WSVN — If you really want to see shock on someone’s face ask them to give up their phone. We all use our phones all the time and we pay a monthly bill, but what would you do if your bill for one month was $26,000 and you were told by the phone company you had to pay it? The solution, of course, call Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
I think it’s safe to say most of us have a cellphone. Leonaise Loriston has two.
Leonaise Loriston: "I use my cellphone, my personal cellphone and my work cellphone."
And since she often works from home, Leonaise went back to those olden days, when people had a landline in their homes.
Leonaise Loriston: "In case of an emergency, in case you lose your cellphone."
All together, the cellphones for her and her family plus the landline cost $273 a month. Everything was fine.
And then…
Leonaise Loriston: "I received an e-mail from Verizon to let me know there is some suspicious illegal activity going on international on my phone."
Leonaise contacted the phone company, and they told her everything was fine, don’t worry. Then, the next day, she got her phone bill…
Leonaise Loriston: "I thought that something was wrong. I thought I was not looking. I thought maybe I needed glasses. I couldn’t believe it was $26,000."
A $26,000 phone bill. Leonaise quickly called Verizon and was told her landline number had been used to make calls all over the world.
Leonaise Loriston: "Australia, Astoria, Austria, South Africa, Cayman Island, Cuba, Argentina, all over the place."
Patrick Fraser: "Do you know anyone from there?"
Leonaise Loriston: "No, no one! I know no one from these places."
Leonaise said she didn’t make the calls, and no one in her family made the calls. Then the phone company told her they determined what had happened.
Leonaise Loriston: "And they found out that my line was compromised by another country because I had returned a call that came in through my line. That’s how they got into my line."
Leonaise was relieved, because she thought that meant the $26,000 phone bill would be erased. But…
Leonaise Loriston: "They transferred me over to an investigator who told me the calls were coming from the line, that there was nothing they can do for me, that I need to pay."
Well Howard, if a hacker is able to access your phone number and run up a ridiculous bill without you knowing it, do you have to pay the bill?
Howard Finkelstein: "No, you are not responsible, unless you are negligent, and by that I mean you give someone access to your phone or give them your PIN number so they can access it remotely to make calls. If you do that, you have to pay the bill, but if you don’t do that and don’t know it’s happening, you are not responsible for the bill."
We contacted Verizon first to find out how this happened. A Verizon spokesperson told us they had uncovered new information about that, but could not disclose details of a customer’s account.
But obviously it was not Leonaise’s fault. Verizon wrote: "We strive to provide the best customer experience for all our customers at every touch point. In this case, we did not deliver on that promise. We sincerely apologize."
Verizon then did the right thing, and more. Not only did they wipe out the $26,000 bill. They gave Leonaise three months of free phone service, something they legally didn’t have to do.
Howard Finkelstein: "This hacking of the phone was clearly a scammer, and they are so difficult to track down, law enforcement rarely gets involved. So you have to protect yourself and hope that’s enough."
Leonaise is happy with Verizon and those guys from Channel 7.
Leonaise Loriston: "Help Me Howard, I don’t know what I would do without Help Me Howard."
Glad we were able to help out. And why would a crook hack into your phone line to make free calls or to sell the access to someone else so they could make cheap long distance calls? As in any scam, it’s all about the money."
Going a long distance and not getting an answer with your problem? Wanna hang up on the headache? Call us. You won’t get a busy signal, and hopefully we can dial up a solution for you.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
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