# phone bill - international/premium rate calls unaccounted for



## sloggi (17 Feb 2009)

Today i got a shock to realise that my eircom DD had come out of my account and it amounted to €570.  my usual is about €70 for landline and BB.  

really bad - but i usually dont even check the bill as it's so consistent and i dont recall getting this one through the post.  I checked online bill and low and behold most of the phone charges relate to international and premium rate 1550/1580 numbers.  

the weird thing is that all the international calls are to St Helena and the majority were made on Dec 26th when i was in my mothers all day and my partner may have been in the house at the time but we cant pin point exactly when he had to leave for work and whether calls happened before or after he left the house.  Its also relevant to say that neither of us barely know where St Helena is never mind anyone there and we have no call for international calls usually.  

This is where it gets a bit dodgy - the premium numbers (i checked a few numbers from mobile to see what they were for) appear to be these party line type things.  Now I know i didn't make the calls and my partner assures me that he didn't make the calls so we are dumbfounded.  Also we had no guests/children over the period.  

Called eircom who focused on the international calls and apparently there were lots of scams involving dial up connections and St Helena but as i had BB he wasn't sure how this could have happened.  The premium calls are harder to address as i was in work when most of them happened (all day time, weekday - one costing a whopping €28 for a 14 minute call and there are 2 - 7 per day various lengths and the multi day ones have only a couple of second between hang up and redial).  I've found 2 over the xmas period when i think i was at home.  Problem is my partner works nights and is supposed (!!) to be sleeping when these other calls take place.  Now we have a very secure relationship so no blame there just that we cant prove we weren't in the house.  Eircom guy is passing the matter to his supervisor to look into and will get back to me tomorrow allegedly.

I'm wondering if anyone has any similar experience and what I can do to check these calls and prove bill is incorrect.  Also I do not have enough cash to meet the bill and am hoping to ask bank tomorrow to recall dd, if they dont do it automatically as not enough funds in account to meet DD.  Would prefer to owe eircom money than have them owe me.  

Has anyone any advice please?  Sorry for long post!


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## Lipstick69 (17 Feb 2009)

There was something a few years ago about autodiallers and such things to similar islands. Maybe ring ComReg for advice - at the time they were quite active.


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## jhegarty (17 Feb 2009)

Do you have any type of cordless phone ?

Does any old modem (dial up type) in your pc still connect to your phone line ?


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## Guest128 (17 Feb 2009)

My brother had a similar situation with TalkTalk and a cordless phone. Neither his or his wife made the calls (to Poland or similar). I dont think it was for that much cash, but they ended up paying it....dont think they fought that hard though


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## Smashbox (17 Feb 2009)

Is there anyway that someone could 'tap' into your line to make these calls offsite, ie not at your house? Is your broadband protected? 
Someone could have been outside dialling on their computer using your phone line perhaps?


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## jhegarty (17 Feb 2009)

Smashbox said:


> Is there anyway that someone could 'tap' into your line to make these calls offsite, ie not at your house? Is your broadband protected?
> Someone could have been outside dialling on their computer using your phone line perhaps?



Broadband modems don't work like that , they have no way to access the analogue part of the line and initiate a call.

The only way this happened are :
1) Cordless phone , someone sitting outside house making calls
2) Someone with physical access to the house , phone or phone line
3) Analogue modem still connected to the phone line


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## sloggi (17 Feb 2009)

thanks for the responses guys. my BB is wireless (through eircom) and i turn off the modem when not in use so the auto dialler thing couldn't have happened to me apparently, also never had a dial up modem. Of course there is the obvious - that my partner could have been making the calls but he's too tight (!!) to spend that money on that sort of call expecially when, as he says he can see and hear on the internet if he wants to!!!! 

Eircom called me today to say that they'd completed an initial check on the line and no "cross wires" were found. i can contact their customer service people if i'm still not happy and they'll take the matter further and investigate further on my own behalf (these checks were for their benefit or something) so tonight we are going to trace our step, see who or when we definately were out of the house etc so we have stronger case. 

We have a cordless phone, its an eircom 7000, so would be interested in further info on this angle - how might this effect the line?

Thanks again


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## allthedoyles (17 Feb 2009)

Did you check your computer history to see if there are any dodgy websites accessed .
If someone in your house was using computer and clicked on one of these 'dodgy ' websites , maybe your there was an auto dialler in the background .

Something similar to this happened us 6 months ago , but we got it in time and disconnected immediately .


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## sandrat (17 Feb 2009)

theory with cordless would be that someone with the same cordless would sit outside your house and get coverage on your line


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## jhegarty (17 Feb 2009)

allthedoyles said:


> Did you check your computer history to see if there are any dodgy websites accessed .
> If someone in your house was using computer and clicked on one of these 'dodgy ' websites , maybe your there was an auto dialler in the background .
> 
> Something similar to this happened us 6 months ago , but we got it in time and disconnected immediately .



