SURECALL2GO 3.0 RV is here. Testing & perma install soon

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

OK, I have more info now on what happened to my husband.

Allegedly, the group selling the Mobley is fraudulently placing additional cellular lines on some buyers' AT&T accounts at the same time as they are adding the legitimate Mobley line to those accounts.

They then proceed to rack up extreme charges on the buyer's account before they are detected and shut down by AT&T.

Details here:

PSA - AT&T MOBLEY CELLULAR DEVICE FRAUD

Very sorry you guys had to go through this... I was about to place an order... yikes!

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

OK, I have more info now on what happened to my husband.

Allegedly, the group selling the Mobley is fraudulently placing additional cellular lines on some buyers' AT&T accounts at the same time as they are adding the legitimate Mobley line to those accounts.

They then proceed to rack up extreme charges on the buyer's account before they are detected and shut down by AT&T.

INTERBLOG - Sorry to hear this horrible outcome. Hope all got straightened out. Bad news for AT&T. I wonder how AT&T could let this happen on their legit product & promo this long. There must be lots others since yours was ordered much later than the original promo letter stated in the video.

[InterBlog]

Cherie Ve Ard told me today that none of their subscribers have reported similar fraud (I used to be a full subscriber so I have her contact info).

I noted that, very often, people assume they are the "only ones", and they might not say anything as a result. So whenever this kind of thing happens to us, I always shout it out.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

So whenever this kind of thing happens to us, I always shout it out.

INTERBLOG - It is great you take that proactive & helpful attitude. It takes lots of your time to do this for the benefit of those within your reach, while you still try to unravel the problem. Many times, others come out of the weeds only AFTER someone else runs into problems, which is really irritating because they could not find the time to help give a "shout out" like you are doing. Again, big thanks for saving at least a few of us. Hopefully, AT&T find a way to shut this down. Reminds me of Premium Services charges I got in Sprint that I had to have removed. But those were just minor $9 ea. for 3 billing cycles, not the same scale as this.

[InterBlog]

I'm convinced that some of our tech is eavesdropping on us. My husband's account was frauded, not mine -- and my husband's internet footprint is much smaller than mine. I suspect it was a calculated gamble on their part - that they'd rip off a few grand, AT&T would be forced to back the charges out of my husband's account, and nobody would end up the wiser because he's a quieter mouse.

They didn't count on him having a big-mouthed wife. I cross-posted it on multiple forums and Instagram.



I'm not going to go into detail here, but there are some really peculiar things that I see happening from time to time, because of the route we went with our marriage, and the way the public records were impacted, and the way that we get electronically parsed as a result. SURPRISE! I'm actually the spouse. Enough said.

[billrector]

We ordered and just received our Mobley. I'm trying to find a suitable workaround for the reported 2 hour timeout. The article that is attached to the Youtube video recommends a Wi-Fi reset device you can buy on Amazon for about $19. However, this only works for 120V ac applications. Since we boondock, I would like to have a 12V version, but one does not seem to exist.

Anyone find a workaround for the timeout other than the 120V wifi resetter?

[InterBlog]

Have you confirmed on your device that a 2-hour time-out actually does occur?

There are conflicting reports about that, with some people saying it was removed entirely from the device, and other people saying that there's an accelerometer in it, and if you periodically pick it up and shake it, it will re-set the timer and give it another 2 hours.

Next obvious question is how do you pick it up and shake it if it is plugged into the OBD port?

We got the 12V adapter for ours ("cigarette lighter adapter"). We have a 12V plug in the rear of our van, fed by the lithium battery rather than the chassis battery.

[Rocinante]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Next obvious question is how do you pick it up and shake it if it is plugged into the OBD port?

I imagine one would start the vehicle and drive it around? Plenty of potholes to help with the shaking. [emoji6]

[billrector]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Have you confirmed on your device that a 2-hour time-out actually does occur?



There are conflicting reports about that, with some people saying it was removed entirely from the device, and other people saying that there's an accelerometer in it, and if you periodically pick it up and shake it, it will re-set the timer and give it another 2 hours.



Next obvious question is how do you pick it up and shake it if it is plugged into the OBD port?



We got the 12V adapter for ours ("cigarette lighter adapter"). We have a 12V plug in the rear of our van, fed by the lithium battery rather than the chassis battery.

No, it is still in the box! Just received the 12v adapter yesterday but still waiting for the 120v adapter. It seems that more and more people are seeing the delay per the update on the video. That might help confirm that the timeout is based on movement since otherwise you would think the firmware would provide repeatable results.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

I imagine one would start the vehicle and drive it around? Plenty of potholes to help with the shaking. [emoji6]

Without going to that trouble, I meant.

