Nighmarishly horrible Verizon Fraud Department

[bcdebusk]

I'm on my second full week of trying to get the fraud department to clear my upgrade.

Several months ago, someone tried to get an upgraded phone using my account.  The phone was supposed to be sent to an address thousands of miles from my home.  I received the notification text, told Verizon it wasn't me and they stopped the upgrade.  I then asked them to look into where the phone was to be sent and look for the person trying to defraud them.  The billing agent told me it would be up to me to deal with the fraud department.  I called them spent 45 minutes on hold and finally hung-up.

Now fast forward to two weeks ago.  I'm trying to upgrade my phone and I learn fraud has put a hold on my account.  So we spend three hours in-store (including the assistant manager making calls) and we make no progress.  The department would even claim it was cleared, yet nothing worked.  I knew they weren't helping me when they would give me their first names only and refused any other way to identify them (they just wanted me off the phone).  Since then, I've faxed utilities bills, drivers' licenses and spent another 2+ hours on hold with the fraud department.

Want to know what the real fraud is?  It's the Verizon Fraud Department.  I shouldn't have reported the attempt to steal a phone in the first place -- it would have been much easier to just give the thieves what they wanted and have Verizon's fraud department leave me alone.

I really wish I could switch to AT&T right now.  I've never had this poor of customer service on any product in my life.

[shiz]

This is absolutely riddiculous!  I've been trying to port FOUR lines from an existing Sprint account and after 2 successful ports, the last two have been blocked due to some sort of Fraud Alert?

I drove all the way to Boston store to activate the remaining two lines, and was blocked from doing so.

I called on Thursday, Oct 3rd, and was told by the representative that someone would call me back.  No one called me.

I called on Friday, Oct 4th, and spoke to Fraud department finally - and the person HUNG UP ON ME.

I called again on Friday night, spoke to 3 different people including a manager - AFTER HOLDING FOR 1 HOUR, and they assured me that they would get me in touch with Fraud and they would call me back.  No one called me back.

I went into the Apple store in Natick, and went through the activation process, and again - after being told by Verizon that the hold was removed - I couldnt activate my phone.  I spent another 2 hours on the phone with Verizon - they told me "110% the hold was released".  When I went to the physical Verizon wireless store in the mall - they told me the opposite, that there is still a hold on the account.

What kind of incompetence is at play here?  I've never experienced such unprofessionalism, a lack of alignment, and just general disarray in any context.

Why is it so difficult to simply port over lines from an existing account?  Does Verizon not want my service?  Currently half my family is on Verizon, and half is on Sprint.  I'm double paying.  Most frustrating is the multiple and conflicting reports about a simple question:  Is the hold removed or not?  If not, why not?  How can I expedite this process.

Instead I've wasted almost a week of my free time running around the state.  I need to speak to someone NOW.  I'm on hold again calling verizon.  Its been over half an hour.

UPDATE:  I just got HUNG UP ON - after the lady said she'd "have her manager call me back".  What the???

>> Profanity removed to comply with the <<

Message was edited by: Verizon Moderator

[ardysa]

I'm in the same boat.  I can't get through to the fraud dept after hours of waiting on hold.  How did you resolve it?

[ajalwaysus]

I think you got faster service to adjust the profanity on your post than you would ever get through to fraud.

[jishida]

I am dealing with something similar right now.  Someone has managed to use my upgrades to obtain 5 phones at the discounted price, which resets my contact dates, upgrade eligibility and worst of all, removes the grandfathered unlimited data plan.  Verizon fraud has been of no help, they claim there's nothing they can do to freeze the account to prevent any upgrades from being made.  The person has gone to an Apple store and Target stores (out of state) to make the changes to my account.

The fraud dept is only open M-F 8-5 PST and even when you call at 8am on the dot, you're on hold for 40 minutes.

Verizon needs to make some serious upgrades to their security.

[ajalwaysus]

Know what you mean, I have called three different days and gave up after being on hold for 30, 35, and 45 minutes each. What a joke! And so I will not get my phone I guess EVER because their fraud department is a total joke. So many ways they could make this better:

1. HIRE MORE PEOPLE!

2. Allow us to contact by email!

3. Allow us to leave our number and they call US back so we aren't on the line for hours and hours and hours!

Truly testing my patience.

P.S. It is a total joke that the voice keeps saying "we will be with you in a few short moments". "short"? "moments"? are you kidding me?!

[tres3tokwas]

I called 3 customer service last weekend and finally got a reference number for someone ordering 2 iphones 5S and used 2 of our lines cell upgrade which resets it to new date. I called again the customer service today and this time she connected me to Fraud department. I am still holding for more than an hour and thinking of giving up for the day.

Let me know if someone knows how to contact Fraud Department by email or maybe the best time to contact Fraud Department.

