01923968638

Last Monday afternoon, CityFibre set up our new Vodafone fibre connection and told us it could take anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour before the internet would go live. Just after 4.40pm, I got a suspicious call from 01923 968638, which I later found out was a Vodafone Watford landline, though I had no clue at the time. The person on the line said they were Vodafone customer support and knew about my £25/month installation that still wasn’t working. They offered to swap out the faulty router and reduce the fee to £18 to make up for the trouble. They asked for my personal details like name, address, DOB, and how long I’d been here. Then, they wanted my bank sort code and account number to change my direct debit. I was a bit doubtful and asked why they needed this info - apparently Vodafone supposedly stores bank info somewhere safe. When I pressed them for proof, they said they’d email me (impossible as we had no internet yet), then tried texting (no message came through) and even said they didn’t have my phone number on file! I flat out refused to share my bank details since they’d called me and didn’t pass my checks, and told them to send the info to my local shop instead. According to them, the router would come from London the next morning, but the shop had a separate system and wouldn’t respond for 3 or 4 days, plus they’d already closed for the day. The caller hung up, so I headed to the shop right before closing at 5.30pm. They confirmed the number was dodgy and gave me Vodafone’s real customer service number, 03333 040191, and said they'd help sort things out the next day if needed. Luckily, it all started working soon after, so no further action was required.