Plus, our port is already spoken-for with a Bluetooth OBD semi-permanently in place. Like most buyers, we have no intention of having the thing tied to a moving vehicle.

[InterBlog]

PSA Part 2 on the Mobley fraud:

My husband called AT&T on Feb 8 to get this fraud straightened out.

He then thought the case was closed.

Was it ACTUALLY closed?

OH HELL no. It's a good thing he double-checked his account this morning. If the sum of money shown in the image below had auto-drafted off his checking account, there would have been a cascade of NSF events and credit score impacts.

Moral of this story: Double check. Triple check.

Interestingly, AT&T didn't actually remove these frauded charges from my husband's account. They issued him a "credit" in the amount racked up by the two frauded lines. Presumably this is just to keep the door cracked open in case they later decide that he does not warrant such a credit. They have retained the ability to reinstate three thousand dollars worth of cell charges.

We hear news stories about contraband cell phones smuggled into prisons, eh? This is an example of how criminals get those cell phone numbers.

His corresponding phone bill is absolutely breathtaking. Every single call to the Dominican Republic - pages and pages of them. It is as if my husband's AT&T account was commandeered to run the entire Caribbean cocaine transshipment network for a period of a few days, until the perps got caught and proceeded to locate someone new to fraud. (Snippet from a World Bank social policy document, emphasis mine: "The Dominican Republic is seen as a “command, control, and communications” center for drug operations in the Caribbean. It is also used to store drugs, before onward shipment to Puerto Rico or the United States.")

Me, I eschew autopay entirely. It's not worth the risk. What if he hadn't noticed until his e-checks started bouncing?

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by billrector

No, it is still in the box! Just received the 12v adapter yesterday but still waiting for the 120v adapter. ....

This was a SureCall thread which got co-opted to describe a problematic device that, on its surface, appeared to be a fine technological choice for pairing with the SureCall. If I'd known in advance that the topic was going to blow up into a consumer issue involving international organized crime, obviously I would have hatched a separate thread.



Anyway, what's done is done, and here is my recommendation: Get your Mobley activated as soon as you are able, by 12V or by 120, by hook or by crook.

My husband attempted to activate ours this past weekend and was told that there is only ONE NUMBER he can call, only one source that can activate it, and they do not work on weekends.

I told him, "I give it 50% odds that the 'one number' rings through to the VERY SAME entity who frauded you on your initial purchase. I bet they launched the fraud late last week in order to give themselves the weekend to escape detection. And when Monday morning rolls around, will anyone remain to actually do the activation, or will AT&T have dropped a dime on them to the point where law enforcement is involved, and they are no longer on the job?"

Time will tell.

[InterBlog]

800-866-1514 is the only number for the Mobley activation, but you must ask to speak to the "secondary sales group". Nobody in the regular group can perform this function.

And then the CSR will have to research that to find out what "secondary sales group" means before they can patch you through.

This morning, at first were told "there's a problem with the SIM card we sent you." We were told we would receive a call-back in 1 to 2 hours with a resolution.

Did it happen? Of course not. So I called back and they got it straightened out. They would not tell me what went wrong (which I wanted to know as a reference point, in case we have future problems with the device).

9 minutes ago, I set the powered-up Mobley on my husband'd desk, alligator-clipped to a 12V power supply. I'm now testing whether the 2-hour time-out actually does occur.

[Alex AVI]

Due to our location (higher elevation & near the outskirt of the valley) our Sprint reception is not the greatest compared to center of town. Sprint sent me my free Airspan Magic Box Generation3 yesterday. Now I literally have a mini-cell area centered in my house. It is LTE-Advanced capable, though my area's towers has not yet upgraded. Son-in-law checked my region upgrade sched and says it will be soon for my area as they prep for 5G within the year. In the meantime, the Magic Box has improved LTE in my house and surrounding adjacent neighbors (5-bars everywhere). This Gen3 also includes Wi-Fi backhaul so the device can work using a Wi-Fi connection if wireless coverage is not available.


How is this related to this SureCall thread? Well, the SureCall actually did a great job of boosting my signal inside the rv vs. inside the house. I have found myself going inside the rv to get stronger signal when I was testing stuff in preparation for us completely cutting the cord/cable. So while the SureCall is boosting inside the rv, the Magic Box is boosting around my house. (supposedly 30,000 sq. ft.). I just find cable to be such a huge expense anymore, especially with our limited use/need for it. Now with the Magic Box working as promised, no more need for Cox cable.

[InterBlog]

Does that magic box work via a true cell connection, or does it exploit broadband to do what it does?

