Forum Discussion
Fraudulent Sale of My SIM card
Yesterday, someone went into a T-Mobile retail store used a fake California Drivers License to buy a copy of my SIM card. Fortunately, I received a text message stating that a SIM card had been issued to my account. I called T-Mobile Customer Service and the Rep told me how I was compromised, helped me change my SIM card and reported the fraud. I was concerned regarding how related accounts on my phone might be compromised. She suggested that i change all passwords used on my phone and tried to connect me to t-mobile fraud prevention. She was unable to connect me before my call was terminated (dropped).
I called customer service again and a new rep was very helpful and informed me he would try to get someone from fraud to talk to me, then told me that they had gone home but would call me today. I did not get this call so this morning I called again and was told that I could not talk to the fraud group, they had no contact information to give me and that they would complete a form reporting my problem but could not give me any indication that my case would be escalated to security or fraud prevention.
Here are my questions:
- Will T-Mobile file a police report regarding the fraud?
- Will T-Mobile investigate any further?
- How was this person able to get into my account with a fake ID and what other personal information did this person use to get into my account
- Will T-Mobile security/fraud ever contact me to tell me the implications of someone gaining access to my SIM card
- What does T-Mobile do to prevent this type of fraud
If you were victimized in a similar way what did you learn?
Robert
I've been a loyal customer of T-Mobile for over 15 years, however, just this past Wednesday (8/12/2020) my identity was stolen. Someone purchased a SIM card at the Cerritos, CA store and were somehow able to switch out my SIM number with the new SIM purchased. I'm just shocked that they were able to do this. From there they were able to change the email, password, security questions and user name. My phone was literally disabled so easily. To add to my frustration the thief ended up trying to purchase nearly $5000 worth of security itmes at a Best Buy. They might have opened up another account, but I need to await my credit alerts to see anymore damage was done. I guess they're trying to disable your phone so that when you do a get a call from Citibank or whatever bank you have they can't call you to confirm the purchase amount. Thankfully after spending time with T-Mobile customer service I was able to enable the use of my cellphone again just as Citibank called to verify my identity before the purchase could be processed. The thief was in the store while I was online with Citibank verifying the purchase!!! It's been a nightmare having to add fraud alerts to all three credit bureaus and having to change my account information back on T-Mobile. Just wanted to add a backstory to this type of fraud that's going on in the store.
My question is doesn't the store check the customer ID or driver's license before processing such a request. It seems like it was so easily done. I'm not sure what the exact identity procedures the store goes through, but this was indeed a headache. Not sure what else can be done on my end to protect myself in the future.
If you are able to use your phone call 611 (Customer Service), or if you can't call 1-800-TMOBILE! If you want to wait around for awhile a moderator might drop by and could offer better advice. I really wouldn't wait too long, AND since someone has a fake ID I would call the police and tell them what's going on. I don't think it'll hurt.
That shouldn't have happened to you and I'm sorry you've had to contact us more than once to report this. I want to make sure an incident report was filed as well as answer your questions.
- We have a dedicated team that cooperates with law enforcement involving identity theft.
- Our internal team will investigate what happened with any fraudulent activity on your account.
- We only give account access to customers that are able to fully verify the account. It's hard for me to say exactly how without looking into how the store experience went.
- We can have folks follow up with you after filing that incident report to give you peace of mind.
- We do have more identity theft and fraud information on our Robo de identidad | Cómo protegerte contra el robo de identidad page. This page includes what T-Mobile does to prevent this from happening.
To file this incident report, we need one of our TEX or T-Force folks help to properly verify and access your account. Afterwards, they'll collect information about what happened and send this report to our internal fraud team to investigate.
I suggest that someone from the fraud division contacts me before I continue my escalation. Your customer response thus far has been pathetic.
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Director ejecutivo
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I removed your information from your post because this is a public forum and we don't want folks to have that info. An incident report needs to be filed and we don't have the account access needed to do that here. Our TEX and T-Force folks do and will send and incident report to our Fraud team if you contact them.
Thanks! Now, what the heck is TEX? While you are here I don't do social media. I'm just wondering if I should ever need T-Force what do I need to do?
Nuestra Equipo de Expertos (TEX) are customer services folks you speak with over the phone. They're a good resource if you're not using social media.
So, are these the reps that are assigned to TROUBLESHOOTING?
Yes. Troubleshooting, and changes that need account verification.
You had your Wheaties this morning, didn't you? I had oatmeal and 2 cinnamon english muffins with 4 cups of coffee.
