Telephone / Internet Scams

In UK, of late there have been persistent calls to my landline from

01284 197475.

A prerecorded female voice informs me that my BT telephone line will be terminated. "To prevent this, Press1"

This is probably located overseas, but dressed up to look like a UK number.

No doubt I would be connected to some extortionately costly line.

A similar scam intended to open my computer to a virus, to open my address book, or any financial details is where a message arrives to the effect that my Internet connection will be terminated within 24 hours.

"To prevent this, click on the link".

If it needs to be said "DON'T"!

Howard

I've had the call but not on that number

Roy

Spoofing a caller ID is trivial, there's probably a little app you can download for Skype that does it.

You have to watch out for reverse charges if you answer also , if I don't recognise a number I won't answer it . If it is important they will call back .

I was once stung by a website for premium content just by clicking their site on google , something to do with a video game site then i copped a bill from my IP stating i had signed up for this ! I eventually got my money back and they eventually banned third party subscriptions all together as it was a rort .

Hi Howard,

I have had phone calls similar to yours, different number though.

Thor

Just been reading this and a few seconds later had one of these calls luckily I knew about these well before hand and always just put the phone down

Ill check my bill. We get the calls very frequently (not sure about the number though) and it usually goes to the answer phone. I assume I am not being charged for that - or am I?

Phil H

From the net re bt area codes and phone numbers;

———-

“Firstly, most phone companies allow business users to choose the numbers they present through Caller ID when making an outbound call. It is quite possible for a business to display a UK local number they own, even if the call in question was actually made from the other side of the world. “

————

Says it all, really. Scamming is big business in some parts of the world!

I'm surprised that anyone still needs warning that these calls are a scam. They seem to be the only calls I get on my landline (I dont give my mobile number to anyone I don't know personally.)

BUT I read in the paper today about a woman here in Australia who got a call saying it was the tax office and there was a warrant fro her arrest for tax evasion unless she paid up right away. Apparently, they asked who her tax accountant was and proceeded to call him on a conference call (obviously it was one of the scammers but had an Aussie accent so she did not suspect it) and the accountant agreed he had made an error on her taxes and she should pay up. The accountant then appeared to call the woman from his own correct phone number and tell her, appearing to be independent of the scammers, to pay up and was very apologetic - and scared. All very complex and very slickly done. Result, she paid them thousands of dollars.

There seems to be a new variation on ones claiming to be from an ISP saying your internet access will be terminated in 24 hours. I have had a few recently claiming to be from something like "The UK cyber crime agency" saying your internet access will be terminated in 24 hours. The difference was the recorded voice was with an English accent.

Les.

Hopper,

There is no way of helping those that are not smart enough to take heed of the advice regularly and freely available.

Anyone who thinks the tax man is going to arrest them before making previous representations for monies owed is not the smartest amongst us.

Those that do not ring the bank (or accountant) from another line is also sub-informed - there have been copious warnings of this type of scam.

Perhaps she was actually more clever than thought, and arranged to ‘fall’ for the scam to recover the amount she knew she owed in taxes? Then later claimed back the money from whoever she could sue for making such a transaction! It has been tried before.

I've had a few of the same recently; about one a week. The last one put the 'phone down after I introduced myself as the butler, and asked who they were and which company they were from. I also had one of the ISP ones get confused when I said I accessed the internet via a desktop. They clearly didn't know what a desktop was, and/or it wasn't on their list.

Andrew

Hi Andrew,
I have played them along for a bit by saying I used a Raspberry Pi for internet access. I then Kept them hanging on for a bit saying it was booting up.

Les.

They seem to getting wise to delaying tactics. For the clowns who claimed to be from Microsoft to help with a slow running computer I started by explaining I wasn't at the computer but in a different building on the estate. Cue a delay. Then when they asked if the computer was running I'd say it was still booting, while reminding them that they'd claimed the computer was running slowly. Then I couldn't find, or the keyboard didn't have, a Windows key. Then whatever they asked you to type in didn't work - it comes easy to me to play the idiot.

They must have some sort of cutoff as most put the 'phone down on 20 minutes. But they now seem to only wait a minute or two. On one call I put the 'phone up against the TV. When I picked it up a few minutes later the clown was still there; obviously his English was so poor he hadn't twigged he was listening to the news on the TV.

Andrew

Edited By Andrew Johnston on 14/12/2018 16:38:55

I got caught that way once with a number I did not know. Rang back,thinking it might be from a consultant I was attending at the time. No reply,so called back a few times,still nothing.

When I got my Mobile bill,I found that these calls had come from some dump in Somalia,the arsehole of God-knows-where. Ended up costing me BOMB.I have no idea how they got my Mobile No,but now I do not answer any numbers I do not know.

Once bitten----------!

Last week at work we all got an email saying our email storage was over the limit. They gave a value way over our company limit but of course it was the usual request to log in to the 'admin' link provided. Funny thing was we also had a power outage a few minutes later so some people were thinking there must be a connection with IT turning off everyone's computer to stop them replying.

I answer with either similar to "Fairfield County Sherriff's office, fraud division," or act like I am getting My butt kicked.

I have BT "call-minder" (or whatever it's called) on my home phone, which seems to weed out a lot of nuisance calls.

An even better way of weeding out calls is never to answer the phone unless you know who's calling. If the caller really needs to contact you they'll leave a message, email or write a letter. If it's really urgent, they can ring 999.

Operating this policy now for many years I'm glad to say it's never caused me any headaches whilst probably saving me many.

I refuse to pay extra each month just to know who is calling. Just let it get on and ring then after a few mins., dial 1471.If I recognise the number I call back. Also check 1571 for messages. Needless to say, scammers don't usually leave a number and never a message. Only problem is if I ring surgery to make an appointment. They ring back but don't leave their number. I now get frequent calls from what seems like London or Manchester codes but of course they can be faked.

"If in doubt,

chuck it out"

Just say "Cut the cr*p, let's get to the reason for your call. Would you like my bank details now?" It appears to confuse them!