Strange call from Orange

[Guest snakeeater]

Had a call on my mobile a few mins ago from Orange (allegedly) which went something like this:

Orange: Hell Im blah from orange, we notice that your contract is due for renewal and we were wondering if we could offer you a free phone so that you keep your contract with us.

Me: Um, my contract is nowhere near due for renewal.

Orange: When did the contract start?

Me: Before Christmas, August.

Orange: Sorry to have bothered you.

Me; Thats oka...............oh theyve gone :/

Has anyone heard of anything like this? It seemed very odd, I have NEVER had a call in the past on previous contracts offering to throw a free phone at me. Plus the caller literally hung up as I was speaking.

Does this sound genuine or was it some kind of attempted scam?

[Guest Pondrew]

I had the same thing a year or two ago and sure enough I was no where near the end of my contract. I suspect it's some company or other trying to 'sell' free upgrades and gather information.

[Guest muff]

it seems unlikely to me that someone genuinely calling from Orange wouldn't know when your contract starts and ends

[Guest inspectorgadjet]

It is most definitely not Orange. It is a third party supplier who has been given your details by Orange. (Did you opt out when they asked if you wanted to be contacted about offers?)

It is a bloody nuisance and I had a huge row with Orange when I started receiving these calls a few months ago. They were phoning me once every month and I could barely ever get the name of the company. They usually whiz past their name and say they're calling on behalf of Orange. I had definitely opted out of third party contact, and to make matters worse, they were phoning a number I had ported over to 3 a few months back.

I phoned Orange up, and they were very apologetic as they could see I had opted out. They then said that if I was contacted again by any third party companies I should just phone them up and give them the name and Orange would deal with them. I actually haven't had a call in about a month and a half now. (Touch wood)

I am still an Orange subscriber with other phones, and can therefore monitor the situation and I make sure I get the company name and pass the details onto Orange if I am being pestered. You should do the same. They're not allowed to keep calling like that.

[Guest bachy]

In the UK there is a register that you can sign up to free of charge to put a stop to all cold calling. You can register both mobile and landlines.

Here is the link... TPS Online

I had a similar problem and after registering my moby number here it has stopped.

[Guest Drewtech]

In the UK there is a register that you can sign up to free of charge to put a stop to all cold calling. You can register both mobile and landlines.

Here is the link... TPS Online

I had a similar problem and after registering my moby number here it has stopped.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the link. I had used the junk mail version of this previously and I get no junkmail now but we have been getting phonecalls recently. Hopefully that is now a thing of the past.

[Guest hunyango_uk]

In the UK there is a register that you can sign up to free of charge to put a stop to all cold calling. You can register both mobile and landlines.

Here is the link... TPS Online

I had a similar problem and after registering my moby number here it has stopped.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks this is great, and how bout the text message that you receive even you are not sending message for that particular sender(eg. unwanted text info service). this messages really hurts, ouch.

Edited March 8, 2005 by hunyango_uk

[Guest hecatae]

I was called by "BritishMobiles".

Cant find that name anywhere.

[Guest mavisdavis]

I love these calls personally. I ask them what phone they're willing to offer me then tell them I own a SPV and if they could better that.

The reaction is ace. "Sorry to bother you sir but we can't beat them phones"

LOL

Orange once told me it was because I hadn't activated my new simcard when I upgraded to the E200 so the 3rd party supplier thought I had exceeded my contract. So when I upgraded to my C500 Ive not recived any of these calls yet but did get a wierd text with a link and I clicked on it ,it led me to some Muslim religous website.

Needless to say Ive got SMS Notify and have blocked that number from contacting me again.

God I love these phones :D

Edited March 8, 2005 by mavisdavis

[Guest hunyango_uk]

i'm havin problem registering my number, after i put the number i want to register ther is an error.

[Guest ad69]

i recieved a call from 'someone on behalf of orange asking how much i spend on my phone what phone i had and how much i spend on credit' i just put the phone down lol :twisted:

[Guest tudor]

I got at some point a call from orange asking for my password, but it was a legit call!

This is the story:

I phone a lot abroad and I use to get those £50 international calls bundles. The thing is that I was buying them quite often, and when I called once to put another one on my monthly plan, the lady said everything is fine, I'll have it activated next day. She hangs up and calls me back in 5 minutes: "Sir, can I have your Orange password?" :shock: I said "No, you can't call me and ask for my password - how do I even know who you are and if you are really from Orange?". She finishes with some small talk and hangs up. I call Orange myself - another operator this time - I ask her "Is it common practice to have someone from Orange calling me and asking for my password?". She says first no, then puts me on hold, then comes back and says yes. In 5 minutes the first lady calls me again saying that I can't get the £50 of international minutes and I have to wait 6 months to get another bundle. I argue that this is not in they terms and conditions for this, then she finally tells me that it's a security thing and she needs to get my password to make sure that it's not someone else using my phone.

Anyway, I think this practice from Orange is not secure and opens a path for phishing.

[Guest Chaser81]

Its well known in the industry that when someone calls a customer claiming to be from Orange and offering them upgrades, they never actually are. Orange dont ever phone customers to discuss upgrades, they always wait until you phone them.

