Hi everyone
We’ve been made aware of a “company” cold calling members of the public and offering giffgaff services and phone loans.
Sadly, if someone takes these people up on the offer, it quickly turns out to be a scam, where the scammers use those details to order phones from giffgaff for themselves, and engage in identity and credit card fraud.
Our fraud teams here, and at our phone loan partner RateSetter, are doing everything we can to try and detect and intercept these scams, but prevention is always better than cure. Remember, giffgaff will not:
- Call you offering our services - we don’t even have call centres
- Ask you to pay through an intermediary or on a call we make to you – we only accept payment through our official website or app
- Ask you to disclose your FULL card number except during a payment you have initiated
If you suspect you may have already fallen victim to such a scam:
- Check your recent bank statements for suspicious transactions
- Check your credit profile for new accounts set up in your name (although we won’t feature there, RateSetter, who we partner with for phone loans, will). This can be done for free through Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion.
If you find something you don’t recognise, or think you have fallen for these very believable fraudsters, it’s important to report it to your bank immediately, so they can act on your behalf to stop the fraud and protect your details. The sooner they know, the best chance you have of stopping the fraud. Make sure that you’re using a number you know is valid to contact them, such as the one on the back of your card or available on the bank’s website.
You can also contact Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ to report the fraud. Action Fraud and Cifas (https://www.cifas.org.uk/individuals) have a wealth of knowledge and resources available if you want to learn more about fraud prevention.
Stay safe,
Will
