Sorry to admit it but I fell for the scam. Four days later 4 smart phones on my account were deactivated and reactivated on other cells that immediately started making calls to Jamaica and Cuba. We never got an email from Verizon about the changes. When my daughter called at 9:30 that morning, the customer service simply deactivated the new phone and reactivated hers. There was no connection to the fraud department, no red flag, and no investigation, until that afternoon when my husband and I went to a Verizon store with our phones that didn't work. Then all of a sudden, the fraud department was right on top of it. Right! I asked to speak to them after everything was taken care of. But, after being on hold for about an hour, they closed. Guess fraud only happens during office hours.
Maybe 911 should only be open during office hours and take an hour on hold to contact.
In the days that followed, after hours of being on hold and talking to one person after another, I finally spoke to a person in the fraud department who was well aware of the whole scam. She explained that once on your own account's site, all that is needed for a new phone to be activated on an existing number is a few clicks of a mouse, not even the password you have to give Verizon to talk to them!
I asked her how difficult would it be to simply require a text of a security code or email to finalize the transaction. Banks do the same thing if you are using an unrecognized computer. She didn’t think much of the idea and started in about cloned phones. It didn’t make a lick of sense.
From my Google search I see these scams have been going on with Verizon for years. But don’t worry. She told me they have a committee working on it. Now that inspired some new confidence!
WOW!! THANK YOU VERIZON SECURITY!!!
Any bets on how many thousands will fall victim before Verizon gets their act together?
