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Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

benson_doucette
I'm here a lot

I had someone hack my Rogers account and claim my daughter's phone had been lost/stolen. Likewise, the 3rd party company issued a new phone to a fraudster (obviously not verifying any of my information as a security feature). The only way we found out was my daughter suddenly could no longer use her phone. So here I am an entire month later and I am still paying for my daughter's phone which she is not able to use and cannot reach anyone at Rogers that can help. I get a number for their fraud department that is only an answering service and never a callback. I am now completely frustrated, I have been loyal to Rogers for almost 20 years. Has anyone else been in this situation? Who can I contact to finally get this resolved? So Many questions about security and their processes.  

 

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8 REPLIES 8

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

Datalink
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@benson_doucette when you're logged into the forum, send a message to the moderators by following this link to @CommunityHelps.  On the right hand side, you'll see a link to Send a Message.  Follow that link to the message composition page.  The address will fill in on its own.  Fill in the subject line and details, including your cell phone account number and send that to the moderators. 

 

When you're logged into the forum, you might see a number overlaying the mail symbol which is at the upper right-hand corner of the page.  Follow that mail symbol link down to the message inbox to see the response.

 

I'd ask the moderators to reinstate your current cell phone for your daughter.  I think that might be accomplished by switching the SIM number for her phone.  For you to do that, you would need the SIM card number for the current operational phone, which obviously you don't have.  So, either the moderators would have to do it, or you might have to go into a Rogers store, with appropriate ID and phone bill, in order to do this. 

 

I think the goals here are:

 

1.  Declare the current operational phone as being stolen, so that the IMEI number is added to a stolen phone list and blacklisted. 

2.  Null out any charges that might have accrued to the stolen phone, as in long distance charges or any other services.  

3.  Restore your daughters phone to operational service.  That would require restoring the SIM card number for that phone, or installing a new SIM card, which you would obtain from a Rogers Store. 

 

I'm assuming that you've changed your account password and PIN.  If not, that should be done immediately. 

 

Your daughter should check all of her accounts for unauthorized access and any changes that might have occurred to those accounts.  If any of those accounts require SMS password authentication, that will be problematic.  Your daughter would have to contact those businesses via phone in order to prevent future unauthorized account access. 

 

You might want to check with Equifax and Transunion for any unusual activity on your credit files and place a fraud alert on your file with both companies.  That fraud alert runs for 5 or 7 years, don't remember exactly.  Also check the details of your credit file to ensure that the contact phone numbers, address and any other identifying details are correct.  From experience, I can tell you that Transunion does not check those details close enough, allowing fraudulent unauthorized changes to your contact details, which would facilitate further credit fraud.

 

You indicated that "the 3rd party company issued a new phone to a fraudster".  Was that Rogers or another Cell Phone company?  I'm assuming that at some point there will be a charge for that phone, so, its important to declare that phone as being fraudulently obtained so that you're not expected to pay for it,  And as usual, refusal to pay for that phone could result in a bad credit report being send to Equifax and/or Transunion.  You might need to file a police report as part of this process.

 

Is the phone still showing up as active on your account, which should make it easier for Rogers to deal with this, or has the number been ported out to another company?

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

Thank you so much for the reply.

The issue is my daughter still has her phone, it was never lost or stolen. Someone else claimed her phone was stolen. So her current phone's IMEI was put on the lost/stolen list rendering it unusable, this was how we even found out anyone had hacked my account, to begin with. We do still have her SIM card since we still have her phone. So someone out there has a new phone, that I am paying for since she cannot use hers. Her phone is leased through Rogers. I am not even sure how or why they would have sent the new phone to an address, not on my account. 

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

Ok, so, if I'm clear on this:

 

1.  the new phone was either shipped to an address or picked up at a store.  It would be really helpful to determine which one.  If it was shipped to an address, was the address on your account changed?  If it was picked up at a store, then the question is, was this a Rogers store or a store that uses Rogers branding but is in fact owned by a third party.  This brings into question Rogers security practices, or the lack of any security practice.  One would assume that to walk into a store and declare a phone as being stolen and walk out with a new phone, one would have to have proper ID.  If you haven't lost any ID or had any stolen, then what was used to satisfy the store staff?  These are all questions that the Fraud staff should be asking.

 

2.  the new phone is on your account, so now you have a bill for this phone?

