Unprotected phone crime victims could lose £4 million a year

A lack of protection could be costing victims of phone crime up to £4 million each year in shock bills, finds Citizens Advice.

Consumers who sought Citizens Advice’s help could have saved £120,000 this year if bills from stolen mobile phones had been capped similarly to stolen credit cards, new figures show. The national charity’s analysis of Ofcom figures also suggested that as many as 160,000 people a year may be hit by shock bills from lost or stolen phones and the cost to these consumers could be around £4 million pounds.

One year ago the Government and phone providers promised to cap bills from stolen mobile phones by early spring this year. Continued delays have led to people reporting charges from £160 up to £23,000 to Citizens Advice between April and November 2014; bills that could have been avoided if the cap was already in place. Thieves can rack up huge phone bills in a matter of hours after the phone or SIM card has been stolen, often by calling premium-rate phone lines. This can happen before the victim is even aware their phone is missing.

Whilst research commissioned by Ofcom put the average bill from lost or stolen mobiles at £65, Citizens Advice has found that the impact can be much more. Some victims are pushed into debt after being hit by bills of thousands of pounds. To protect consumers in extreme cases, Citizens Advice is calling for a cap of £50 on bills from stolen phones to be put in place by the Government and phone providers without delay.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, Gillian Guy, said:

“Victims of phone crime are at the mercy of financially devastating bills. Innocent people are being made to pay for phone bills run up by thieves despite a promise from phone providers and Government to cap costs. Demands to pay tens of thousands of pounds have pushed some victims of crime into the red.

“The injustice of shock bills for phone crime victims must end. Citizens Advice is calling on the Government to stand up for consumers and cap bills from lost or stolen phones at £50 to protect the worst hit. Instead of waiting for victims of crime to get in touch, phone companies could improve their systems so they consistently check for tell-tale signs of theft, like a large number of calls to high cost phone lines.”

Of the cases reported to the Citizens Advice consumer service this year:

• Over one third of cases reported were from phones stolen in Spain
• The majority of phones stolen in Spain were from people holidaying in Barcelona

Case studies

• One family’s attempt to stay in touch with their son whilst he volunteered for a charity project in South Africa turned into a nightmare when the SIM card they bought for him was stolen. They were hit by a bill of £3,000 and had to take money from another of their sons to pay, when debt collectors got involved.  
• Just as his time working in Ibiza came to an end one student had his phone stolen and was horrified when he was told he had to pay around £5,000 for calls made by the thieves. His provider had only texted the stolen phone to say how much was owed.
• One man was seriously ill when his phone went missing and was unsure if it had been lost or stolen. The £1,000 bill that had been run up on it put him into real financial difficulty.
• One consumer was pick-pocketed on their first night on holiday in Spain. They tried repeatedly to speak to the provider’s customer service team but were unable to report the loss due to being cut off each time, with the cost of these phone calls adding up. When the consumer returned home the provider insisted they pay the full amount, which was over £600.
• One person whose phone was stolen in Barcelona found that the thief had run up a £4,800 bill on roaming charges alone.

Citizens Advice is also warning consumers to take steps to protect themselves where possible.

Top Tips

• Put a passcode on both the handset and SIM card of your phone to make it more difficult for thieves to use.
• You can contact your phone provider to block all calls made to premium- or international-rate phone lines from your mobile.
• Make notes of the contact number for your provider and the IMEI number on the back of your phone that you can easily access if your phone is stolen whilst abroad.
• If your phone has been stolen report it to your mobile phone network straight away!
• •Report a theft to the police as soon as you can.
• •If you are charged for unauthorised calls you should try and negotiate with the network and see if they will reduce the bill.
• •If your phone is insured you may be covered for the cost of unauthorised calls made between you losing your phone and reporting it missing.

Notes to editors:

1. The Citizens Advice service comprises a network of local bureaux, all of which are independent charities, the Citizens Advice consumer service and national charity Citizens Advice. Together we help people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more see the Citizens Advice website.
2. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
3. To find your local bureau in England and Wales, visit citizensadvice.org.uk. You can also get advice online at adviceguide.org.uk
4. You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 for Welsh language speakers
5. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2.3 million clients on 5.4 million problems from October 2013 to September 2014. For full 2013/2014  service statistics see our quarterly publication Advice trends
6. Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 21,000 trained volunteers, working at over 3,000 service outlets across England and Wales.