I need to get it sorted ASAP. Getting worried about it to be honest.

Has this happened to anyone out there in BF land?

Yes, ombudsman. I wonder of you've got an angle here too as it's fraud/identity theft. Not sure of the police can do anything, or you might invoke that to the idiots at Telstra. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

If the person can be traced he/she would be in big trouble. As you said Grizz, identity theft/fraud is a serious matter.

I can have a search through some legislation and find stuff that would apply (at a later date and if wanted), but am too tired at the moment.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

Ombudsman and Federal Police. If your facts are correct (I have no reason to doubt them) then there is no doubt a crime has been committed, and you may need to show you are taking the matter seriously and doing everything you can as openly as you can. Telstra may just think you are trying to weasel your way out of a bill (and they definitely will require police reports before letting the bill go so they can claim it on insurance if the culprit proves untracable or overseas).
Unfortunately, your credit rating will quite likely be trashed regardless. The credit tracking agencies don't have a good record of removing an issue just because it proved false.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

Sounds like a case that Today Tonight or A Currrent Affair would be interested in

 

[year of the roo]

So I was in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and got a recorded phone call from Telstra saying I owe around $200. When inquiring further I found out someone OVER THE PHONE has opened an account under my name and only needed my name and date of birth.

I asked for them to take my name off the account, wouldn't do it, said I have to get a signed police statement despite me having ID and berating them for letting someone open an account over the phone. So I've done that and now they have to fax it somewhere for anything to happen. In the meantime the one who opened the account has racked up $300 on this account and put a password on the phone account so I can't talk to anyone about it over the phone and have to do it face to face in a Telstra store.

Do I wait on Telstra so sort this and run the risk of damaging my credit rating or worse or go to the Ombudsmen? Telstra are being very very s**t over this and I need to get it sorted ASAP. Getting worried about it to be honest.

Has this happened to anyone out there in BF land?

Sorry about that, John Smith.

 

[Papa Juggs]

I would storm into the nearest Telstra store threatening police involvement myself.

Each to their own though.

That means the lawyer cap is on, not the psycho cap, that's too easy for them they just call security and get to feel justified as you're dragged away.

 

[TheStinger]

Ombudsman. Now.

And possibly police.

 

[The Dice Man]

Oh you're ****ed. See you in 7 years when you're released.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Okay found out the number of dodgy account and phoned it up. Irish guy answered and was 'shocked and appalled' that this had happened and was 'phoning telstra right away to sort this out', that was Friday...haven't heard back so I think I found my white whale. Told him if it wasn't sorted by the end of the day I'd contact the police so he had his chance.

Called the ombudsman and they were brilliantly helpful for a Government department. They took my case over the phone, said this happens a lot and will sort it out for me and if Telstra don't phone me back by the end of next week then to phone back and they stick the dogs on to Telstra. In this time too Tlestra cannot touch my actual account or do anything to my credit rating or gets debt collectors on to the money owing on the dodgy account.

Have put a report in with police too but have more faith in the CO than them. Looks like it'll be okay but concerned how they got my details so will have to be more careful.

Oh and my contract with Telstra is up in a few weeks so might be a good time to switch to someone like Optus. Can't wait for the Telstra telemarketers to phone me asking if I want a new deal.

I would storm into the nearest Telstra store threatening police involvement myself.

Each to their own though.

That means the lawyer cap is on, not the psycho cap, that's too easy for them they just call security and get to feel justified as you're dragged away.

I did have a dummy spit in a Telstra Shop last week, I've been in to one of those stores four times so gave them a chance to sort it out before going to the heavies. It did go through my head is if go all incredible hulk on them but it wouldn't help at all.

 

[raskolnikov]

Telstra are being very very s**t over this and I need to get it sorted ASAP.

Telstra are very very s**t over everything. I refuse to have anything to do with them after one too many times screaming at them over the telephone.

 

[kickazz]

yeah another vote for Ombudsman. I had dodgy charges on my creddy and the bank were prevaricating and piss farting around for months pretending to fix it up. Subsequently sent a letter where the first sentence was simply "Please accept this letter as your 30 days notice to fix the problem before I escalate to the Ombudsman".
Problem was fixed within the week.

 

[treefingers]

identity theft/fraud is a serious matter