Verizon offered me the latter at zero device charge (providing I agree to surrender it if I discontinue my service within 24 months). I didn't take it, because where I need cell improvements, there is no broadband available. Which is why I got the Mobley.

[billrector]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

800-866-1514 is the only number for the Mobley activation, but you must ask to speak to the "secondary sales group". Nobody in the regular group can perform this function.

And then the CSR will have to research that to find out what "secondary sales group" means before they can patch you through.

This morning, at first were told "there's a problem with the SIM card we sent you." We were told we would receive a call-back in 1 to 2 hours with a resolution.

Did it happen? Of course not. So I called back and they got it straightened out. They would not tell me what went wrong (which I wanted to know as a reference point, in case we have future problems with the device).

9 minutes ago, I set the powered-up Mobley on my husband'd desk, alligator-clipped to a 12V power supply. I'm now testing whether the 2-hour time-out actually does occur.

Oh my gosh, you can’t make this stuff up! I called today to activate my new Mobley. Here is how it went:

I called the 800 number in the quick start guide to activate the Mobley. After the automated operator failed to understand what I was trying to do, I was connected to a person.

Me: I’m calling to activate my Mobley.

ATT: So you are calling to activate a cellular phone?

Me: No, I’m calling to activate a Mobley. M...O...B...L...E...Y ( as I spell it for him.

ATT: What’s a Mobley?

Me: A mobile hotspot that plugs into your car.

ATT: Okay, let me transfer you.

ATT: Hello, this is Connected Car

Me: (sigh) I’m calling to activate my Mobley

ATT: You have reached the wrong department. Let me transfer you.

I finally spoke to a woman who only requested my Mobley number and said that I was now activated. Yeah! Oh, not so fast! Once we hung up the Mobley would still not work. I had no green light indicating I was not connected to the ATT network.

Call the number again. Again the automated operator had no idea what I needed and I finally got a person.

ATT: How can I help you

Me: I’m calling to check on the activation of my Mobley

ATT: What is a Mobley?

Me: I explained what happened the last time I called

ATT: You have reached Directv....let me transfer you to ATT.

Again, without boring you I went through the whole scenario again. Finally they determined that the SIM card in my Mobley and the SIM card on record did not match. They showed that my sim had been deactivated. They are reactivating that sim and promised to call me back in 1-4 hours. I asked for his direct number in case I did not hear back and I was told that they do not have direct numbers....he would have to call me back.

That was two hours ago. As I said, you can’t make this stuff up!

[rmkrum]

And AT&T wonders why they have the reputation for the WORST customer support ever...and try to claim the opposite!

[billrector]

Originally Posted by billrector

Oh my gosh, you can’t make this stuff up! I called today to activate my new Mobley. Here is how it went:

I called the 800 number in the quick start guide to activate the Mobley. After the automated operator failed to understand what I was trying to do, I was connected to a person.

Me: I’m calling to activate my Mobley.

ATT: So you are calling to activate a cellular phone?

Me: No, I’m calling to activate a Mobley. M...O...B...L...E...Y ( as I spell it for him.

ATT: What’s a Mobley?

Me: A mobile hotspot that plugs into your car.

ATT: Okay, let me transfer you.

ATT: Hello, this is Connected Car

Me: (sigh) I’m calling to activate my Mobley

ATT: You have reached the wrong department. Let me transfer you.

I finally spoke to a woman who only requested my Mobley number and said that I was now activated. Yeah! Oh, not so fast! Once we hung up the Mobley would still not work. I had no green light indicating I was not connected to the ATT network.

Call the number again. Again the automated operator had no idea what I needed and I finally got a person.

ATT: How can I help you

Me: I’m calling to check on the activation of my Mobley

ATT: What is a Mobley?

Me: I explained what happened the last time I called

ATT: You have reached Directv....let me transfer you to ATT.

Again, without boring you I went through the whole scenario again. Finally they determined that the SIM card in my Mobley and the SIM card on record did not match. They showed that my sim had been deactivated. They are reactivating that sim and promised to call me back in 1-4 hours. I asked for his direct number in case I did not hear back and I was told that they do not have direct numbers....he would have to call me back.

That was two hours ago. As I said, you can’t make this stuff up!

To my surprise, ATT called back just a minute ago. To no surprise, even though they said the sim was active, the device still does not work. They will call me back.....

[rmkrum]

In defense of AT&T (it really hurts to say that) sometimes it takes a few minutes to hours to get a SIM card to properly activate over the network...

[billrector]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

In defense of AT&T (it really hurts to say that) sometimes it takes a few minutes to hours to get a SIM card to properly activate over the network...

And....evidently several tries!