A MUM was slapped with a ￡200 phone bill after joining her first ever Zoom call.

       Rachael Lewis, 34, had a "mini heart attack" when she saw February's direct debit leave her account as the 50-minute virtual meeting was supposed to be free.

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       Mum-of-two Rachael Lewis was ordered to pay ￡200 after joining a 'free' Zoom call Credit: Rachael Lewis 2

       The 50-minute call added ￡159.63 to her usual ￡41 bill Credit: Rachael Lewis

       The mum-of-two dialled in to the weekly Q&A on January 31.

       But two weeks later, she received an alert from network provider EE to say her monthly bill had shot up by ￡159.63.

       Rachael, from Birmingham, said: "Naturally I had a mini heart attack.

       "I went on to my EE account and saw there was a ￡160 of additional call charges.

       "My first thought was it must be a mistake, all my calls are unlimited and I don't make overseas calls.

       "I am horrified as money is really tight at the moment and it's a substantial amount to cough up unexpectedly.

       "I won't be using Zoom again."

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       Rachael went through her additional charges and noticed they stemmed from the Zoom call, which she believed she joined through Wi-Fi so wouldn't cost a thing.

       She said she dialled in from her mobile and can't recall being given any warning of premium charges or international call rates or she would have hung up.

       "It was a non-UK number but this did not come up during the call," she said.

       "It was for a union Q&A which was held in the UK so I think it's really weird that it was routed through internationally."

       Rachael has since discovered Zoom uses international numbers for joining calls from mobile phones, not via data or Wi-Fi, which cost about ￡3 or ￡4 per minute, causing her bill hike.

       She claims many others have had similar experiences of being stung in this way.

       After sharing her nightmare online, she was inundated with messages from people who have also fallen victim.

       And Rachael, who is "kicking herself", now wants to warn others not to make the same simple mistake of dialling in using a US number.

       A spokesperson for EE confirmed Rachael had phoned an American landline rather than used her data, which would have been included in her monthly plan.

       As a gesture of goodwill, she was offered 25 per cent off on February 21.

       A Zoom spokesperson said: "Zoom offers local dial in numbers for over 90 countries and regions, so most users can avoid international roaming charges when choosing to join via phone, rather than using WIFI or data.

       "When setting up a meeting involving participants joining by phone, Zoom recommends including the link to local and toll free dial in numbers that is automatically generated when a meeting invite is created."