Fraudulent accounts set up in my name

[Headacher]

I've been an O2 customer for over 20 years and in July I got a couple of letters welcoming me to O2 which I thought was odd. I looked into my credit report and entries for nearly £3000 had appeared, I informed O2 I hadn't taken out new contacts and was told they would be removed in 30 days. They are still present on my credit report 4 months later and have crashed my credit score, plus I've just had a letter from a debt collection agency stating that O2 had sold my debts to them. 

I've been calling/using web chat for the last 4 months and no one can help me. They keep telling me it's been escalated to the fraud team and that I'll get a call back but it never comes. I've emailed the fraud team and the complaints department and haven't had a reply back either.

Is there anything I can do outside of O2? I've looked into going to the financial ombudsman but apparently I need a deadlock letter which I can't get if no one will respond to me.

It's really taking a toll on me as my mortgage is up for renewal next year and could be affected if I can't get this removed from my credit report. I will definitely not be renewing with them when my contract expires in the new year.

Thanks

[MI5]

@Headacher 

The O2 advice is as follows:

If you think you’ve been the victim of fraud – whether it’s because you’ve given details to someone over the phone, or clicked on a link in a suspicious text or email there are things you can do:
Contact your bank if you think you may have given out financial information. They can help protect your account and stop transactions.
Change your account and online account passwords. Not just your O2 account. All of them.
Forward fraudulent texts to O2 for free on 7726.
Contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
Call your Virgin Media or O2 customer services number if you think somebody’s taken out a contract using your details.
Virgin Media customers can phone 150 from their landline or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone.
O2 customers can call 202 from their O2 phone or 0344 809 0202 from any other phone.
You can block the number that called you, or any number you think may be suspicious.
How to block a number:
https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00062352/
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201229
There are also these links to look at:
https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/phishing-and-smishing-advice
https://www.o2.co.uk/help/safety-and-security/unwanted-calls-and-messages
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

[Headacher]

Thanks for the reply but none of my current account  is compromised, someone has just set up new contracts using my name and address and I cannot get any help from customer services over the last 4 months. I just keep being told that they can't deal with it and to wait for the fraud team to respond.

[MI5]

@Headacher 

If it's with fraud, there's nothing you can do but wait, unfortunately.

No one will discuss any details with you either, sorry.

[Bambino]

@Headacher What customer service is telling you is unfortunately correct. If your case is with the fraud team you will have to wait until they contact you, which is not a good situation for you to be in. Have you contacted the police yourself? https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

[Headacher]

Yeah I reported it to Action Fraud in July, got a case number but was told "Whilst the misuse of your identity cannot be classified as a police recorded crime, we do recognise that identity theft can cause significant distress and inconvenience." So not a crime apparently!

When I say no contact, I mean no contact, I didn't even receive confirmation that fraud had received my email.

I was told on my calls in July that it was with the fraud team and would be gone within 30 days.

The chat staff have been absolutely useless which makes me doubt it even made it to the fraud team originally. I kept providing chat references and they said they couldn't see the previous chats. Then they kept saying that only 1 account was found with my name/address until magically half an hour later they found 3 more and said I had to be transferred as it was on a different billing platform? Then I was promised a call back within 48 hours that never happened. And it typically takes an hour to get to this point every time I contact them. 

There was also a fraudulent contract taken out with ID Mobile, I contacted them and it was removed from my credit record within 30 days! So O2 just seem rubbish in comparison. I guess I'm just lucky that I never had to contact customer services over my 20 years of being a customer with them!

[Oxonian]

@Headacher 

You said :-

"I've looked into going to the financial ombudsman but apparently I need a deadlock letter which I can't get if no one will respond to me".

Have you expressly asked for a deadlock letter ? On their website, Citizens Advice say :-

"You might need a letter from the trader saying you couldn’t sort out the problem - this is called a ‘letter of deadlock’. You don’t need this letter if the organisation is taking too long to deal with your complaint - this is usually 8 weeks, but check with the ombudsman scheme you’re using". 

That's at :-

Complaining to an ombudsman - Citizens Advice

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/how-to-use-an-ombudsman-in-england

However, my understanding is that you must have actually requested a deadlock letter.   

Please keep us updated on developments. 

[MI5]

As it's with fraud there is naff all you can do until they complete the investigation.

No amount of complaints, discussions or investigations elsewhere will achieve anything.

[Headacher]

Ah thanks for that! I would imagine that it's the fraud team that would need to send me that though and I'm yet to hear anything from them.

@MI5 you keep saying that but I called back yesterday and kicked off a little and was finally told that it was escalated to the fraud team on the 11th August. 3 months of no contact is not acceptable at all. If it was escalated in August then they screwed up selling "my debt" to a third party in October. 

[MI5]

@Headacher 

I keep saying it because it's correct.

It is illegal for anyone at O2 to discuss the details with you now it is with fraud.

They are known to take an eternity to complete their investigations but, you have no choice other than to wait.

Anyone from O2 giving you any details before fraud has completed and closed the case can be charged with collusion. This is not what you want to hear, but again it's a fact, that O2 will also be investigating you for any implication in to the fraudulent activity, hence the no contact rule.