Do not believe anything: this is how operators deceive you with false price increases

The scam of the false price increases of the operators

It is a situation that, unfortunately, is more recurrent and is repeated more than necessary. In fact, it is not infrequent that the OCU, the Organization of Consumers and Users, has seen fit to warn of a technique that is increasingly used to promote the change of operators with what are known as ‘false price increases’ of their company.

What the agency exposed last time was that certain competitors are dedicated to calling their customers to announce these false increases that, although it is being used as a strategy to discredit the company, has no other purpose than to steal from unfair customers.

There are not a few who are doing it. We saw one of those cases with Movistar, which supposedly was going to raise the Fusion Plan up to 15 euros, but ended up being totally false. Totally misleading, but the user ends up with an angry situation. That is the hook used by the operators, because a few minutes later, a commercial from another company calls offering an offer to change companies, which he can do to convince the affected party.

How are those scams

This scam is nothing new, but when a new price increase approaches, it returns with greater intensity. Because on many occasions they call us with offers from countless companies, which we usually ignore. But in this scam there is something different that encourages you not to hang up, since it is -supposedly- your own company that calls you informing you of an exorbitant rise, which you cannot ignore. But this call is a hoax: it is not your company, but the rivals of the competition, who are the scammers.

And here begins a race against the clock to, under the pretext of ‘changing’ the telephone operator, seize data as sensitive as the ID or the bank account. However, and according to the OCU alert, “it is a scam that is more elaborate than normal”. The victim first receives a call in which they pose as their telephone company and notify them of a significant increase in their rate, which can vary between 15 and 20 euros, as has happened with the cases of victims of Movistar, Vodafone or Pepephone , among several others.

The operators are not responsible for making customer acquisition calls, this is delegated to other companies, the so-called subcontractors. With a staff of telemarketers, and databases containing names and telephone numbers, these subcontractors make calls where they offer different offers approved by the operators. In exchange for each client captured, the subcontractor takes a percentage of the operation, the same as those that can be affiliated with online stores.

What should we be wary of?

Therefore, you have to be careful not to fall for this important scam of the operators in terms of what may be the misleading price increases, so the best advice is to be sure that it is not the case. This is what the OCU indicates, so you should be suspicious if:

• You receive two calls on the same day or very close together.
• They communicate the upload by phone. Usually the increases are announced in writing, along with the monthly invoice.
• The announced increases exceed 10 euros. The increases are usually less significant, between 1 and 5 euros.
• They announce an imminent increase: they must notify you of the increase in your rate at least 30 days in advance.
• If the company that makes the new offer does not identify itself, or only says that the rate of the offered company is guaranteed by OCU, which is completely false.

As such, it’s important to remember that there is a well-known Robinson List to self-exclude ourselves from advertising, which also asks its community to help find out who is behind this fraud and put a stop to it. Thus, those who receive the calls can provide the data to the companies from their social networks or from the toll-free customer service numbers.