TAMPA, Fla. (WFlA) — A Palm Harbor woman and her daughter claim their cell phone service has been cut off due to no fault of their own.
The women say three iPhones they didn’t order and didn’t receive have been charged to the Verizon Wireless account and they’ve been unable to clear up the confusion.
Fran McLaughlin and her daughter, Carol Keegan, have shared a cell phone plan for years.
They say last October, someone ordered three brand new iPhones using their account.
They’ve explained this must be identity theft but Verizon wireless insists they pay $3,683 for the three phones. Now, the two phones they do have aren’t working; the service has been turned off and they were told it would stay that way until the bill was paid.
“For me, this is like protection,” McLaughlin said. “If something happens, or if I need to know an answer to something, I could call. I feel very afraid sometimes to go out because what if something happens when I’m out? I can’t call nobody.”
Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken reached out to Verizon and a spokesperson sent her this statement:
“Our team investigated the issue and were able to resolve the customer’s concern. Verizon attempted to reach the customer by email and phone but were unsuccessful in reaching her. Due to federal privacy laws, we are not able to provide additional details relative to the customer’s account.”
