topic Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral. in Get Support

Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 05:31:10 GMT

My friend got a request for a PM referral (on reddit) over the weekend and today they learned that the person who asked for the PM referral number didn't want it to join PM. The person who requested the referral instead used my friends number to unlock/receive the Koodo migration offer behind my friend's back, and thus their number is no longer eligible for future Koodo offers. Referee's beware!

Time for PM to stop using personal and private information (ie. your personal phone number) as the code used to refer people. Making it a system generated code would be much more private and secure. Much the way Koodo does the referral system.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

Dunkman — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:26:52 GMT

@thirstyturtle18

Some people are just so inconsiderate and take advantage of others. On RFD, there was also a public mobile phone number generator that some people were using.

I hope that your friend is able to get their promo and get Koodo to ban the other person who stole the phone number.

Another way for Koodo to do these migrations is to include phone number and account number. That would work better

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

ShawnC13 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:32:06 GMT

@thirstyturtle18 wrote:
My friend got a request for a PM referral (on reddit) over the weekend and today they learned that the person who asked for the PM referral number didn't want it to join PM. The person who requested the referral instead used my friends number to unlock/receive the Koodo migration offer behind my friend's back, and thus their number is no longer eligible for future Koodo offers. Referee's beware!

Time for PM to stop using personal and private information (ie. your personal phone number) as the code used to refer people. Making it a system generated code would be much more private and secure. Much the way Koodo does the referral system.

have your friend contact the public mobile moderators and get in touch with Koodo there should be an easy way to prove that this wasn't it invalid port and actually theft of a number. Koodo should easily be able to cancel that migration plan and give your friend their number back on the public mobile network

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:36:23 GMT

Sorry, maybe I wasn't too clear to begin with. Their number wasn't stolen (as you would need an account number, account PIN, etc to do a full port), but rather their number was used to gain access to the Koodo migration promotion, meaning that my friend will not be able to get these Koodo offers anymore. Their number is still with PM, as when you sign up with Koodo, you do have the option to get a new number instead of porting the PM number, which is what this scammer must have done.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

computergeek541 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:38:30 GMT

@ShawnC13 wrote:
@thirstyturtle18 wrote:
My friend got a request for a PM referral (on reddit) over the weekend and today they learned that the person who asked for the PM referral number didn't want it to join PM. The person who requested the referral instead used my friends number to unlock/receive the Koodo migration offer behind my friend's back, and thus their number is no longer eligible for future Koodo offers. Referee's beware!

Time for PM to stop using personal and private information (ie. your personal phone number) as the code used to refer people. Making it a system generated code would be much more private and secure. Much the way Koodo does the referral system.
have your friend contact the public mobile moderators and get in touch with Koodo there should be an easy way to prove that this wasn't it invalid port and actually theft of a number. Koodo should easily be able to cancel that migration plan and give your friend their number back on the public mobile network

From the first post, I don't believe the number was stolen and ported out, only that the Koodo migration offer eligibility. It is possible for someone to signup for one of these Koodo plans withouy porting in the phone number that was used for eligibility in rhe first place.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:41:48 GMT

@computergeek541 wrote:

From the first post, I don't believe the number was stolen and ported out, only that the Koodo migration offer eligibility. It is possible for someone to signup for one of these Koodo plans withouy porting in the phone number that was used for eligibility in rhe first place.

Yes, you are 100% correct. That is what the situation that happened here is about.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

Dunkman — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 00:42:11 GMT

Sorry, used the wrong terms. Can't steal somebody's Public mobile number. However, used that number inappropriately, so the orginal owner of the number can't get the migration offer. Still a lousy thing to do....

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:06:55 GMT

Could the Mods here take this as a suggestion to make the referral process more private and secure? I'm hessitant to sign up referrals now.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

srlawren — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:17:07 GMT

@thirstyturtle18 is your friend @hocuspocus? https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Public-Mobile-s-Koodo-Offer/m-p/264467/highlight/true#M31086. I ask becuase it's the same story almost down to the same wording.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:19:15 GMT

No, that is someone else...and just goes to show you how widespread and insecure this referral method is.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

will13am — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:26:13 GMT

@Dunkman wrote:
@thirstyturtle18

Some people are just so inconsiderate and take advantage of others. On RFD, there was also a public mobile phone number generator that some people were using.

