My personal details, along with those of millions of other TalkTalk customers, were leaked in December 2014 when hackers broke into its database. TalkTalk says customers were sent an email notifying them of this, but I have no recollection of seeing it and since then there has been no communication whatsoever.
Around this time I experienced continuous interference on my line and my internet connection began to drop out for hours. TalkTalk blamed BT, which owns the line, and BT blamed TalkTalk. By May, I decided to switch providers.
I then got a call from a man saying he was from TalkTalk and he understood I had a problem with my computer. He explained there was a compatibility issue between certain TalkTalk routers and some customers’ PCs. He requested remote access to my computer and I agreed, and downloaded the programme he sent to allow this. He performed a test, which flashed up a message confirming I was suffering an “incompatible router” issue and that I was eligible for a £200 rebate.
He transferred me to the financial department for payment. I was told to click on my bank’s icon on a webpage with TalkTalk’s logo on top and open my account details. Instead of £200, £5,200 was transferred into my account. The operative told me he’d be fired if the mistake came to light, so asked me to return the mispayment by MoneyGram. This I did, before realising I had been scammed. The £5,200 had been transferred from my savings to my current account using a fake TalkTalk ID, so I had sent the scammer my own money.
There is evidence my computer was monitored since December, yet TalkTalk has not helped me. The information commissioner says unless I can prove my details were leaked in December, I have no case. TC, London
Although, with hindsight, you were rash, it’s easy to see how you were taken in. The callers had created software to back up their claims and, over three hours on the phone, small-talked you into trusting them.
TalkTalk agrees it’s a sophisticated fraud and may have been as a result of the data leak, thought to have been instigated by a third-party contractor.
“We know a small number of customers are being targeted by phone scammers, using a limited amount of customer data that was accessed illegally at the end of last year,” a spokesperson admits. “No sensitive information, like bank account or credit card details, was accessed.”
The trouble is, there is no evidence the hackers had anything other than your name and phone and TalkTalk account number when they contacted you. The rest, including your passport details, they acquired when you allowed them remote access to your computer and answered their questions. TalkTalk says it would never require customers to download software on an unplanned call, or ask for bank details. No reputable company would require you to send funds via a money wiring service.
TalkTalk says it wrote to customers advising of the leak, and warns about the scam on its website, but from the experience of other customers it seems not to have been assiduous enough in assisting those affected. It is not prepared to compensate you and nor, since you made a cash transfer, can you claim a refund from your bank.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.