Auto dialers only work when there is an analogue modem in place.



sloggi said:


> We have a cordless phone, its an eircom 7000, so would be interested in further info on this angle - how might this effect the line?




Someone sitting outside your house with an eircom 7000 handset running up your bill.


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## Sadie11 (17 Feb 2009)

Had  a similar experience some  eleven years ago got a bill from eircom for around six hundred  for calls made to a site diega grascia no calls were made from home had a dial up  connection at the time  had to pay  eircom in the end


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## gabsdot (17 Feb 2009)

Something like this happened to us and it turned out a family member who had a key had been coming into the house and using the phone while we were at work. 
Could it be something like that.


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## MandaC (17 Feb 2009)

Going back about fifteen years ago, my mam went to make a call and could faintly hear another conversation in the background.  It sounded like the girl about four houses up.

Then the bill arrived and there were calls to Cyprus.   We dont and have never known anyone in Cyprus.  The calls were only for a total of about £5, so I dont think my mam did much.

A couple of weeks later, she was speaking to the girl up the road.  She said she thought she could hear my mam speaking to someone when she was calling her boyfriend in Cyprus.  Eircom still did not want to know.


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## sloggi (17 Feb 2009)

jhegarty said:


> Someone sitting outside your house with an eircom 7000 handset running up your bill.


 
oh good god thats appalling!!  and of course my handset would be fairly popular i suppose.  Scaring me now that others have had to pay the bill.  So, is there no way to prove that someone might have being doing this?  i bet eircom wont entertain this claim and force me to pay.  Would it be pure speculation to suggest this is the cause to eircom?

Would the phone not have to be tuned to the base station, or whatever its called, in order for this to work? 

i know what you're saying gabsdot bout a family member (there was much accusation in our house last night) but actually no one has a key to our place and and i said the partner is usually sleeping by day so it would be a bit risky to try that tack.  

What seems strange to me is that its multiple calls consecutively - i.e. call 1) happens at 2pm and lasts 14 minutes call 2) commences at 2.14pm and lasts 5 minutes, call 3) commences at 2.19pm, etc.  And also on consecutive days.  Thats why it seemed more likely to be some kind of auto dialer thing even though i know its not possible if no dial up modem connected to phone line.    Also i live in a very small and quiet estate, though probably is a bit vacant duing work hours but still, the idea of someone sitting outside the house getting his or her jollies at my expense is bit disturbing.  Also i dont exactly live in a metropolis.

Just final observations that i probably should have mentioned in case its relevant, my sky+ box is continuously connected to the phone line....would this cause problems?

thanks again for all the feedback


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## jhegarty (17 Feb 2009)

sloggi said:


> Just final observations that i probably should have mentioned in case its relevant, my sky+ box is continuously connected to the phone line....would this cause problems?




I would be very surprised. But just to be sure click :

SERVICES, 4, 0, 1, SELECT 

Then go to Telephone Settings , Select 

Make sure the dialing prefix is empty.


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## sloggi (17 Feb 2009)

jhegarty said:


> I would be very surprised. But just to be sure click :
> 
> SERVICES, 4, 0, 1, SELECT
> 
> ...


 
jh, i went to service then 4 but only have 1 - 8 options in this screen, no 0.  can you advise please

Cheers


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## jhegarty (17 Feb 2009)

sloggi said:


> jh, i went to service then 4 but only have 1 - 8 options in this screen, no 0.  can you advise please
> 
> Cheers




It's hidden. Just press the numbers on the remote, nothing will happen on the screen for some of them.


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## sloggi (17 Feb 2009)

jhegarty said:


> It's hidden. Just press the numbers on the remote, nothing will happen on the screen for some of them.


 
aaaahhhhhhhh genius......nah, nothing in the dialing prefix line mores the pity!!  back to the drawing board on this one!!


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## pansyflower (18 Feb 2009)

Help! What happens if there are numbers in the prefix box?


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## jhegarty (18 Feb 2009)

pansyflower said:


> Help! What happens if there are numbers in the prefix box?




It dials that before calling sky. Like business usually have 9 for an outside line.


If some joker put in the premium rate number than the sky box would call that.


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## pansyflower (18 Feb 2009)

jhegarty, I'm panicing!  Do you know if there's any significance in the figures 13666 in my prefix box?


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## jhegarty (18 Feb 2009)

pansyflower said:


> jhegarty, I'm panicing!  Do you know if there's any significance in the figures 13666 in my prefix box?




Your sky box is calling through eircom and not your normal telephone provider for call.


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## csirl (18 Feb 2009)

There are likely 2 explanations for the OPs bill:


1. Someone living in or with access to the house is making the calls when she is not around and will not admit this. OP seems very sure this is not the case.