 

3.  do you have access to your account?  If so, and if you already haven't done this, log into the account, make sure that your contact information is still correct, change the password and the PIN.  I'd do this on a platform that you trust, as in a pc with an antivirus program installed and used to scan the pc prior to logging into the account.  If you typically access your account thru a cell phone, I'd definitely use a pc to access the account. 

 

4.  If the new phone is active on your account, log into your account after the above step and shut off the services to that phone.  On the page that shows the phone numbers on your account, select your daughters phone number to bring up the page for that number.  Further down the page is a "My Device" section which includes a "Lost or Stolen Device" link.  Follow that link.  On the next page "Sorry to hear you've lost your phone", there is a link to "Switch off my Services"  Ensure that the email that is shown to the right of that link is your email, or if its a hacked email address, change it back to your email address.  Then, follow the link to "Switch off my services" and turn off that phone, which is stolen anyway.  With access to your account locked out, and with the phone shut down, the hackers are locked out.  There is a number within that page to discuss the options you might have 1-855-381-7834.  It might be worth trying that number to see if you actually get a response.  

 

5.  Note that at the top of that page, is a link to find an iPhone or Android device.  It might be worth giving that a try before you lock out the phone, just to see what you find out.  

 

6.  I'd be very inclined at this point to file a police report, especially if we're talking about paying for an iphone, which is very expensive. I'd include the fact that you've attempted to contact Rogers Fraud staff without any success. 

 

7.  Send a message to the moderators at @CommunityHelps to see what they can do for you, and keep trying to contact the Fraud staff. 

 

8.  Even with the stolen phone locked out, you still have the question of how to return your daughters phone back to operation use.  You might need the SIM card number as part of any discussion with the Rogers staff.  Remove the SIM card from the phone and note the card number.  When you write down the number, it actually breaks down five groups, with four digits per group.  It most likely starts with an 8930 sequence.  Also take note of the IMEI number, which will be found in the phone's Settings .... About Phone section.  Fire up the phone, even if it won't connect.  You should still have access to the phone's functions.  If your daughter's phone can be removed from the IMEI blacklist, you'll need both numbers.  

 

Here' s the page for lost or stolen phones.  One of the moderators will have to approve the image so that its publicly available:

 

lost phone.png

 

 

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

Thank you again for your response - seem to be the only person who is helpful. Please see my answers in red to your questions/suggestions, 

  1. the new phone was either shipped to an address or picked up at a store.  It would be really helpful to determine which one.  If it was shipped to an address, was the address on your account changed? The address on my account was not changed. If it was picked up at a store, then the question is, was this a Rogers store or a store that uses Rogers branding but is in fact owned by a third party?  This brings into question Rogers security practices, or the lack of any security practice.  One would assume that to walk into a store and declare a phone as being stolen and walk out with a new phone, one would have to have proper ID.  If you haven't lost any ID or had any stolen, then what was used to satisfy the store staff?  These are all questions that the Fraud staff should be asking. I agree – I have not lost any ID.

 

  1. the new phone is on your account, so now you have a bill for this phone? I don’t believe the NEW phone is on my account in fact I am still paying for the “not stolen” phone that has been blacklisted

 

  1. do you have access to your account?  If so, and if you already haven't done this, log into the account, make sure that your contact information is still correct, change the password and the PIN.  I'd do this on a platform that you trust, as in a pc with an antivirus program installed and used to scan the pc prior to logging into the account.  If you typically access your account thru a cell phone, I'd definitely use a pc to access the account. I do have access to my account and have updated my password when I found out about the fraud a month ago.

 

  1. If the new phone is active on your account, log into your account after the above step and shut off the services to that phone.  On the page that shows the phone numbers on your account, select your daughters phone number to bring up the page for that number.  Further down the page is a "My Device" section which includes a "Lost or Stolen Device" link.  Follow that link.  On the next page "Sorry to hear you've lost your phone", there is a link to "Switch off my Services"  Ensure that the email that is shown to the right of that link is your email, or if its a hacked email address, change it back to your email address.  Then, follow the link to "Switch off my services" and turn off that phone, which is stolen anyway.  With access to your account locked out, and with the phone shut down, the hackers are locked out.  There is a number within that page to discuss the options you might have 1-855-381-7834.  It might be worth trying that number to see if you actually get a response.  See above, I don have the New phone on my account, so I have no idea what number the new phone is associated with. My daughter's sim card is still valid so she is using a borrowed iPhone 8, while I am paying for her blacklisted iPhone 13

 

  1. Note that at the top of that page, is a link to find an iPhone or Android device.  It might be worth giving that a try before you lock out the phone, just to see what you find out.  

