I got scammed!

[elnino82]

So, here's the story.

Around 10 am, Public mobile texted me whether I made the porting request and I told them I never request the porting.

I didn't received any reply to my message so I thought it is probably fine and PM didn't authorize the porting.

Around 1 pm, my phone lost the signal and I couldn't make a phone call.

I messaged the mod again, and the mod said someone ported my number to Bell.

Mod also said there's nothing they can do to stop the porting and I lost all my rewards.

Has anyone experienced this type of scam before?

What should I do?

Should I report to police?

I'm so pissed that I lost all my rewards and my phone number.

Please help.

[Anonymous]

---

@Thiltz wrote:

could have found it out myself yes, couldn’t have come up with a new sim without going in. Again, not sure what the point here is, besides that I had also had this happen. So aside from the resolution regardless of whether I did it myself or went in, why does it matter enough to reply here? Literally posted so others members were aware it was happening again, not to get into whatever all these pointless replies are. 

---

lol I agree. I saw your first post and thought it was simply you saying you too. But we're all fellow customers who want to help you out and so people did. Glad it all worked for you.

[Thiltz]

could have found it out myself yes, couldn’t have come up with a new sim without going in. Again, not sure what the point here is, besides that I had also had this happen. So aside from the resolution regardless of whether I did it myself or went in, why does it matter enough to reply here? Literally posted so others members were aware it was happening again, not to get into whatever all these pointless replies are. 

[Anonymous]

---

@Thiltz wrote:

there for they knew to have me access my online account to show that the incorrect sim was on my account, allowing them to resolve the situation by changing my sim, 👍🏻

---

 @Thiltz 

There's the key phrase "access my online account". You could have found this out yourself. So they helped you with using the self-serve.

Nice customer service though.

[RosieR]

---

@Thiltz wrote:

Well, I went into the store where I originally activated, they had heard of this scam happening 2 other times recently, there for they knew to have me access my online account to show that the incorrect sim was on my account, allowing them to resolve the situation by changing my sim, after which I changed all passwords and went through everything with the credit card company etc. So actually, the store helped me just fine with this thanks, not sure why you felt the need to respond in such a way, but the issue on the phone side was resolved. Thanks for your input, have a great day 👍🏻

---

@Thiltz no disrespect intended.  But stores don't have access to your PM account.  Now that you had explained (thank you btw) that you accessed your own account and not them to check the 4-digit of your sim card did not match with that in your self-serve, I got it. 

Well then, the store and the person who helped should get a big shout out for going out of their way to help you.  I wish other stores would do that.  Have a nice day

[Thiltz]

I have changed all passwords etc now yes, and been in contact with the credit card company etc. 

[Thiltz]

Well, I went into the store where I originally activated, they had heard of this scam happening 2 other times recently, there for they knew to have me access my online account to show that the incorrect sim was on my account, allowing them to resolve the situation by changing my sim, after which I changed all passwords and went through everything with the credit card company etc. So actually, the store helped me just fine with this thanks, not sure why you felt the need to respond in such a way, but the issue on the phone side was resolved. Thanks for your input, have a great day 👍🏻

[RosieR]

---

@Thiltz wrote:

I had it dealt with in store actually. And reported the person. And I have no idea what the spoiler thing is or how it got there. 

---

@Thiltz the stores don't have access to your Public Mobile account.  They only do activations.  But thanks for letting us know

[darlicious]

@Thiltz 

Your phone/simcard/account has been restored? Have you changed your password on your account?:I recommend creating a pm account specific email address and reviewing lapses in your security of personal info as to how access to your account was gained. And of course contacting your financial insitution, credit cards etc.... changing passwords, new emails......

Edit: you must have accidently hit the spoiler icon on the tool bar. (the little triangle with /!\ in it.)

[Thiltz]

I had it dealt with in store actually. And reported the person. And I have no idea what the spoiler thing is or how it got there. 

[RosieR]

---

@Thiltz wrote:
This exact thing happened to me today. Scammer took over my SIM card and phone number used it to access my PayPal and made purchases through Best Buy. 