I hope that your friend is able to get their promo and get Koodo to ban the other person who stole the phone number.

Another way for Koodo to do these migrations is to include phone number and account number. That would work better

Phone number and account number is a really dangerous combination. Together somebody could take your number, not just the migration opportunity. The safe method is a code.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:28:30 GMT

@will13am wrote:
@Dunkman wrote:
@thirstyturtle18

Some people are just so inconsiderate and take advantage of others. On RFD, there was also a public mobile phone number generator that some people were using.

I hope that your friend is able to get their promo and get Koodo to ban the other person who stole the phone number.

Another way for Koodo to do these migrations is to include phone number and account number. That would work better
Phone number and account number is a really dangerous combination. Together somebody could take your number, not just the migration opportunity. The safe method is a code.

I don't think he meant giving out the account number for a referral, I think he's suggesting using the account number for the migration promotion, which should only be for the PM account holder to see anyway.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

will13am — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:31:23 GMT

@thirstyturtle18, I would be interested in knowing how your friend found out positively their number was used to complete an illegitimate migration to Koodo? I don't recall Koodo ever contacting customers via the eligible number ever. I have received past offers which I took part in and never was I ever contacted via phone number, just email address that I registered for the account.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

ShawnC13 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:31:50 GMT

Either way it should be reported to koodo. They can tracetrac new Koodo account through which number was used I am sure and cancel it out that way

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:33:19 GMT

@will13am wrote:
@thirstyturtle18, I would be interested in knowing how your friend found out positively their number was used to complete an illegitimate migration to Koodo? I don't recall Koodo ever contacting customers via the eligible number ever. I have received past offers which I took part in and never was I ever contacted via phone number, just email address that I registered for the account.

When my friend went to the Koodo webstore and entered in his PM number, it said he had already used that number for this promotion. This happened a day after giving a referral on the reddit site.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

smp99 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:44:25 GMT

Phone number for referral is ok I guess. The Koodo method is way better. But all you need to do is change the migration method. All you need to change is enter PM phone number plus last 4 digits of PM account number. If you plan to port anyways ( as expected ) you would have the account number handy

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:43:53 GMT

That would work, but still people would end up with your personal phone number. I still would prefer an more private method.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

will13am — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:46:25 GMT

@thirstyturtle18 wrote:
@will13am wrote:
@thirstyturtle18, I would be interested in knowing how your friend found out positively their number was used to complete an illegitimate migration to Koodo? I don't recall Koodo ever contacting customers via the eligible number ever. I have received past offers which I took part in and never was I ever contacted via phone number, just email address that I registered for the account.
When my friend went to the Koodo webstore and entered in his PM number, it said he had already used that number for this promotion. This happened a day after giving a referral on the reddit site.

Got it. Your friend should definitely pursue this and reverse the theft of the migration offer even if they don't use it. The guilty party needs to face the music.

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

smp99 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:47:51 GMT

@thirstyturtle18 wrote:
That would work, but still people would end up with your personal phone number. I still would prefer an more private method.

Yes but the referral process is supposed to be for family and friends who you likely wouldn’t mind having your number. But I agree something more private would be better

Re: Be careful with giving out your PM number as a referral.

thirstyturtle18 — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 01:48:44 GMT

@will13am wrote:
When my friend went to the Koodo webstore and entered in his PM number, it said he had already used that number for this promotion. This happened a day after giving a referral on the reddit site.
Got it. Your friend should definitely pursue this and reverse the theft of the migration offer even if they don't use it. The guilty party needs to face the music.

Yeah, it's more about the principle of the matter. My firend wants to stay with PM anyway...but you never know if Koodo will come out with a deal too good to not take.