Virgin Media O2 issues SIM scam warning

While it is VMO2 who have highlighted a new scam message, it is one that everyone with a mobile should be prepared for.

Fraudsters are posing as a telecoms company and invoking the urgency part of scamming to claim your mobile SIM is about to expire and you need to login to accept new terms and conditions so that it will keep working.

“O2UK: IMPORTANT: Your SIM Card(s) will be inactive on 04/06/2026, because you have NOT signed our Terms and Conditions. Logon <SITE REMOVED> to sign.“

Example message shared by Virgin Media O2

The reality is that the site people are directed to will ask for login details and the scammers are then collecting these, so that they can later use the username and password to commit fraud. While we’ve not seen the fake site used, it is likely that after entering the credentials that the message will be reassuring something like ‘thank you for confirming your acceptance of the new terms and conditions your SIM card will continue to work, and no further action is needed’.

“Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, using increasingly believable and urgent requests to target victims alongside convincing fake websites, demonstrating just how clever their tactics can be.” 

At Virgin Media O2, we’re doing all we can to help Brits swerve the scammers, from blocking scam texts and malicious websites to rolling out enhanced fraud monitoring on online accounts. Every report to 7726 helps us act faster to shut down scams at source, so we’re urging everyone to play their part and forward suspicious messages.“

Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention, Virgin Media O2

Reporting scam messages to 7726 will help all the networks build a picture of variations on the texts, and improve their blocking of spam and scam messages. Reporting is easy, if you receive a text message you want to report forward it to 7726.

This latest scam clearly ticks 3 out of the 4 key aspects we suggest you follow to identify scams, in this case contact out of the blue, action required immediately and personal information requested.

The safest thing to do after forwarding scam texts to 7726 is just to delete them. If you have clicked on the link and entered your authentication details then you should change the password immediately.