Forum Discussion
How can I contact the Fraud Department?
Does anyone have an unpublished way to contact the Fraud Department?
This whole setup at T-Mobile is pathetic. This internal department exists that can deactivate an account on a whim, and no one can contact them. Customer Care can't get a hold of them; the number they used to have was deactivated. The store support teams can't contact them; the best they can do is open a case and wait to hear back.
How is this acceptable when T-Mobile sells itself as the friendly, no BS carrier? I'm paid up on my charges (it's a brand new account), but my account was marked fraudulent in the middle of a porting process. You deactivated not only my T-Mobile services, but also terminated my old carrier's plan due to the port. I also have no guarantee as of now that I'll be keeping my number.
Everyone I contact just quotes the standard "24 to 48 hours" response for fraud responses, but that's unacceptable.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, pray that you never travel frequently or try to make account changes while travelling. T-Mobile will make getting basic cellular service an absolute hell.
Well, my individual problem was finally resolved today, but I think the bigger issue is how the whole fraud department and verification process work. Since posting the above:
- Fraud department on Monday added a memo to my account that they never saw what we submitted from the local store on Friday
- We faxed the documentation again on Monday, from the same store
- The fraud department decided that what I sent wasn't good enough
- I submitted a different document today over lunch that was finally accepted
Ultimately, about a week total of no service when I wasn't negligent on dues, I'm not defrauding anyone, etc.
I'm marking this as the answer, but there really is no answer. The best you can do is to try and involve as many people as possible, and I did engage the T-Force team via Facebook. They were very helpful, to the extent they could be, but even they are at the mercy of the fraud department.
I can't speak for every circumstance, but in my case restoring service to my valid account was very painful. I think (maybe because of the porting scam earlier in the year) the balance is too far to the side of security vs. usability.
Having this exact same problem. I'm done with TMobile.
People close to me are having similar problems now. T-Mobile should be sued over these practices. T-Mobile authorized a 3rd party to sell T-Mobile accounts. That company just opened up one account with hundreds or thousands of lines and sold them at a markup. One day T-Mobile canceled the account and all the numbers under it. All the customers were left without service without any prior notifications or warnings. You can imagine how difficult it is to lose your number after having it for years. These days everything is connected to your phone number. When the victims of this fraud attempted to open up a new account with T-Mobile and retrieve their number, all customer service would say is that we have to mail a letter to the fraud department. That is unreasonably slow, you can't go without access to your accounts connected to that phone number for that length of time. It means accepting you lost that number, getting a new one, and attempting to get back into your bank account, work account, school account, and whatever else was using your phone number for authentication, as well as having to inform everyone of your new number and all the other headaches that come along with this. On the other hand, if you were able to call the department that canceled your number, perhaps you could resolve the issue in a timely and useful fashion.
The 24 hours have gone by and I contacted again the support. The support told me that the fraud department called me at my "non activated number" as they did not know I could not answer and than put in their notes that the customer should go again to the store to again verify the identity again while calling them.
If I had not called the support nobody let me know that this is the situation. Not only this but they do not really provide a certain method to get hold of them.
I went to the store yesterday and it was very difficult to submit the request.The store manager told me he cannot contact the fraud department directly therefore what is the point in asking me to go to the store again?
How will the process be different this time around?The 24 hours have gone by and I contacted again the support. The support told me that the fraud department called me at my "non activated number" as they did not know I could not answer and than put in their notes that the customer should go again to the store to again verify the identity again while calling them.
If I had not called the support nobody let me know that this is the situation. Not only this but they do not really provide a certain method to get hold of them.
I went to the store yesterday and it was very difficult to submit the request.The store manager told me he cannot contact the fraud department directly therefore what is the point in asking me to go to the store again?