---

Hi @Thiltz sorry to hear that this had happened to you. Contact the moderators right away.

contact the  moderators right away.

Two ways to contact the moderators:

• Faster way – Click the chat bubble at the bottom right of the page or click this link https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html , type “talk to human" >> "account-specific question" >> "no, I need a human now" >> Click here to submit a ticket!
• Slower way – Send a private message to the Moderators_Team here.  You have to be logged in to your Community account for the link to work. 

It may take up to 48 hrs (hopefully less) to receive a reply from the moderators.  Keep checking the envelope icon on top right for a number to pop up. That would be the moderator’s reply. 

btw, why do you have to do Spoiler Alert tag?  

[Thiltz]

This exact thing happened to me today. Scammer took over my SIM card and phone number used it to access my PayPal and made purchases through Best Buy. 

[cheeseHead]

FWIW - that bit.ly address is actually the short cut to private Public Mobile chat with the mods.

   http://bit.ly/2CDoc2k

They use it on their Facebook page too. 

edit : corrected URL

[Lisa6]

Sorry you went through this but thank you for making others aware!

[totalUser]

---

@elnino82 wrote:

The text was from 4800

---

So sorry you went through this

This is definitely not a message from public mobile, public didn't send you that message

bit.ly with free message would indicate place where strangers keep candies.

I once received spam from 'rogers' that was actually using bell number. Hmmm why would rogers get line from bell. I wasn't with Rogers but i did have Rogers number and ayholes knew that ( they didn't know that it was ported out though)

Public is saving and cutting costs a lot but i really doubt they would user free messaging service when they already have and provide messaging.

All that on the side, Im really sorry you got scammed, but everybody here is right, it is worth trying and i believe totally possible to get your account rewards and number back. I'm really really cheering for you and more than that i hope they catch some kind of punishment, what happened is just nor right. Would you mind letting us .

Thanks

And best wishes

[Newfiescreech]

So sorry to hear that you got scammed..hopefully mods can help you out  .. they should have info on your rewards etc. I would report it to the police ..hope things work out for you ..take care

---

@elnino82 wrote:

So, here's the story.

Around 10 am, Public mobile texted me whether I made the porting request and I told them I never request the porting.

I didn't received any reply to my message so I thought it is probably fine and PM didn't authorize the porting.

Around 1 pm, my phone lost the signal and I couldn't make a phone call.

I messaged the mod again, and the mod said someone ported my number to Bell.

Mod also said there's nothing they can do to stop the porting and I lost all my rewards.

Has anyone experienced this type of scam before?

What should I do?

Should I report to police?

I'm so pissed that I lost all my rewards and my phone number.

Please help.

---

[lukevader]

Wow!!

As I was reading this I realized that I'm guilty of being lax and have saved in my private messages with the mods all of my previous pins and phone numbers and personal information coversations. It might be worth it to go through all of your pm's here and delete them just in case anyone hacks your community account. It's crazy how we can inadvertantly leave our info in electronic mailboxes all over the place. :*(

[darlicious]

---

@elnino82 wrote:

What's so disappointing is that PM warned me someone has request to port the numbet and I clearly said I never made such a request. I also said this could be a scam.

They clearly had time to decline the porting request yet they just let this happen and won't do anything to fix the problem. 

So disappointing. 

---

@elnino82  We all feel your plight and are hoping the moderators here at public mobile and Bell have helped you recover your number and straighten out this mess. We certainly hope that the jacking of your phone number was the worst of the situation and you have protected yourself against possible fraud. As said I know what a nightmare this can be so when you have time please report back the results and community members take @elnino82  unfortunate circumstances as a huge wake up call to the security on your phone and use of your number and email for security on almost everything in your daily lives. My long term distrust of all things technology, the internet and even email has saved me from a financial/credit disaster. Everyone should review their own measures to protect themselves from this much more common problem. I am happy to give advice to anyone who is worried about or possibly experiencing this or similar issues.

[88cranston]

---

@trillium wrote:

Yesterday, CBC posted an interesting  article on their site about SIM swapping: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-provincial-police-sim-swapping-phone-number-porting-1...

