O2 have apologised to a Muslim family from London who were sent SIM cards addressed to “Mr Isis Terroriste” and “Mr GetOut ofEngland”.
The mobile phone company said the Sim cards were ordered by an unknown third party last August, but the Iraqi family from Wembley assumed they were junk mail and have only just opened the envelopes.
They told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show that they were “saddened” by the hate mail.
The family added: “It’s even sadder to think that such hate speech has become normalised despite living in such a uniquely multicultural and diverse city like London.”
Sura Jawad, who is a friend of the family told the programme that she was “horrified” by the letters.
She said: “It’s horrible to think that there are people who have so much hatred in them that they set out to deliberately make others feel isolated and unwelcome or who take comments like these light-heartedly.”
O2 said the postage and printing of Sim cards was managed by a third party partner company.
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A spokesman said: “We have a rigorous data cleansing process in place to prevent any of our free products being sent to addresses with obscenities or offensive names and so this is a rare occurrence.
“We are shocked by the letters that have been received and apologise to the family involved. If they decide to report this case, we will work closely with the police as part of their investigation.”
