Re: "'Scammers stole £40k after EDF gave out my number"

On 3/3/2025 7:27 AM, Java Jive wrote:

"Scammers stole £40k after EDF gave out my number"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg885lxd3jo
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[An unfortunate choice of photo of the victim, he looks really cheerful about it.]
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"A man targeted by fraudsters who got his mobile phone number from an energy company said he often woke up in the night thinking "what next?".
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Stephen, from Hertfordshire, had more than £40,000 taken from a savings account after his name and email address was used to get the information from EDF.
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Within 48 hours of his mobile phone number being divulged, his accounts with O2, Nationwide Building Society and Virgin Media had all been compromised.
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EDF said such incidents were rare but it took them seriously and added: "We are sorry for the difficulties this fraudulent caller has caused Stephen."
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'£50 to close the case'
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After more than a week, EDF finally responded about the call it thought Stephen made at 11:00 GMT on 3 February.
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EDF explained the fraudster had his name and email address and had asked EDF to give them his mobile number, which the company did.
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"I said, 'Why would you do that?' They said the person had gone through security. 'With a name and email address', I asked?," he said.
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"EDF said, 'Yes' - and then offered me a £50 goodwill gesture to close the case."
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So, EDF allowed them to go from his email address to obtaining his mobile phone number for a SIM-swap scam, but I wonder how they managed to go from either to all his savings accounts, unless they'd also compromised his PC or phone as well; if the latter, why did they need to go via EDF?
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    It sounds like some of the story is missing. (Not least of which is an
explanation of what "EDF" means.)