Revealed: The shocking new mobile phone scam that hits YOU with a £300 bill for calls never made
Customers are being called by a mysterious 0845 number and receiving hefty bills - despite insisting they didn't pick up
MOBILE phone users are being hit with a terrifying new scam that sees them slammed with bills of hundreds of pounds for calls they never made.
Victims have told how after receiving a second-long call from an 0845 or 0843 number, which they did not answer, they suddenly spotted more than £300 on their phone bill.
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Despite not answering or making the call, which shows up as a missed call on their phones, Money Mail says users are somehow being charged for chats lasting up to 12 hours.
Many users are not noticing they have been scammed until they receive their phone bills, while others have received texts saying their phone is blocked due to high usage.
In almost every case calls last between three and 12 hours and users do not remember noticing the call or ringing back.
Every case looked at involves a Vodafone phone and customers are being told to pay up when they ask for the costs to be waived.
The coverage network insists the problem is not their fault, and Ofcom says customers from several mobile providers are being hit.
When some of the numbers involved in the scam were called they led to the answerphones of claims management firms that offer flight delay compensation.
Daphne Bagnell, of Shirley, Solihull, West Mids, was hit with a £90 bill last month after receiving an 08 call - ten times her usual £9 pay-out.
Diana Denith, of Lowestoft in Suffolk, also usually racks up a £9 bill - but was horrified to receive a text saying her phone was blocked due ot a £375 call last month.
Vodafone insisted both women pay up when they complained about the shock fees, it has been reported.
Since Diana complained about the scam in the media, Vodafone has reversed the charges.
Normally 08 calls are free to receive, but expensive to make - and one theory is scammers are hiring 0845 and 0843 numbers and setting the fees high for incoming calls.
It is suggested they then hack victims' phones and change settings to automatically call back if they receive a call from one of those numbers.
Those behind the scam would then receive a cut of the mobile phone charges showing up on the bill.
Telecommunications expert Ben Levitain said: "There are people who spend their lives looking at phone companies' systems and ways to make money from them.
"People share these secrets online and use them, but the criminals can be very hard to trace and catch."
A Vodafone spokesman added: 'Our systems have not been compromised or breached.
"Our security monitoring systems have identified that a number of customers have returned unsolicited calls, leading to them being charged significant amounts.
"We have taken proactive measures to ensure none of the customers affected are out of pocket and have identified and blocked the numbers creating this issue.
"As this is an industry-wide issue, we are working with Ofcom and other operators to identify and close down this issue as soon as we can."
