Now I'm classed as a thief: the double-edged O2 fraud

The call was unexpected but it brought good news: Bruce Stanwyck* was told that the monthly payments for his O2 phone contract would be reduced from £19 to £12 if he switched to a new deal.

- Anna Tims

Stanwyck, a pensioner, accepted the offer there and then. That was the start of an elaborate scam that nearly cost him his savings.

The day after the call, Stanwyck received a message from O2 confirming dispatch of a £1,000 iPhone 16 Pro Max handset. Perplexed, he called O2 to remonstrate. He told the company that a new handset had not been mentioned as part of the deal, and he didn't want it. Nonetheless, the phone was delivered two days later. Stanwyck called O2 to reject it and was told he would be sent a prepaid bag to return it in.

The next morning there was a knock on the door, and Stanwyck handed over the unopened box to the caller, who said he was a courier sent by O2.

"I didn't think about the fact that I had not been given a receipt until later, and that did worry me," he says. Three days later, the promised returns bag arrived from O2. Stanwyck called customer services and says he was assured the handset had been received.