If any of you guys get calls from "Orange" asking you to upgrade, be wary.

[Guest mavisdavis]

Yeah can anybody remember the last Orange called and offered them an C500 or even an E200...lol not a chance. You have be really blessed with the gift of the gab to get one out of tight Orange.lol

[Guest Matt Kirby]

I got at some point a call from orange asking for my password, but it was a legit call!

This is the story:

I phone a lot abroad and I use to get those £50 international calls bundles. The thing is that I was buying them quite often, and when I called once to put another one on my monthly plan, the lady said everything is fine, I'll have it activated next day. She hangs up and calls me back in 5 minutes: "Sir, can I have your Orange password?"  :shock:  I said "No, you can't call me and ask for my password - how do I even know who you are and if you are really from Orange?". She finishes with some small talk and hangs up. I call Orange myself - another operator this time - I ask her "Is it common practice to have someone from Orange calling me and asking for my password?". She says first no, then puts me on hold, then comes back and says yes. In 5 minutes the first lady calls me again saying that I can't get the £50 of international minutes and I have to wait 6 months to get another bundle. I argue that this is not in they terms and conditions for this, then she finally tells me that it's a security thing and she needs to get my password to make sure that it's not someone else using my phone.

Anyway, I think this practice from Orange is not secure and opens a path for phishing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with you - I can understand that they need to make sure that it's not someone else using your phone, but surely they would ask you your password when you phone them.

Surely it's common practice for companies not to phone their customers asking for security information?

[Guest stevem999]

I agree with you - I can understand that they need to make sure that it's not someone else using your phone, but surely they would ask you your password when you phone them. 

Surely it's common practice for companies not to phone their customers asking for security information?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Generally if a company uses passwords to identify you they now tend to ask for certain characters of the password which they enter into their system - this avoids the need for customers to say their whole password out loud - very dodgy if Orange are asking for whole passwords.

[Guest tudor]

The dodgy thing is that THEY call and ask you, and you have no means to check if they are really Orange.

It whould be like the banks - they never call you to ask you for your details!

[Guest hunyango_uk]

this is my other phone, moto v600, off peak from voda

have at least ten calls from different telecom companies they say, they are asking if i want to do some upgrade, etc.............. blah... blah.... blah.....

VERY ANNOYING!!!

i went to this site http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/what/ unfortunately it didn't work for me.

got some info text messages to that cost me £2 or sometimes higher that i'm not ware of.

txt82228>> more fun is waiting for you in your

txt82228 poly club. 12 new sounds +12 logos + musicnewsfor only 3 GBP/month. 16+ only. help? call 08701213184

from 84404

trust me, if i receive the bill this is going to cost me.

how can i make this stop???

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!!

Edited March 10, 2005 by hunyango_uk

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

*Occasionally* texting the word STOP back to the spam people can stop them. Never tried this myself though...

[Guest hunyango_uk]

*Occasionally* texting the word STOP back to the spam people can stop them.  Never tried this myself though...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

done that, still keep textin'.

[Guest Monolithix [MVP]]

Have you given your number to any of those tv ringtone people? Websites? etc...

[Guest Confucious]

I bought a T-Mob PAYG SIm for my mother to go in my old t68 (it was locked to T-Mob) and the first thing we got when she turned it on was a text -charge 50p.

I text STOP back, didn't work. T-Mob tel support were useless (charging 25p for the privalage!) Eventually took it back to the t-mob shop where I bought it who said that they re-use nimbers and someone before must have signed up. They gave me a new SIM and credited wuth the £10 I had put on the other SIM. No problems since but it was a real hassle (the guy in the shop in worthing was really helpful though.)

These things are a paiin to stop and should be banned!

[Guest hunyango_uk]

Have you given your number to any of those tv ringtone people?  Websites? etc...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

@ monolithix yes, last year. but i didn't know i'll keep receiving it. there's message before, to stop receiving the damn message text STOP to blah... blah... blah....

but done that and even that s*** cost me.

they are all greedy people.

[Guest Matt Kirby]

http://www.grumbletext.co.uk

@ monolithix yes, last year. but i didn't know i'll keep receiving it. there's message before, to stop receiving the damn message text STOP to blah... blah... blah....

but done that and even that s***  cost me.

they are all greedy people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is that companies website, and at the bottom of the page (in the small print, as always!) it has unsubscribe info.

In theory texting "stopclubringtone" should stop it if "stop" or "stop all" doesn't. If not try phoning them on 0870 1213184 (which costs about 7 - 8 p per min on a BT line I think, cheaper in the evening), or you could try emailing them on [email protected].

If that all fails (and it might!) have a look at the info on http://www.grumbletext.co.uk. Don't get too excited about thier report tool, it's not working with a few networks at the moment.

You could always try complaing to your network to see if there is anything that they can do.

[Guest PayableOnDeath]

i went to this site http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/what/  unfortunately it didn't work for me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

it does take upto 28days for it work, like it says on their website

I someone from 3 ring me up after I got my new contact n new phone infact think it was the same day the phone came thou the post lol so will prob get another call off them in nov just after I get signup for another contact lol ;)

I think 3 are bit slow lol