That's actually what brought me here today and spotted your post.  I was looking into protecting my phone from this.  Your story generated some interesting feedback.  I hope you have gotten this issue sorted with Public Mobile, Bell and any other institutions that may have become involved.

---

Here is yet another article.....

How a stolen phone number led to attempted sextortion
A Toronto man is calling for stricter regulations after a fraudster locked down his laptop, accessed his personal files and threatened to release intimate videos, just by using his cellphone number. It had been fraudulently “ported” — transferred from his Rogers account to a Bell prepaid customer.

Read in CBC News: https://apple.news/AZDd-PCtXSziwcSGQBnczyQ

[trillium]

Yesterday, CBC posted an interesting  article on their site about SIM swapping: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-provincial-police-sim-swapping-phone-number-porting-1...

That's actually what brought me here today and spotted your post.  I was looking into protecting my phone from this.  Your story generated some interesting feedback.  I hope you have gotten this issue sorted with Public Mobile, Bell and any other institutions that may have become involved.

[88cranston]

---

@srlawren wrote:

---

@88cranston wrote:

Also just read today the telecoms have some plans to knock down spufyed caller ids. 

---

@88cranston two notes:

1) What you are talking about here only applies to numbers that are obviously spoofed--for example, contain too many numbers to be a valid phone number.  As long as the scammer/spammer spoofs a number with valid format, the call will not be blocked.  The feature is called Universal Call Blocking:  https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/11/04/rogers-bell-implement-universal-call-blocking-following-crtc-mand...

2) FYI for future use, it's spelled "spoof/spoofed" not "spuf/spufyed"

---

Good to know. Thanks.  

[srlawren]

---

@88cranston wrote:

Also just read today the telecoms have some plans to knock down spufyed caller ids. 

---

@88cranston two notes:

1) What you are talking about here only applies to numbers that are obviously spoofed--for example, contain too many numbers to be a valid phone number.  As long as the scammer/spammer spoofs a number with valid format, the call will not be blocked.  The feature is called Universal Call Blocking:  https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/11/04/rogers-bell-implement-universal-call-blocking-following-crtc-mand...

2) FYI for future use, it's spelled "spoof/spoofed" not "spuf/spufyed"

[88cranston]

---

@elnino82 wrote:

The text was from 4800

---

And if you click the URL....where did that take you to? But beware.....click at your own risk. The wording “request to cancel your account” is superfluous and suspicious. 

[fairchse]

Recontact the moderator and ask them for what direction you should take .  

[88cranston]

---

@GinYVR wrote:

@88cranstonThere is no yes to answer to. The Public Mobile message is informational.

---

Sorry I took the discussion a bit sideways.....was referring to a call or text in general to be careful of saying yes. 

[darlicious]

@elnino82  That's a number I haven't seen before but probably for exactly your issue. You responded yo the link provided and your fraudulent port still went thru? That is not good. Hopefully @CS_Agent  is taking care of this for you.

[elnino82]

The text was from 4800

[laceydawn81]

not good. hope u get it figured out...

[CS_Agent]

Hello there!

I will be happy to help.

Before we get started, I will need you to click on the link below and use SIMon and create a ticket.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help

Bogdan_S

[will13am]

---

@elnino82 wrote:

What's so disappointing is that PM warned me someone has request to port the numbet and I clearly said I never made such a request. I also said this could be a scam.

They clearly had time to decline the porting request yet they just let this happen and won't do anything to fix the problem. 

So disappointing. 

---

The porting process is automatic.  All customers have access to the porting feature.  There is not much that Public Mobile can do to pre-empt this.  After the fact, an unauthorized number port can be investigated and potentially corrected.  What is strange to me is that anyone would even attempt this.  There is a cookie crumb trail leading right to the door of the perpetrator. 

[GinYVR]

@cellphoneuser1CCTS' mandate is to settle disputes between consumer and the telco. If the complaint is defined as "out of scope" the commissioner will just reject the complaint then there will be no recourse. Best to read up on their procedural code.