How will the process be different this time around?This is really bad service and the number of comments on this page just tell you how angered are people I am losing my mind on this
I am having the same issue and it is super problematic. My phone was stolen and after 4 days I am not yet able to use the replacement phone as the sim is blocked by this phantomatic fraud department
I have my cryptocurrency codes and I cannot access anything until they make the sim working again as each service requires a TXT to be sent to the phone. I cannot download app not even get into i-cloud or gmail
I need my phone active again very rapidly and also I want at least a system like UPS or Fededx where you can check the processing status and also submit inquires.
@tmo_lauren in answer to your email
It was because I followed T-Mobile Online Chat Support recommendations to use Unlock Device app
I try too many times unsiccessfully and it Flagged Fraud department
But they (Fraud Department) neglected to view the T-Mobile online Chat Support logs to see it happened.
Right hand vs Left hand )
Hola
I now also have an issue with T-Mobile Fraud department
I switched to T-Mobile in March/April this year(2018) from 18+ years with Verizon
I am retired and travel to Europe at least 2 times each year and with Verizon High Charges for usage...
i usually purchased the country i'm visiting SIM card to use in my phone. But I met people in my travels that told me T-Mobile includes European usage in American plan at no extra charge. So i switched.
LOL ... T-Mobile European network is 2G ... i obviously did not read this. Anyway my first trip to Europe was April (2018) when i first became T-Mobile customer.
2G was not very good, so i attempted to put in the country SIM card into my phone. But T-Mobile does Not Unlock my New Phone until you are customer for at least 45 days. I found out after trying to Unlock and put in a SIM card. Chat Support told me about the 45 days. This was my April trip.
Anyway I just did another trip this month September (2018). Prior to leaving i contacted Support about Unlock my phone, they told me Yes. I get to where i'm going and go to install the country SIM card, but phone is not Unlocked. I contacted Chat Support again and was informed to use the T-Mobile Unlock Device App and everything will work. No!!! ... I tried numerous time to Unlock and put in a SIM card ..phone not Unlocked. Again contacted Chat Support and this time was told i can only use Unlock Device App when in US on T-Mobile Network not T-Mobile European Network. So again I had 2G service.
Unfortunately my phone was stolen this trip. I purchased a cheap cellphone to use. I contacted T-Mobile to report that my phone was stolen. They deactivated phone. I had insurance with getting a replacement phone but only when I am at my home to receive. I returned home. Received my phone.
But when i went to T-Mobile store to get activated the store person found that Fraud Department had put BLOCK on phone.. No Explanation why? But I was told in 24 hours they would get response from Fraud and resolve. When I returned home from store I call T-Mobile for explanation as to why Fraud Blocked my replacement phone I just received. After a conversation and support person searching we came to conclusion it was because I had tried to use Unlock Device App more than once when i was in Europe.
Now it is bad enough losing your phone with 2 weeks remaining on vacation not to mention all photos on phone SD card lost. But I get home receive replacement phone and still don't have a phone because Fraud Blocked. It had already been 2 weeks since I reported it stolen. But I was not informed about until the T-Mobile store tried to activate my replacement phone.
And Fraud does not contact me when they finish investigation. Only a T-Mobile person.. So I wait and a hit & miss contacting store to see if they received an answer.
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Well, my individual problem was finally resolved today, but I think the bigger issue is how the whole fraud department and verification process work. Since posting the above:
- Fraud department on Monday added a memo to my account that they never saw what we submitted from the local store on Friday
- We faxed the documentation again on Monday, from the same store
- The fraud department decided that what I sent wasn't good enough
- I submitted a different document today over lunch that was finally accepted
Ultimately, about a week total of no service when I wasn't negligent on dues, I'm not defrauding anyone, etc.
I'm marking this as the answer, but there really is no answer. The best you can do is to try and involve as many people as possible, and I did engage the T-Force team via Facebook. They were very helpful, to the extent they could be, but even they are at the mercy of the fraud department.
I can't speak for every circumstance, but in my case restoring service to my valid account was very painful. I think (maybe because of the porting scam earlier in the year) the balance is too far to the side of security vs. usability.
Just checking in on the question above! 😊
-Lauren
