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[BobbyRobby]

So I was at a Velvet Revolver concert a few weeks ago(I know they suck. I got a free ticket.). I got trashed out of my mind and blacked out. When I came to later in the night, I was missing my cell-phone. The next day I made the huge mistake of not cancelling it. The battery was dead, so I didn't think it was that urgent. What a fool I was.

Well, that night some cool guy decided to charge my phone, and the next day, start making international calls to various parts of central America. Needless to say, he was able to make over $520 worth of calls in the few days it took me to suspend my account, and I just received a $570 phone bill today. It goes rather nicely with the $181 bill for my dorm room, and the $135 charge for a book I didn't return to my school library.

What kind of legal action can I take against this person if I find out who he is? Small claims court? I have a list of all the numbers he called that I'm going to give to the police. Hopefully they'll be able to scare one of the people into ratting out their bastard friend. If not, I'm gonna have to do some sleuthing of my own. Anyone know of a free site that can find people's information, with only their cell-phone or telephone number?

 

[sprsk]

here is some legal advice: dont tell people you were at a velvet revolver concert

 

[belgurdo]

Hope you like working in Cingular's salt mines

 

[DrEvil]

Well you're basically boned, the phone company won't help you as I was in the same perdicament (not quite as dire though) at E3.

I lost my phone at the microsoft conference and was able to cancel it approximately three hours later. Being Canadian I knew that if anyone were to make calls on my international phone, my bills would be insane, so I acted quickly.


Either way, most phone companies' policies are something to the effect of, you are responsible for any calls made on your phone up until the point you cancelled it.

So I lost my phone at 7pm and cancelled at 11pm? any calls made between 7pm and 11pm are my responsibility to pay for.

Most companies do this because whos' to say you dont call a 900 number, rack up 300 bucks, then report it stolen and get off for free? [ha, i made a funny]

Anyways, there's not much you can do legally either, sure he was an ass for making those calls, but he didnt steal it, you dropped/lost/whatevered it, who knows, maybe you gave the dude permission in your drunken state...

Looks like you'll be paying off that 500 buckeroos.


edit: www.411.com / 411.ca
reverse lookup rocks.. Sucks for cells though.

 

[Deleted member 4784]

I'm sorry to hear that you not only lost your phone, but fell victim to having these charges made using it under your name. If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest that you report the phone as being stolen to your local police department. Whoever has run up these exorbitant charges on the phone's account at your expense has committed theft and can be held liable for damages. The police department will help you in finding the person and/or in pressing charges against them. Make sure that you bring all phone records relevant to the time of the phone's dissapearance with you when you go to file the report. Good luck!

 

[Slurpy]

It took you 'a few days' to suspend your account? Sorry, that's just dumb.

 

[BobbyRobby]

Thank you for the information doctor.

I'm sorry to hear that you not only lost your phone, but fell victim to having these charges made using it under your name. If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest that you report the phone as being stolen to your local police department. Whoever has run up these exorbitant charges on the phone's account at your expense has committed theft and can be held liable for damages. The police department will help you in finding the person and/or in pressing charges against them. Make sure that you bring all phone records relevant to the time of the phone's dissapearance with you when you go to file the report. Good luck!

This is the type of thing I wanted to hear. Thank you