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MikeGer's avatar
MikeGer
Joining in
22 days ago

Fraudulent Charges On Phone Bill

I'm new to this so apologies if I am in the wrong area or follow the wrong format.

My mother's last two bills have each listed a phone call charge to two different Glasgow landline numbers.  On the bill dated 20/02/2025, there was charge of £11.73 (excl. VAT) for a call duration of 129 minutes to the number [MOD EDIT: Removed].  On the bill dated 20/03/2025, a further charge appeared of £30.60 (excl. VAT) for a call duration of 240 minutes to the number [MOD EDIT: Removed].

My mother could not have made either call, for reasons that I do not wish to reveal on this forum at this time.

I tried to trace both numbers but got nowhere.  Trying to contact someone at Virgin Media to resolve this and prevent further charges has been extremely frustrating.  So much so that I am seriously considering closing both my account and that of my mother's.

Your community is my last shot at this.  Hopefully someone can direct me as to how I can resolve this or at least get me through to a human being at Virgin Media who can deal with it.

4 Replies

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  • Akua_A's avatar
    Akua_A
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    22 days ago

    Hi MikeGer 

    Welcome to our Fourms and thank you for your post. Thank you for getting in conatct with us regarding some call charges on your mother's account. We would be happy to look into this and provide a resolution. To do so,w e have snet you a private message. Please keep an eye out for an envelope at the top right corner of your Forum page. Let me know if you have any issues locating this.

    Thanks,

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    22 days ago

    Not too much info on the number ending 8211. The number ending 0666 seems to be linked to complaints of scamming activity.

    Does your mother's line come from the back of the VM hub or from a conventional telephone wall socket?

    We used to see regular phantom call charge topics on here (particularly when the phone was connected to a regular telephone wall socket socket and a crossed line was involved). Landline connections from the hub tend to be less susceptible for this but phantom call charges are still possible. There could, however, be some kind of scam activity involved here though.

    Do the call charges mention the time of day for the call(s). Often phantom call charges are of very long or very short duration and happen at unusual times of day (night).

    We have also seen topics where equipment in the home has run up unexpected call charges (such as medical/care alarms, security alarms, call blockers etc.).

  • MikeGer's avatar
    MikeGer
    Joining in
    18 days ago

    Hi Alessandro,

    Sorry for the delay in replying.  My mother's phone is connected to a conventional wall socket and this problem just started in January (2025).  She does have a care alarm but there are no line charges associated with it.  It is a fixed fee paid monthly by direct debit through the local authority.

    I also did a check on the phone numbers through Clarity Check and the 8211 number did mention a connection with care alarms, but it related to those arranged privately and not those through the local authorities.  As you noted, the 0666 number did come back as a possible scam, but nothing confirmed.

    Today, I finally managed to contact Virginmedia support staff through their 'chat'.  After wasting an unsatisfactory 90 minutes (25 mins on hold, the rest engaging slowly with the operative), they raised a complaint in relation to the issue.  I will post the outcome of that complaint when it arrives.

    I am also responding to Aqua_A from the Forum Team by private message, so hopefully they can provide better help than the chat team.

    • goslow's avatar
      goslow
      Alessandro Volta
      18 days ago

      On a conventional landline, via a wall socket, a 'crossed line' has come up numerous times in the past in connection with phantom call charges (exactly what it sounds like, your mother's line may be somehow interconnected to another service which runs up charges on her account).

      It might be worth double checking with the local authority on the setup of the care alarm. If it is capable of dialling out, and if it had an issue, it could possibly run up charges. In a past topic on here, there was a case of a call blocker device 'phoning home' every so often at chargeable times of day and running up the phone bill with call charges. Needed a settings tweak to move the calls to non-chargeable VM times of day.

      Suggest you continue with Akua_A on here as you are most likely to get better help on here than other branches of VM support.