I got hit by phantom roaming charges abroad — here’s how to avoid them
Think your device settings will save you? I made that mistake.
I recently learned of a shocking incident where a Reddit user was left with a staggering $53,000 roaming charge after an eight-day European trip, despite expecting only $100 in fees. Many people feel sympathy for such unfortunate cases, but also wonder how someone could have experienced such a severe lesson. In my own experience, I encountered a different scenario involving phantom roaming charges, but fortunately, the amount was considerably lower.
I only incurred approximately $20 in roaming charges, which, while not negligible, was far less damaging than the Reddit user's $53,000 bill.
What surprised me the most was that I had taken every precaution to prevent data usage during my travels. I believed I had done everything right to avoid using mobile data, but I was wrong. As you might be thinking, I was not solely responsible for this incident, and I was not even lucky enough to escape with a minor charge. I had not forgotten to switch off data or roaming after landing, and this device was not a travel eSIM that took a few seconds to activate.
In fact, I was not even using the device to access data at all. I live outside the country of my home network, and this SIM is housed in a separate phone that remains on my desk. The device is set to not use mobile data or roaming, and it is always connected to my Wi-Fi network. I rarely touch the device and have never used it to contact anyone, treating it more like a paperweight than an active phone.
Despite all these measures, I still experienced phantom roaming charges twice in a span of three months.
Written by urgent.news from Android Authority's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
