Sally says:

Your nightmare experience of negotiating O2’s customer service procedures was a touch Kafkaesque, with your efforts hampered because you could not get past the security questions asked when you phoned the company to report the rogue bill. No wonder you could not respond to these questions as the account “belonged” to the fraudster who had stolen your identity to set it up. Only he or she knew the answers required.

Ironically, being unable to provide the correct responses also meant your complaint could not be escalated to a supervisor with authority to sort things out. For the same reason you could not request the data subject access report you wanted, which would have been useful evidence that you had long ago reported the suspected fraud. How exasperating. To improve communications between you and O2 – and to try to put an end to this crazy spiral leading nowhere – I quickly got on the line to the company.

It took just a few days of investigation by its fraud team to confirm what you knew all along and had been trying to tell the company: that someone had posed as you to open the account. O2 confirmed that its advisers had been unable to provide you with information about the account previously because it did not officially belong to you and data protection rules prevented them from discussing the matter with you.

Thankfully, after my involvement common sense prevailed and the fraudulently opened account was closed and your credit file amended, with the debt to Lowell recalled. The company said you should not receive any further ­payment demands.

It also confirmed that the account should have been shut down as soon as you reported the fraud, but admitted that gaps in its customer service provision meant this procedure was delayed. It apologised and said those involved would receive “feedback” to ensure the same thing did not happen again. An O2 spokesman added: “We have apologised to the customer and advised him that we have now resolved this matter.”

By way of apology O2 sent you £100, which you donated to the Alzheimer’s Society, one of the charities supported by this year’s Telegraph Christmas appeal.