Virgin Media O2 UK Warn AI Tools Directing Customers to Fake Support Lines

Broadband and mobile operator VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) has warned UK customers to keep an eye out after it identified that criminals were exploiting AI‑powered tools and search engines. In short, consumers looking to contact trusted brands are being shown fake phone numbers, websites and search results, which fraudsters then use to capture data and perpetrate fraud.

Unless you’ve been sitting under a rock then it’s hard to miss those AI results (summaries) that so often sit at the top of search engine results these days, particularly Google. The approach can be very helpful, if still somewhat controversial (i.e. taking content and thus traffic away from the websites that helped to create its answers), but AI isn’t perfect, and it can sometimes also hallucinate an answer as being factual when it is not.

The problem now is that scammers have also found ways of influencing those AI search results so that fake customer service numbers are being presented to people looking to contact companies, such as Virgin Media and O2. Despite the risks, a survey conducted by VMO2 still found that around one in ten people always trust a phone number generated by AI, with 15% of Brits never taking any additional steps to verify it is legitimate.

Virgin Media O2 now say they’ve dealt with fraud cases where customers have called these numbers and been scammed, so this is not something to be casually overlooked.

Murray Mackenzie, Director of Fraud Prevention at VMO2, said:

“Criminals know when people search for help, they’re often looking for a quick answer. AI tools are creating new opportunities for fraudsters to create realistic looking fake numbers that appear through search results or chatbots, putting people at risk of calling a criminal rather than their trusted provider.

At Virgin Media O2, we’re doing all we can to keep customers safe by blocking known scammer numbers on the network and using AI to flag more than 1 billion suspicious calls to date. But with scammers looking to exploit new channels to target victims, everyone can help us keep people safe by reporting dodgy numbers to 7726 so we can shut down scams faster in future.”

The hopefully obvious advice here is to always use customer service numbers listed on official company websites, apps or on your bill. For customers looking to speak to O2, the quickest way is calling 202 from an O2 device and for Virgin Media it’s 150 from the landline. Please be cautious of numbers returned by search engines, social media posts or AI tools and never share security codes or personal details with unsolicited callers – no matter who they say they are from.

According to VMO2, 13% of Brits, rising to 27% for older Gen Z and Millennials aged 25–34, have been presented with a fake customer service number via search engines or AI tools. A further 22% say they’re unsure whether a number they encountered online was genuine. But take note that we haven’t been provided with any details about VMO2’s survey sample size or methodology.