‘This is ruining our lives’: Victim of identity theft left helpless by O2 failure to close fraudulent accounts

A victim of identity theft is unable to buy a house for his young family after O2 have failed to close fraudulent accounts that have halved his credit score.

Sharna David, 33 and her fiancé, Sean Adegbuyi, 43, live in a one bedroom flat with their nine-month-old baby in Restell Close, Deptford.

In February Ms David and Mr Adegbuyi were looking into a mortgage application to buy a house when Mr Adegbuyi noticed that his credit score had suddenly halved.

In the coming days he received a number of letters from three mobile networks, Vodafone, ID mobile and O2 welcoming him to their networks.

Ms David said: “We realised a criminal had opened these accounts under his name and went straight to the police who told us we had to contact the providers.”

Within a week of contact, Vodafone and IV mobile shut down the fraudulent accounts but four accounts in Mr Adegbuyi’s name remained open with O2.

Ms David said: “O2 confirmed that the accounts were fraudulent straight away.

“We wanted to sort the this situation out as soon as possible because the criminal responsible for the accounts had already begun to default on payments which were starting to negatively impact Sean’s credit score.

“This put a halt to our plans to buy a house.”

Mr Adegbuyi was reassured by the O2 team that the issue would be rectified within five to seven working days.

Ms David said: “When that time lapsed with no change, he got back in contact and was told that it could take up to 30 days. Then he was then told that it could take up to 60 days.”

The couple have since been told that the fraud team will take up to an extra 60 days on top of the four months they have already waited.

Ms David said: “Yesterday I was in tears. They hung up the phone on me.

“I feel so deceived and frustrated, my fiancé started as a victim of identity theft and now I feel like he is a victim of O2.”

The couples mortgage advisor has told Ms David that they will not be able to move forward with their application until the issue with their credit score has been resolved.

She said: “I try not to think about what might happen because it’s so depressing, this is ruining our lives.

“Were in one bedroom with a baby that’s about to start walking and we’re getting married next year.

“This all started when my daughter was only three months old and its still happening.”

Ms David and Mr Adegbuyi submitted a formal complaint to O2 last weekend and have been offered £30 in compensation, but the accounts have still not been closed.

A spokeswoman from O2 said: “These fraudulent accounts were closed in April after they were reported to us.

“We encourage all customers to remain vigilant to fraud and check out our advice on staying safe which is available on our website.”

Pictured top: Sharna David and Sean Adegbuyi (Picture: Sharna David)