Telkom ADSL Data Theft

[ia4saphr]

Hi All

I have been using the Telkom ADSL for the past 3 years.
Similar to all Telkom ADSL users I get a daily usage email.
Thursday (22/06) last week I noticed that my usage had jumped from 4Gb to 20+ GB.
I did not do any downloads which would have consumed that much data.
I left home on Thursday morning on a business trip and being concerned that someone may be using my data via WiFi, I switched off the modem at the wall plug and also pulled out the modem power supply cable(paranoid)
On Friday morning my usage email from Telkom jumped to 30GB+
I sent an email to Telkom ('[email protected]') on Friday
On Monday morning to 64BG+
I also sent another email to Telkom on Monday morning ('[email protected]')
This morning to 74Gb+ and to date I have not received any feedback.

I only switched on my modem this afternoon (28 Jun) when I arrived home from my business trip.

I am looking for advice as to how this is happening and how I may resolve this with Telkom.

Regards

Ivan Anthony

 

[bwana]

Have you changed your password?

 

[Geoff.D]

There is another thread about this seems there is a problem with the sw/app that reports on your usage. Phone Telkom for the full story .....
The data reports are wrong apparently.

 

[xodosman123]

Hi there is a way to see who connects and from where..

 

[xodosman123]

go check on your customer portal http://www.telkomsa.net/

 

[DamienC]

I am having the same issue. I started getting messages via sms on Thursday, burnt through 6gb in a few hours, eventhough the router was off, and unplugged.

I have e-mailed [email protected] 3 times already, have not had a reply as yet. Currently sitting at 56.2gb post-paid usage.

What ticks me off is that they've throttled my usage back!

Tried phoning Telkom faults, they just confirm what the portal says. Changed all my passwords, has made no difference at all.

 

[CityBat]

I am having the same problem since last week

Please see my thread: https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/895548-Excessive-Data-Usage-On-Telkom-ADSL

I thought it had been resolved, but nope! I carried on surfing as per usual, but by Monday, my speed had been reduced because I had 'reached' my cap and went into SoftCap. Tuesday it seemed back to normal speed, but then yesterday I had no internet. I got so frustrated and thought maybe they had cut me off, so I just switched off everything including my router and I had burnt through 5GB some how when I checked my email notification this morning

Its pointless phoning the helpline as I get the same answer because they are looking at the same tracker that Telkom uses. I have also downloaded a usage tracker which tells me I have only used about 4GB in the last week which is normal for me.

There must be something wrong somewhere, but trying to explain that to Telkom is were the problem is as they will just look at your tracker and tell you that you have used what it says

Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on maybe?

 

[Brawler]

Same problem with me.

Apparently I have used 100GB softcap and 120GB of postpaid usage (which I did not sign up for!)

Also taken precautions and reset passwords, anti virus, no downloads etc.

Interestingly the other SAIX tracker seems to be working fine and reporting normal numbers:
https://userstats.adsl.saix.net/

Problem is the titracker is the one that seems to be linked to the soft-cap and throttling and it is faulty.

 

[FairTradeCraig]

Lost or Stolen ADSL Data

My Telkom ADSL data was stolen or lost. I am only aware of the loss between 19 June and 15 July, as during this period I was connected to my Axxess account. I estimate a loss of just under 40GB. On 19 June after receiving Telkom’s 80% usage notification, I changed over to my Axxess account, which I stayed connected to until all my Axxess data was depleted on 15 July. By this time, I also lost 18.66GB of my Telkom July data allocation.

The part that is absolutely frustrating, is Telkom’s blatant, ‘We Don’t Give a hoot’ attitude - this is my experience with Telkom in this regard. I’ve made numerous calls to 10210, demanded to speak to a manager on a few occasions, Mr C Ricks and Ms B Jacobs answered the call, I’ve received IT References, Interaction IDs and tons of “You’re not the only customer with this complaint. We’ll investigate”. Around 19 July, I received 15GB Pre-paid Top-Up data from Telkom. This does not even make up for the data loss in July alone.

Here’s the concerning bit. If this is fraud / theft, it could possibly be internal with Telkom staff. At least it can be traced and sorted – I hope. If this is a system glitch, how much more data can be lost while a client is actively using their Telkom account? How will we ever know or be able to prove this? This data loss situation might not be in Telkom’s best interest – honesty, integrity and all – but it certainly is in their interest if clients must constantly top up. Top-up data is expensive data.

 

[trigger99]

Data Theft:

Similar problem. Daily Telkom notification two and three days ago showed usage jumped from normal <1GB / day to 17.26GB and 9.92GB. Telkom Portal figures are similar (but they are two days behind).

On the other hand, SAIX numbers from https://userstats.adsl.saix.net/ for the same days show .538GB and .951 GB. This is in line with normal usage. SAIX breaks usage down by session to the last byte and is presumably the ultimate authority.

There are two possible explanations:
• Errors in Telkom’s systems in transferring the data from the SAIX detail to their portal and daily summaries.
• Deliberate theft if their systems allow for numbers to be altered.
Clearly Telkom’s systems make no attempt at reconciling the two sets of figures which is what one would expect.

A further implication is that changing one’s password will not stop this type of error or theft occurring as the problem lies further down the line in the process.

 

[FairTradeCraig]

My update

…and so it finally comes to a close.

I’ve been credited with the full loss of data, as per my calculations, based on my Telkom connection history report as well as my weekly usage emails. I’ll not comment much on the letter I received: “At Telkom we take pride in ensuring our customer’s satisfaction.” “As a testament to our strive for perfection, we have taken steps to ensure that this will never happen again…” and “We deeply value your relationship with Telkom and are committed to providing you with the highest level of service simply because our customers deserve the very best.” LOL! What a steaming pile of hot…!

It took 3 months, tons of phone calls to 10210, emails, Hello Peter complaints – they didn’t help much, and finally, a month and a half long, complaint procedure with ICASA – very little help from them that I am aware of. They may have communicated with Telkom, I simply do not know if they did. They certainly did not follow-up with me, beside the initial SMS acknowledging my complaint.
Maybe as consumers we should take some of the blame. For the majority, it’s far easier to give up, accept any crap provided to us, and wander around like brainless lemmings. These companies have a plan of action; wear the customer down, ignore, ignore, ignore! They know it works.

Telkom was and is fully aware of the data loss problem, end of June / beginning July, yet they chose to be as useless as they possibly could or go the extra mile in shutting down my every avenue of complaint – thanks Hello Peter, I expected better from you. Customers also lapped up the “change your password” crap as though it was a message straight from the gods. Had this been the actual problem, Telkom would have been able to provide the landline number from which your data was used/stolen.

I wonder how many Telkom clients, who lost their data during June/July, bought (at a premium) additional data from Telkom. Lekker, extra revenue! Unscrupulous, in my opinion!!!

As consumers, we should stand up for your rights. Take the matter further. There are legal channels available. Don’t give up, ever - and for crying out loud, don’t be a lemming!