Crooks Work 24 Hours a Day to Rip You Off

Here’s a scenario I hope you never have to face: you open this month’s phone bill, and instead of the monthly costs you’re used to – taxes, data, and phone charges – you see $1,500 in phone calls that you never made.

This happened to me – I received a $1,500 phone bill for 20 calls to Cuba! I had never made calls to that country nor had anyone else made them from my phone. Here’s what the phone company told me: someone had hijacked my voicemail box – don’t ask me how this works – and sold a bunch of phone calls to people who then called relatives and friends in Cuba, and these calls ended up on my bill. The phone company, which had just merged with my old carrier, explained that my voicemail box was vulnerable because it did not have adequate password protection; he said it was my responsibility to protect my voicemail box since I owned the phone. I railed at the company representative, demanding to know why their customers and I were never informed that a major hack of my former carrier’s line had occurred the year before so that we could personally take steps to protect ourselves. Well, I have yet to hear from them, and it’s been four years.

This was an unusual episode, but such things do happen, and when they do, there are steps you can take to minimize the chance that you have to pay for someone else’s criminal conduct. Always remember that there is no limit to a criminal’s imagination for inventing schemes to steal from you:

• Do some research to find out if what happened to you happened to others, as well. Google every keyword you can think of that defines the problem, because what you experienced probably happened to others. This gives you ammunition to refute your bogus debt.

• File a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and hit the link “File a Consumer Complaint.” Also, log on to the Federal Communications Commission, FCC Consumer Complaints website, which offers a complaint form. Chances are they already know about this type of fraud, and it will go into a file as evidence that may advance an investigation.

• Send complaint letters to the phone company, with details that support your position. Here’s a tip: When I send letters of complaint to a corporation, I send them to the CEO. Google can provide the name and address of that person, and this way your letter will trickle down to the correct person. I personally believe that it’s more effective to do it this way than sending it to customer service.

• Keep a file on everything related to your complaint. That means every call you make, every letter you send, every bill you receive, the names and correct spellings of those you speak to at the company, how they respond, and what they tell you.

It’s not an easy process, but it is worth it if you can get the company to waive a bill that you don’t owe.

We want to hear from you, so feel free to share tips, ideas, and resources for seniors with Grannybooster. Email me, Maris Somerville, at info@grannybooster.com