Topic notes

Scams

The scripts currently used against UK mobile customers, why caller ID proves nothing, and the free checks that settle every one of them.

Written July 2026 · no prices published · nothing for sale

Read this first

Caller ID is trivially faked; knowing your details proves nothing.
Genuine offers appear inside the network's own app — that is the whole test.
Switching codes, eSIM transfers and spend caps are all free by rule.
No genuine employee ever needs a one-time code read aloud.
After a loss: bank first, network fraud team second, Action Fraud third.

How we are placed. thurlowvance is an independent information service for mobile customers in the United Kingdom. We are not a mobile network. We have no affiliation with, endorsement from, appointment by or connection to Three, EE, O2, Vodafone, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile or any other provider, and no commercial arrangement with any of them. We do not sell, supply, arrange or broker SIM cards, contracts, handsets or services of any kind, and we take no commission from anybody. Everything here is general information; a provider's own current terms always take precedence.

Note 01

Why caller ID proves nothing

Displayed numbers can be faked in seconds, and names, addresses and even plan details circulate freely after data breaches. A caller who seems to know all about you has proved precisely nothing.

The genuine test is simple and free: real offers appear inside the network's own app. If the deal is not there, the call is not real.

Note 02

Things that are free, and the fees invented around them

Free by rule or design	The fee criminals invent
PAC and STAC switching codes	An 'admin fee' to release them
eSIM issue, transfer and reissue	A 'transfer service' or 'migration charge'
Satellite messaging trials	An 'activation fee'
Spend caps	Any charge at all
Merger changes	A 'plan migration' that exists on no network

A demand for money attached to something free by regulation is not a warning sign — it is the proof.

Note 03

One-time codes and number theft

No employee of any network, in any situation, needs you to read out a one-time security code. Those codes exist specifically to stop the person who is asking for them.

Worth knowingIf your phone loses service for no reason and does not recover, that can indicate your number has been transferred to somebody else's device. Ring the network's fraud line immediately from a different telephone.

Note 04

What to do, and in what order

Open the app and look for the offer before responding to anything.
Never agree to anything on a call you did not initiate yourself.
Forward scam texts to 7726, free of charge.
If money has moved: bank first, network fraud team second, Action Fraud third.
Keep every message, number and timestamp — banks and investigators ask for them.

Still unsure after reading these notes?

Ring us and we will go through it with you. Nothing is offered for sale at any point.

020 3807 7759This number is for guidance and information only. We sell nothing, arrange nothing and act for no network. Ring it if any part of these notes leaves you unsure.

Ring us if these notes do not cover it

We hold no arrangement with any network, take no commission and sell nothing at all. If your question is not answered here, telephone and ask.

020 3807 7759Guidance and information only. We sell nothing and act for no network.

Scams

Read this first

Why caller ID proves nothing

Things that are free, and the fees invented around them

One-time codes and number theft

What to do, and in what order

Still unsure after reading these notes?

Ring us if these notes do not cover it

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