Yesterday I logged in to our AT&T Mobile account to look into upgrading our son's phone. When I got in, I noticed that instead of three phones (mine, Jean's and our son's), there were EIGHT phones tied to the account. Three of these mystery phones had a Mississippi exchange and two had a North Jersey exchange.
I quickly opened a new browser page and looked up a customer service number for AT&T. It only took a few seconds before I was connected to an actual person. I explained to her that there were new 5 phone numbers associated with our account. She confirmed my identity, listened to my story, and then transferred me to their Fraud Department.
The man in the Fraud Department asked me again about adding a tablet or laptop. I reiterated my answer. He then explained that on September 24th the lines were added through a retail outlet in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He explained that someone (not a good person) must have gotten the last 4 digits of my Social Security Number and added the phones to our account. Obviously this was a case of fraud, and any charges made would be credited back to us.
While the second agent was doing his thing (he didn't talk much) I checked my email, and it turns out that on September 24th I got an email from AT&T with a subject of Information About Your AT&T Plan. I didn't think much about it at the time, as they periodically send us emails.
After almost a total of 40 minutes on the with two different reps at AT&T, the fraudulent phones were removed from our account. The agent directed me to AT&T's Fraud Prevention Website which contains lots of information on how to PREVENT being a victim of identity theft, email. phone and other types of technology related fraud.
So I urge you to look at your cell phone bill when it arrives or go online and check your account periodically to make sure that you do not fall victim to a similar type of attack.
Comments(46)