2. It is possible that someone in a neighbouring house has the same model phone working on the same wireless frequency (this could be by accident, but possibly by design - I'm sure its not difficult for someone to pick what frequency they want the phone to use - most cordless have this option as it is possible that by coincidence a neighbour is on the same freq so the user may have to change theirs). Their wireless handset is making calls thru the OPs phone connection rather than their own. 

Either way, I would expect the phone company to refuse to refund. They will obviously claim that no. 1 is not their fault or concern. They will also claim that in the case of No. 2 it is the OPs responsibility to ensure that the phone equipment they are using is secure and not operating on the same frequency as similar equipment in the area. You may argue that the phone was also supplied by Eircom, but its likely that the terms & conditions of the purchase absolve them from blame if the phone is working correctly - they will say that its up to the user to ensure the frequency is correct. 

[broken link removed]

Note that the particular model of phone has a 300m range - this could potentially cover 100's of neighbouring phones !!!!!


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## Smashbox (18 Feb 2009)

Thats a very large range for a home phone! Could be the problem there OP... can you sneak around your neighbourhood peeping through peoples windows to see what phone they have?!


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## sloggi (18 Feb 2009)

thanks csirl - very detailed reply.  I have resigned myself to the fact that i'll have to pay the bill one way or the other but if anything this has thought me a lesson as to how convenience (i.e. cordless phone) may not mean security.  In any case i called eircom today and asked them to look into it further so that i can at least have covered all the bases.  Whether it was 1) or 2) as per your examples, I've barred premium numbers from the line so no future threat - this includes 11811 but i have broadband, phonebook and a mobile if i need a number in a hurry.  I'll have to monitor the international call activity but these were much more affordable, while still hard to swallow.  i'm sickened by the idea of someone else accessing my frequency.  ANy ideas how i change the frequency? I'll have to remember to ask eircom when they call me back.   

I suppose, as much as i hate to admit it,  i'll never been 100% sure my partner didn't make the calls but 2 years of normal bills while we've been living together suggests otherwise - anyway, he'll be paying the bill anyway by the sounds of it!!!  

Thanks to everyone for their input and Smashbox, I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to become a peeping Tom to a heavy breather


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## Smashbox (18 Feb 2009)

Lemme know where you're located, and I'll come round and peep for ya

I quite enjoy that around my own area ya know


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## sloggi (18 Feb 2009)

you'll have to give me a couple of tips so!


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## ecothrifty (19 Feb 2009)

Hi we had the same problem with premium rate calls to a specific number while we were with Eircom in 2007.  We could prove no-one was in the house when the calls were made.  Got nowhere when contesting the bill and had to pay up.  Eventually mid-last year we changed to another service provider.  End of story? NO.  Got phone bill yesterday with SAME premium rate number calls.  Same story, no-one made the calls from here.  We're on broadband with separate digital phone line so no possiblity of cross-overs etc. here.  Similarity to your case?  We also have EIRCOM 7000 PHONE!!!!  Our current service provider suggests we change handset, but my question is- how do I know another one won't give the same problems?

PS we don't have SKY and had no digital TV connection in 2007 so you might be barking up the wrong tree with that one!


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## sandrat (19 Feb 2009)

is it possible to ban premium rate numbers being dialled on your line?


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## Smashbox (19 Feb 2009)

I believe so, you call you provider. You can ban international too.


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## ecothrifty (19 Feb 2009)

You can ban numbers but it costs about €15 to set up and there's a monthly charge of about €3 after that.


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## askalot (19 Feb 2009)

ecothrifty said:


> You can ban numbers but it costs about €15 to set up and there's a monthly charge of about €3 after that.



Who is that with? I barred mobiles and premium rate numbers for free with perlico.


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## ecothrifty (19 Feb 2009)

UPC (chorus ntl) and from what I remember, in 2007 it was €14 with Eircom. With all the hassle of changing, don't want to do that again!


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## sloggi (25 Feb 2009)

you can ban premium calls only with eircom for free but it costs €25 set up fee and €5 every month thereafter for banning mobile and premium calls.  i just banned the premium calls - haven't had an issues with mobile calls.

We got another €170 stinker bill this month - €100 on premium calls again. so thats nearly €800 in total that we apparently owe them.   We still haven't heard from eircom on checking out line or whatever they're doing but i'm sure i'll be forced to pay.  

sounds all too similiar ecothrifty - if you ban the calls then surely you dont have to change the handset!  thats what i'm hoping anyway - my folks have just bloody bought a eircom 7000 before i realised what was going on with ours.  will have to tell them to ban premium calls before they get caught.  Were you forced to pay the full bill up front?  I dont have €800 going spare unfortunately!


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## phoenix01 (14 Aug 2012)

*phone bill*

I have just encountered the same issue and would like to know if you were able to resolve your issue with Eircom or did you have to pay the bill?

Thanks


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