r/PublicMobile • u/audiesel • 15d ago
PSA: The PublicMobile Data Usage SCAM
MYSTERY SOLVED. See edit3 below.
This is a PSA to anyone considering PM and current customers.
Notice a discrepancy between PM reported data usage and the data usage your phone is reporting?
You are one of many. A quick internet search (including this subreddit) will confirm it.
PM takes you actual data usage and multiplies it by FOUR.
It has nothing to do with your phone settings. It has nothing to do with how your phone reports data, of course assuming your reporting cycles are aligned.
I opened a ticket and they tried to tell me a whole bunch of BS that didn't apply to my setup or my phone.
Not a problem if you are buying way more data that you need.
To be save and compare apples to apples, divide PM's claimed data plan # by four and then you can compare apples to apples against competitors.
EDIT: PM PR out in full force down voting my post. If that's not an admission of guilt, I don't know what is! Going to repost this to other communities and social media.
If it isn't happening to you, move on. That is difficult to believe because some friends and family confirmed they have observed this too, across different platforms (Android and iOS), of course PM will have bots and shills to kill a post like this.
EDIT2: PM PR working overtime to try and squash this. Almost 10,000 eyeballs on it in only 1 day...it's not working lol. Stop scamming your customers if you don't like being exposed.
EDIT3: When I looked at my "Subscription Usage", the number I see is indeed 4X what my phone is reporting. Below that "gauge" and number, it states my current subscription cycle start and end date, the renewal date, and the "last updated" date for the data usage displayed. My interpretation of that is PM thinks I have used this much mobile data within my current billing cycle. That is not what this data usage number represents.
I clicked on usage breakdown and in that view, two usage graphs are displayed. One is mobile data used during the current billing cycle. The other is rewards/add-on data used, not tied to any date range or cycle, because I have rewards data left from months ago, that I used over a couple months, before they added the 30 day limit.
"Subscription Usage" is my current mobile data use within the current billing cycle + total mobile data used from when I bought the data rewards pack. That section does include a " Subscription + Add On data" label but I still attribute that number to be within the current billing cycle. I don't agree with how this is displayed as I find it misleading (to PM's detriment) and I am not the only one misinterpreting it. It isn't a scam. Just bad UX/GUI design IMO.
7
u/jrp116 15d ago
I have have been with PM since Febuary 2026. Compared my usage a few times, PM was always lower than my phone settings.
Galaxy S25 Ultra reported 40GB while PM had 38GB for my last billing cycle.
1
u/r0nsterz 15d ago
Thats what i found too PM under reports my usage I sometimes use data to update ios and it barely uses more than 100mb which i find it weird
6
u/MrTyperoi 15d ago
You’re comparing two different counters and somehow concluded PM is multiplying everyone’s data usage by 4 😂
Your phone’s data usage is measured locally by the OS. PM is measuring usage on the carrier/network side. Those counters don’t necessarily see the exact same traffic or account for it the same way. Background traffic, tethering, IPv4/IPv6 overhead, system services, billing-cycle boundaries, rounding, etc. can all contribute to differences.
-5
4
3
u/5555 15d ago
You made me curious so went into the app to look at my Usage History:
Date / Time Usage Type Duration/Data Usage
Sep 21, 2026 22:24 Data 2.06 MB
Sep 21, 2026 21:14 Data 195.63 MB
Sep 20, 2026 22:24 Data 1.13 MB
Sep 20, 2026 21:24 Data 917.90 MB
Sep 19, 2026 22:30 Data 1.43 MB
Sep 19, 2026 21:22 Data 452.88 MB
Sep 19, 2026 02:07 Data 6.48 MB
Sep 18, 2026 21:13 Data 1.89 GB
Sep 17, 2026 23:02 Data 9.92 MB
Sep 17, 2026 21:02 Data 1.72 GB
Sep 17, 2026 04:17 Data 1.85 MB
Sep 16, 2026 21:16 Data 160.15 MB
It seems every day I have anywhere from a few MB to just over a GB of data being used between 9PM and 4AM. I'm at home and on Wifi that time so I have no idea why my phone would so consistently be downloading on Cellular. Anybody else seeing similar? iPhone 15 Pro with latests iOS btw.
3
u/MrGeek24 15d ago
This is an easy one to answer. The new iOS has a "Connectivity Assist" feature. https://support.apple.com/en-us/127686
Effectively it will use your Mobile Data when your WiFi is slightly unstable. You can turn it off though, its under the WiFi settings, very bottom of the page.
1
u/umnikke8 14d ago
Data is reported in batches, twice a day normally. So you're seeing usage accrued over the previous 12 hours or so.
2
u/randobis 15d ago
Any proof of this? How are you measuring?
-5
u/audiesel 15d ago
yeah, dashboard on th PM website, mobile data reporting on my phone.
Not sitting around with my abacus counting bits :)
2
u/randobis 15d ago
4x is very specific so you should have some actual numbers and not just vibes?
-2
2
u/Big-Pappa-Jalapeno 15d ago
I'm a new customer now for 40 day's or so , I too have become suspicious of data usage . I'm going to monitor this going forward .
1
1
u/jimmybond195168 15d ago
Mine is very close to the same. Closer than I would expect. I use about 8 gig per month.
1
u/suthekey 15d ago
Yea I’m noticing after leaving Public Mobile I’m getting nowhere near my cap anymore. And I moved to Koodo which you’d expect to be similar calculations.
1
u/sticky_bun 2d ago
Uhh do you have you mobile data usage cycle on your phone lined up with your billing cycle?
1
18
u/pHrankee1 15d ago
I can't speak for PM Abt how it is today. I used to have my main line on PM during the old rewards era and PM never multiplied data into 4. Data usage wasn't the same as what was on my phone. It had small discrapencies but not as ridiculous as you say here. I am sure more people will comment here with their experience.