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Original poster

Receiving Unrequested OTP's from Sainsbury Supermarket

61 replies

HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 19:03

I'm wondering if anyone is or has been in the same situation and has received these messages in the same way from Sainsburys or any other company and if they have any answers as for what it is or if I can report it to any organisation that might be able to pull them up on it or download an app or something that will stop them cos I'm really fed up of it!

At four times a day, for 3 weeks, every single day, I've been receiving an OTP (One Time Passcode) text message from Sainsbury's. This is approx the 5th time this has happened to me since about 2021. These are roughly at 2.45am, 8.45am, 2.50pm and 11.45pm. It goes on for a period of time whilst I report it and it's 'looked into' and then stops until the next time it starts up again. This time is the longest that it's been going for - before it was about 8-10 days in the past. You cannot reply to the number or send 'STOP' etc to it because it says 'replying is not supported by this sender'.

It's is not scam, phishing or someone pretending to be Sainsburys - Sainsburys have acknowledged the messages are genuinley being sent from themselves each time. The problem is that they cannot be blocked. Infact my phone has 'blocked' them but because there is no standard number(ie - 07777777blahblah - in fact there's no number at all, they just come through as 'Sainsburys' - they still come through.

This means that they sound through the Do Not Disturb setting on my phone that activates at night. There's no way of attaching a silent ringtone to it because there's no number at all so it cannot be 'saved' to the phone book and assigned a silent tone. The only way to avoid being woken by the messages arrival is to turn my phone off or put it on silent. I cannot do this because I'm a carer and need to be accessible during the night incase of emergencies or if I'm needed by the person I care for (or my grandparents care home) so I'm being woken by these almost every night and have been since the 9th September this time.

I keep asking Sainsburys every time it happens every few months what it is that causes it so that I can report it with a 'this is happening again, please deactivate blah blah blah to stop it' and get it to stop quicker the next time it happens but they ignore my messages and do not reply after it has been stopped.

This time however they've been saying 'it's because someone else has your number on their account'. They've also told me that they're 'removed my number from my account' which 'should stop it' (which doesn't make any sense if they're saying it s because someone else has it on their account! I've pointed this out and they side stepped it and ignored it.) Also the sheer fact that they come at 4 times a day at roughly the same time each day (including the middle of the night) makes that seem unlikely to me too as surely noone is setting alarms to request OTP's four times a day for weeks on end at the same time each day and magically being aware that I've reported it in the past and stop doing it for a few months before starting again?

The latest is that they've asked me to wait 72 hours after they have 'removed my number from my account' before getting in touch again. The last time this happened approx 4/5 months ago the agent said then that they'd removed the number from my account so I didn't hold my breath. This was up yesterday and... yes it's still happening.

If I'm honest the customer service team have been a bit snotty about it this time and keep insisting that it's someone with my number on their account but GDPR means they can't remove it from the other persons account.

My next and seemingly only remaining step is to contact the CEO if it doesn't stop by the end of business Monday. (I replied a few hours ago that it's still continuing). I'm so tired after 3 weeks of broken sleep. I'm either anticipating being woken by it so not resting properly or the adrenaline kicks in at the phone ringing in the middle of the night even now that makes me think it's an emergency so I often can't just fall straight back asleep.

It appears the only way to stop it completely is to change my number but as mentioned I'm a carer (we don't have a landline) and my number is the main number for both myself and the person I care for and all assorted care related products so I'm loathe to do that so welcome any other ideas. Thank you!

Receiving Unrequested OTP's from Sainsbury Supermarket
OP posts:
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5
SauvignonBlanche · 01/10/2023 19:10

Are you on Twitter (X) I’d contact then through that, every time it happens.

Original poster
HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 19:13

Been doing that as a contuing DM conversation with them (even in the early hours when they arrive) from the very first time it happened back in 2021 - unfortunately they're not massively helpful :(

OP posts:
ballstoit · 01/10/2023 19:32

Have you spoken to your mobile phone provider? Maybe there's something they can do to help.

Can you change your phone settings so that you can have your phone on silent but the numbers that need to contact you in an emergency still ring (I have done that with my older DCs numbers so they can wake me up if something happens when they're out at night.)

Long term, I would think continually contacting you by text when you've asked them not to could be classed as harassment - could you log this with the police and inform them that you've done so? I'm not sure if using your number when you've asked them not to would also be a breach of GDPR - contact their data controller asap to find out.

shewhomustbeEbayed · 01/10/2023 19:32

Shame Sainsburys on SM ? Apparently companies tend to respond when these sorts of things are made public.
Or maybe approach a newspaper complaints column where they can complain on your behalf ?
You have been nice about this for long enough.
I’d be beside myself having my sleep disturbed like this.
Hope you get it sorted 💐

Original poster
HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 19:34

Thank you so much I will have a word with the network and look into reporting it as harassment if possible and see if they can stop it. I didn't know about a data controller but I will press that - thank you!

Unfortunately because it's got no number attached to it (it literally just comes as 'Sainsburys' with not even a short code or one number) I can't assign it a silent ringtone and it breaks through the Do Not Disturb settings set up because there's no number there to 'block it'.

OP posts:
SauvignonBlanche · 01/10/2023 19:36

HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 19:13

Been doing that as a contuing DM conversation with them (even in the early hours when they arrive) from the very first time it happened back in 2021 - unfortunately they're not massively helpful :(

It needs to be an open conversation not a private one.

