Mad phone bill please help!

[scoobygal]

I have just had my land line suspended because Axis telecom says that £1.000+ of callswere made from my phone to a sex line in a 21 hour period - apart from the shame of asnswering to this.....it is impossible that this happened as nobody was in the house for this complete time period.....are there cases of this happenening before - and how do I prove that this didn't happen......they want the money right away or the sum will be handed to a debt collector. I can't pay right away and could only do so in installments - but the calls weren't made - honestly!!

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Mad phone bill please help!

Firstly I suggest asking for an immediate line test, explain to them the house was unoccupied for this timescale.

Were you on holiday/business/visiting for this time period? have you got reciepts, or tickets anything that can show you away from the house. If so, advise this is the case and therefore you could not have been at home using the phone.

Have you got a sky box, or wifi etc, something that can be hacked externally, if so i suggest calling them out to check it.

The main thing is to prove you were not in the house at all, so train tickets/parking permits/restuarant reciepts.... I would suggest you scan them as proof too.

[bluebottle]

Re: Mad phone bill please help!

Hi Scoobygal,

Although the line may be rented to you, Axis Telecom still have to prove you used the line over the period in question or allowed someone else to use it. From what you say, it sounds to me that someone has hacked your line and used it to rack up charges that will financially benefit whoever the sex line is allocated to. Could you please post up the telephone number Axis Telecom allege your line was used to call. You may have to involve the premium line regulator PhonePayPlus. If Axis Telecom make any further threats, come back onto this thread. Alleging you made the calls is one thing, proving it is another. I'm afraid telecom providers do not get it their way all the time. They are bound by the same laws as everyone else.

[scoobygal]

Re: Mad phone bill please help!

Hello bluebottle.....please forgive me......I'm a forum virgin! Do you mean put up my landline number here on this thread?

I was at work for part of the time which involves several sightings as I'm a teacher but my son was in and out - but was at his girlfriends overnight (when some of the calls were made) and at a Further Education College open day - but didn't leave his name - for some of the time.

They said as I am responsible for the phone I have to pay whoever made the calls......
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Helo Puffrose - thanks for your advice - I have wifi, Sky and PS3 so possibly one of these could be the culprit?

I just feel sick! But feel better being on here......

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Mad phone bill please help!

its going to be ok.. we are gonna get this sorted hun.

there is a slight possiblity that the the sky or ps3 have been hacked, ive heard of it happening, I would suggest contacting sky about it and checking the usage.

the number BB is asking for is the number they are saying you rang so many times, then we can check who it is.

Ask the company to put your in to query, this means its being disputed. This is a normal occurance in phone companies and doesnt add a charge to the bill, it simply means you are looking in to the bill, at both ends!

I will contact a few friends and ask for the legalities of demanding payment now.

[scoobygal]

Re: Mad phone bill please help!

Ah - right - I haven't got the number yet - they are going to send it to me. I contated them because I had no service and then found out about everything. They say they tried to contact me - but there were no messages left on the answer phone.

I should be able to get the number tomorrow. I have to call back tomorrow and so I will ask them to put the bill to query. Many many thanks.....

[labman]

Re: Mad phone bill please help!

Hi Scoobygal,

I've just read the Trms and Conditions for Axis and various other things about them. As the question has not yet been asked, was your line protected with security from hacking?

They do have a section specifically about this and advise at least WEP security on your line which makes sense for any Internet connection. It does not stop hacking, but it reduces the risk.

Unfortunately, if you haven't got decent security, it is very easy to hack a connection even with the older security. Kits can be bought cheaply on the internet to do this under the guise of checking the security of your own line. I have little doubt that these kits are hugely abused, and can be used to tap into someone else's connection.

I know when I look at available connections on my computer, it picks up abut eight, of which two are unprotected and a further two or three have the old security which is easily hacked.

Did you have security on your line?