I have had exactly the same problem (Orange and T-mobile). There is also a lot about this I don't understand. Would you like to whisper me your cellphone or email, so we can pool info?

I suspect fraud either at the GPO sorting office here, or the mobile phone company's carrier, or both.

I've spoken with friends and this is a common problem everywhere - it's entirely down to the greed and venality of the mobile phone companies (Orange, T-Mobile etc and High Street businesses like Phones4U and Carphone Warehouse) who are so desperate for business they will open accounts and sell phones over the phone to criminals without bothering to check ID properly. So someone can use your name and address and a credit card number that belongs to a completely different person, to open an account. Then the mobile companies leave you to clear up the mess.

It's unbelievable that they are able to do this, and they don't care - in my case fraud investigators from Orange and T-mobile didn't return calls and they certainly don't seem to carry out any proper investigations, and neither will the police. I found that someone had changed my 'address' to a block of flats in Barking - but it was me who had to write the correspondence to get it deleted, I even had to send documents to prove that I don't live there.

It's really another case of 'stuff the customer'.

It will happen to you and when it does, my advice is to get an account with Experian or one of the other credit reference agencies (doesn't cost much and worth the expense) who will tip you off if someone uses your name and address, and are very helpful at sorting out the mess.

It;s high time the law was changed to make mobile phone companies responsible for mis-selling phones without proper checks. In my opinion, they're about as complicit in the identity theft fraud as the criminals!

You do your best to protect yourself against identity fraud, but thieves will always find a way.

Last year I had some fraudulent transactions on my American debit card. I use that card maybe twice a year to withdraw cash in New York. I always use 'proper' ATMs inside banks. Everything else goes on a credit card.

How the hell did they get my details? Not only did they have the card number, but they also had my name. Not my full name that's on the card, but the name that everyone calls me. How?! I never use that card online or in shops.

Credit where it's due, HSBC did contact me as soon as they realised something dodgy was going on. They cancelled the card and refunded everything. But they couldn't (wouldn't?) tell me how it happened in the first place.

Turned out that Carphone Warehouse is where the fraud was committed they checked my Equifax records three times in three days. Also had a credit check form a Danish On –Line company. Now starting the process of getting these removed from the record – will be interesting !

@rainbow_carnage, I recently read a book called DarkMarket by Misha Glenny.  It is an extremely boring book but after reading it you will never want to do anything with a plastic credit or debit card again.