Original poster
HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 19:36

Thank you, yes it's driving me potty every bloody night. I've mentioned it on one form of social media and they tend not to really be bothered. I think the next step might be to do it on all (and the paper if it doesn't stop tomorrow!) it's bad enough that it's happening, is repeatedly happening every few months and happens for weeks on end when it starts - but it's impacting on my caring abilities now, I'm so tired!

OP posts:
PennywisePoundFoolish · 01/10/2023 19:42

I kept getting messages from Santander about going into my overdraft, except I only have a mortgage with them. It went on for months and only got resolved when I posted on Twitter/X.
Make sure you update publicly if not resolved via PMs.

Offcom · 01/10/2023 19:44

I’d say that if you get one more. SMS you will report them to the ICO and that you’re contacting a consumer rights correspondent at whatever newspaper.

Millymollymine · 01/10/2023 19:52

Please just write to the CEO - that will sort it quicker than any of the normal ‘customer service’ numbers

[email protected]

renovationheavenandhell · 01/10/2023 20:20

Twitter

And report to phone company as harrasment, see how they can help.

ThereIbledit · 01/10/2023 20:20

Their customer services on facebook and twitter are a bit shit.

I'm glad you have a CEO email address now.

I'd also contact OFCOM and make a formal complaint. And tell their customer services that you have done that too. And send them formal notice that if they continue to send you messages you will charge £100 for each received.

ThreeFeetTall · 01/10/2023 20:23

I guess someone has mistyped their number as yours in their account. And then they keep trying to rest their password.
I'm surprised Sainsbury’s IT people can't do a search of the database based on telephone number. That would be pretty easy I would think.

LIZS · 01/10/2023 20:27

There must be an email address attached to the account.

BathroomCleaner · 01/10/2023 20:28

I'm sure you've looked at it already, but could someone be trying to hack into the account? So have you tried closing that account and opening a new one? Or changing your password?
I had a gaming account that people kept trying to hack but they'd keep getting stuck at the verification code as it would be sent to my mobile.

RJnomore1 · 01/10/2023 20:29

Information commissioner as they are obviously retaining your personal data (phone no) somehow despite you repeatedly asking for it to be removed?

Original poster
HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 20:32

Thank you, that was my thoughts too. It's been reported numerous times to them as being my number and apparently was on my account but apparently on someone elses.

It's the sheer fact that they come through four times a day at the same times roughly within a small period of time including the early hours that confuses me. If someone is trying to get their password through are they really setting alarms to do it at the same time each day? And are they doing nothing about it since its been happening for 2 years and no otp arriving at their account?

That's what makes me think their claim that someone else has it on their account is rubbish because it's been happening every few months for 2 years and going on each time until I report it and it only stops a few days later after they've 'looked into it.'

Thank you for the ceo email, I will be taking it up with them tomorrow (and asking them to involve the data person for gdpr) and the network and potentially of it still continues logging it as harassment. As had been mentioned, sainsburys customer services on sm leave an awful lot to be desired. They just ignore messages frequently.

OP posts:
OlizraWiteomQua · 01/10/2023 20:33

Someone is probably using a clone of your sim card. You are receiving these texts but they are too. You need to change your phone number.

Uurrjb · 01/10/2023 20:33

I got one today that said was from Ocado. I didn’t do the stop text thing I just blocked

BrokenLink · 01/10/2023 20:33

You can have your phone automatically go to "do not disturb" every night. In my phone its in the digital wellbeing settings. Then go to the contact card of the person you care for and select favourite. In the "do not disturb"section, you can then choose what can over ride "do not disturb". You can choose that only those marked favourite can over ride it. It works perfectly for me. Hope it works for you.

sleepyscientist · 01/10/2023 20:34

Contact your network and change your phone number. The other option is to put your phone on silent and set the essential numbers to always ring.

Original poster
HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 20:34

BathroomCleaner · 01/10/2023 20:28

I'm sure you've looked at it already, but could someone be trying to hack into the account? So have you tried closing that account and opening a new one? Or changing your password?
I had a gaming account that people kept trying to hack but they'd keep getting stuck at the verification code as it would be sent to my mobile.

It is possible, but it's the frequency and timing of the messages that makes me think it's something else. I'm going to ask for them to cancel my entire account as I haven't done an online shop with them in years purely because I don't like their subs situation and our sainsburys is tiny with limited choice compared to tesco and or asda

OP posts:
dairyfarmerswife · 01/10/2023 20:36

On the do not disturb front, are there specific phone numbers you would be contacted from for your care work? My DND allows starred contacts to get through and blocks everything else. That's phone calls tho - are you likely to be contacted by text for work or can you turn off text notifications altogether?

Obviously you need the Sainsbury's issue sorted in the long term but perhaps there's a work around?

Fireisland · 01/10/2023 20:38

OlizraWiteomQua · 01/10/2023 20:33

Someone is probably using a clone of your sim card. You are receiving these texts but they are too. You need to change your phone number.

It's far more likely that somebody has mistyped the OP's number as their own and therefore isn't receiving the pass code, hence the repeated attempts.

Original poster
HashtagShitShop · 01/10/2023 20:40

BrokenLink · 01/10/2023 20:33

You can have your phone automatically go to "do not disturb" every night. In my phone its in the digital wellbeing settings. Then go to the contact card of the person you care for and select favourite. In the "do not disturb"section, you can then choose what can over ride "do not disturb". You can choose that only those marked favourite can over ride it. It works perfectly for me. Hope it works for you.

That's what I've done my lovely so that family and the care home and the person I care for can get me if they can't get out of bed. But because there is no number attached this still comes through even though it shouldn't because it hasn't been allowed to . Even my network couldn't explain why

OP posts:
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