Smartphones - The Thief In Your Pocket

T Mobile Profiting From Smartphone Fraud Got back at last!  Thought I'd try my mobile which has been dead for weeks.  Called the operator T Mobile and got the happy news that my account stood at GBP3,600!!!!!

As I hardly ever use the thing, and I never click yes to the requests for roaming, which get sent as you land in all foreign countries, this new statement of the account was somewhat of a shock.

Globe Telecom, the trusty partner of T Mobile acting for them in the Philippines,  sent me numerous roaming requests,  which I always refuse as I land in all countries I visit. (Everyone sends them packing, as the charges are outrageous).  Yet Globe must have represented to T Mobile that this was not the case, and fraudulently assured them I had assented to being ripped off for information I can get for nothing via my PC and laptop.

I pointed out to T- Mobile that they were now proposing to charge me GBP 3,600 as a party to a fraud committed by their Philippine partners.  I have had the phone on many previous trips and on no occasion did I agree to Globe's requests.  Nor would I.  I assume that just ignoring them, they would go away, as they always had in the past.

I might have wondered, though, as on an earlier contract I had formed with Globe, they had lied outright about the download speeds of their internet connection.   I cancelled within less than an hour after realising I'd been duped, and it took nearly a year to get my money back, which required answering to several threatening letters from various lawyers demanding a year's payment for services not recieved.

T Mobile must know that their Philippine partners operate to Filipino business practices.   I will be getting rid of their phone and the contract at the earliest possible moment.  Who needs a Smartphone anyway.  With the risk of crooks moving in on them, they are a liability.  You can get everything you need without them easily enough. Overall smartphones have become the opposite of what they could have been. A device which could be a useful servant has become the thief you keep in your pocket. They track your movements, listen in on your conversations and send all your private stuff to a centrally controlled database. They are also used to defraud by the very phone companies who should be working to assist you defeat the fraudsters. For me, it's text only from hereon, whatever the outcome of T-Mobile's internal enquiry to assess what's happened here.

GLOBE Telecom, Philippines, 26th March message -

Stay logged on to Globe, the Philippine network, with the worldwidest coverage!  Go to SETTINGS and MANUALLY SELECT Globe.  For assistance, call +6327301212

TAP - If I had supposedly logged a request to roam with Globe, why were they requesting me to log on with them?  T-Mobile took GBP 500 from my bank account in March, which I didn't notice.  Then allowed the account to run up a further GBP3600.  On a phone I wasn't using.  As I say, fraud.  I would never ask Globe anything, and certainly not to roam.  They are the most dishonest people I have yet met in any company I've ever dealt with.  Now, come on, T Mobile.  I think you had better sort this out.