[j2020]

The Fraud Department is a fraud!  It seems to be non-functional or just overwhelmed with business.  Due to their inefficient and blatantly poor service, I think whoever is in charge of fraud needs to be replaced. Long story short, I switched from AT&T and tried to buy 4 new iPhones for the family.  Suddenly a fraud alert was placed on my account.  Next day I tried to call the Fraud Department several times and was on hold for over an hour with no luck speaking to a person, even though the recording says "please hold for a few BRIEF moments." HA!  The following morning I called immediately at opening(8am) and was on hold for about 20-25 minutes.  The representative said nothing out of the ordinary was on my account---it looks as though the fraud alert has been removed.  However, when I called the Assumption of Liability (AOL) department, they could not process the account due to a hold by the FRAUD DEPARTMENT.  At that point I let the agent in (AOL) handle it---she had to call me back later because she could not get through to the Fraud Department!  3 painful days later, my account problems were finally resolved.  The Fraud Department needs to hire more people and answer the phone!

[sunset3227]

Someone went into a Verizon Wireless Office and opened up an account using my ss #.  2 weeks later I get a bill from Verizon for over 500 dollars.  The bill had the wrong address and city, but I got the bill because the zip code and my name was right.  I called up the fraud the dept and I sent them a police report and the bills and they immediately shut down the account.  After they shut down the account they sent me a new bill for over 2000 dollars for early termination for 4 different phone lines.  I called them up and they told me they did not think the police report was sufficient enough.  They told me I am responsible for the total bill even though the address and the city don't match up to where I live and they won't give me where the phones were purchased, only saying they think it was either NYC or Brooklyn.  Now they put me in collection and Chase has closed down all my credit cards and my credit score has dropped dramatically. This company is disgusting and I have always been with ATT.  Any company that does not check for Identification in a store and just let's you open up accounts does not sound right to me.  Watch out for Verizon Wireless and there practices.

[stacelle]

Something very similar has happened to me. Verizon Fraud keeps telling me there is "insufficient" evidence to prove that the account was fraudulent. They treat me like a liar. How did you get it resolved? I am so frustrated.

[cshel]

Im dealing with the HORRIBLE fraud department now. After making a payment 2 weeks ago, they put my account on fraud hold. I've been trying to get in touch with them for 2 days! This is absolutely theft by service by Verizon. They take money for a service and then you dont the service.

Got in touch with the department after a a 45 minute wait!!! KEIRA got my name then must have hit the disconnect button... IDIOTS!!! WORST DEPARTMENT EVER DEALT WITH!!! We should file a class action lawsuit against Verizon... They only way greedy idiots understand they are doing wrong is when you start taking their money away.

[cshel]

Got a hold of the fraud department. They transfer me to the prepaid department and as soon as i type in my number........ THE VERIZON SMACK.... "Sorry, but we are technical issues. please try again later.... THIS HAS BEEN LATER 2 DAYS LATER!!!! These are the worst customer service departments EVER... I would rather speak to someone from India or the Phillipines at this point... I may not be able to understand them but at least you get through!!!! All the money they charge and these rotten devils have the WORST service EVER!!!!

[Derek2k]

Yup they are literally the same to this day. Wish I did a background check on these companies before joining. If I seen this I would have immediately canceled my service. Had same exact problem pretty much. For me though I guess ordering something and canceling it and ordering again is considered fraud 😂

[a220angel]

I am on hold for the fourth day trying to get thru to Verizon's abuse dept.  I have been disconnected, given the wrong phone #, laughed when MCI answered the phone, transferred to the wrong dept. Finally got someone who told me since I have lifetime email with Verizon I have to make requests online.  They suspended my ability to email out for 24 hours, now going on 4 days, because I was receiving tons of spam, that was being sent out and coming back as undeliverable from postmaster.Verizon.net,,  I didn't send these out and they penalize me.  I guess someone hacked into my account, by changing my password everything stopped but they didn't lift the suspension.  What a terrible way to do business.

[Derek2k]

Same exact experience. They don’t want our money. Their competition is happy to take it though 😎

[vzw_customer_support]

We never want you feeling this way and will do everything we can to help.  A private message has been sent to assist you further.

-Sean

[Beanerguy]

Same here they gave me a 3000 dollar credit limit and no down payment.  So I got a iPhone XR.   Then a week later I went to get a watch added to my account and they said I had to provide my licience  proof of residency and ssn.  So I did a few hours went buy and now there's a hold on my account  they won't tell me why.  And said give it a couple months and let it clear and try again.   I'm so switching to att when this is up never do Verizon again.  

[vzw_customer_support]

beanerguy, I am truly sad to hear this. Your loyalty and business mean the world to us and we would be sad if you left us. Shopping for and buying new devices should always be fun and exciting. However, keep in mind that the verification process is in place to protect our customers. Fraud should be able to tell you why there is a hold. Just to clarify, is your phone still active? Is there just a hold on the watch?

DiaS_VZW