Sprint horror story. Copied from another forum

[gostars9]

As you remember, I ordered a brand-new TP2 from Sprint's website and I activated it on my existing line with no issues. A few days later, my phone stopped working, and I called Sprint and was told my number was changed from a (714) number to a (832) number w/o my permission. At that time, they said they couldnt do anything for me....that my (714) number was gone.

I called Executive Services and got a lady who took over the case personally. After a few days, she did manage to get my cell phone number back and we reprogrammed the phone so I could actually use it. But that wasnt the end of the story.....

A few days after my phone number reappeared, a charge appeared on my bill for $300 worth of calls to Mexico. The CSR fixed the issue, but told me it was a tell-tale sign that my phone was cloned.

Here's where things get fishy. So my phone was "cloned" right? (which I still dont believe, but thats another story) Well even if my phone was cloned, how did the cloner manage to get access to my account and get a Sprint CSR to change my phone number without my knowledge or permission?

I see three scenarios:

1) The individual knew some very personal information about me (social security #, my PIN, something) and managed to access my account that way. The problem I have with this scenario is that if the person had my SS#, why not do more damage with it (i.e. access my bank accounts)? Furthermore, the CSR assured me that my SS# was not compromised (whether I believe this or not is another story).

2) Somebody in Sprint screwed up and accidentally changed my number when they werent supposed to. Plausible, I guess....but unlikely.

3) This was a deliberate inside job somehow. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but all signs point to this scenario. I had JUST ordered a brand new phone directly from Sprint's website. The only people who would know its ESN would be me and/or somebody inside of Sprint. Furthermore, this person could (theoretically) access my account w/o knowing things like my SS# and make changes.

Over the past few weeks as the issue was being resolved, I asked the CSR numerous times what happened. She would dodge the question, until she finally said: "I'm sorry sir, I cant tell you that. This is bigger than your account. We are taking care of it internally." Her words...I kid you not. I called Sprint's Fraud Dept and they echoed her words. In fact, the Fraud specialist flat out said that they would not tell me anything without a court order.

The worst part about this? I got ZERO in compensation. I asked, and the CSR said that they do not give out credits for something like this. I have probably spent 15-20 hours resolving this issue, and I have nothing to show for it. I honestly dont want any monetary compensation - all I want is an explanation as to what happened and whether I should be worried that my Personally Identifiable Information was compromised.

This is really rocked my faith not only in Sprint, but in corporate america. These companies can literally f* with your information and then hide behind a legal cloak, daring you to hire a lawyer to subpenoa them. It's crazy! After this, I dont think I'll be reupping with Sprint when my contract expires.

So in summary - I'll never know what happened......

I copied this from www.sprintusers.com.. just WOW

[MrObvious]

I don't know man but if that's the case then some of his other accounts may be affected too. IDK.

[relisted]

i lol'd
idk why

[gorillaguzzler]

I had this same kind of thing happen to me when I had US Cellular. My phone was cloned lots of calls from Mexico. They gave me the option of buying a new phone or changing numbers. They would not budge on this they said changing numbers of phones was the only way to keep the clone from working. They would also not exchange my phone they said it was not their fault it happened and that I would have to buy a new phone. They told me their way of fixing the problem was to change my number (of course i did not want to do that). So that is when I made the change to Sprint.

[MrObvious]

Or a new ESN would probably fix it I think.