 

  1. I'd be very inclined at this point to file a police report, especially if we're talking about paying for an iphone, which is very expensive. I'd include the fact that you've attempted to contact Rogers Fraud staff without any success. I think this is truly the next step. I call the fraud number daily and never get a call back. Literally cannot reach anyone.

 

  1. Send a message to the moderators at @CommunityHelps to see what they can do for you, and keep trying to contact the Fraud staff. I sent a message to the moderators on Tuesday and no response from them.

 

8.  Even with the stolen phone locked out, you still have the question of how to return your daughters phone back to operation use.  You might need the SIM card number as part of any discussion with the Rogers staff.  Remove the SIM card from the phone and note the card number.  When you write down the number, it actually breaks down five groups, with four digits per group.  It most likely starts with an 8930 sequence.  Also take note of the IMEI number, which will be found in the phone's Settings .... About Phone section.  Fire up the phone, even if it won't connect.  You should still have access to the phone's functions.  If your daughter's phone can be removed from the IMEI blacklist, you'll need both numbers.  I tried this method when I found out about the fraud through Rogers who said they would create a case # and told me to follow up with the fraud team, who never returns my calls.

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

@benson_doucette I was looking thru some old posts on this subject and came across the following link for IMEI blacklists for Canada:

 

https://www.devicecheck.ca/

 

If you follow the Consumer's Learn More link, eventually you will end up here, to check the status of an IMEI number:

 

https://www.devicecheck.ca/check-status-device-canada/

 

Fwiw, the fine print indicates the following:  "This service only identifies wireless devices reported lost or stolen to participating Canadian wireless service providers as of September 30, 2013".

 

So, that looks pretty useless, but, give it a try just to see what turns up. 

 

At this point, with the Fraud department and the moderators appearing to totally ignore you, I'd do the following:

 

1.  Raise a police report, given that you have been the subject of Identity Fraud;

2.  Contact Equifax Canada and Transunion Canada and place an alert on your credit file that you are a confirmed ID Theft victim.  Also check your contact details on file.  I wouldn't hesitate to do this and I'd be pretty hostile  (putting it mildly) if I found that either one of them had accepted a recent change of any contact details which would assist in further fraud against you.  Hopefully that might protect you from other fraud occurrences. 

3.  Complain to the CRTC, specifically regarding the inaction on Rogers part.  That is done via the CCTS:  https://www.ccts-cprst.ca/

4.  Create an incident report with the Canadian AntiFraud Centre:  https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/scams-fraudes/victim-victime-eng.htm

5.  Lastly, for now, I use the Rogers Share a Concern page to attempt to shake some action out of Rogers:

https://www.rogers.com/contact/share-a-concern/

 

Fwiw, looking back at previous posts, on the forum, and in the wild, it appears that Rogers and the CRTC are quite useless in this regard.  But, I wouldn't let that stop me from submitting complaints to Rogers and the CRTC.  

 

I think the bigger problem at this point is the ID Theft issue and how this was done.  

 

I know this isn't much help at this point, but, reporting the incident and filing ID theft reports with the credit agencies will hopefully prevent any further issues.  

 

I'm still stewing on this and will probably send a private message sometime later today or tomorrow.

 

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

Good day @benson_doucette,

 

Thanks for sharing your concerns here in the Rogers Community. I'm really sorry to hear of your current situation with someone committing fraud on your daughters wireless line--I'm sure this is very disheartening. You definitely did the right thing by reporting it to our customer care staff so we can flag it to our Fraud team. Typically, they would get in touch with a customer within 3 business days, although there may be a slight delay if they are backed up at the moment. I know this time of year can be quite busy!

 

Unfortunately, we did not receive any Private Message from you in our @CommunityHelps mailbox here in the forums, are you sure it was sent through this avenue? In any case, I've just sent you a direct PM so we may continue chatting about this issue further. We'd like to access your account and review the case that was submitted to see where things are at. Please respond to our PM at your earliest convenience. 🙂

 

Kind regards,

RogersYasmine

 

 

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

Thank you again for all the information. I appreciate all the help. I will keep you posted. 

Re: Fraudulent Lost Phone Claim

 

@benson_doucette I sent a message to you last night.  When you're logged into the forum, look for a number overlaying the mail icon in the upper right-hand corner of the web page.  Follow that mail icon link down to your mail inbox to check your inbound mail.

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