👮 Scam phone calls and texts

[Protec]

Today, my one of my parents told me about how they received a phone call from "Sky" saying that they are "reducing the cost of sky box breakdown cover" and they they will need bank details. The call likely came from India if the accent of the caller is anything to go by! The person on the phone said that this is the only day that the offer is on after he realised his scam wasn't getting very far. Not sure how they got the home phone number, probably some company selling phone numbers or a leak of phone numbers would be my first guess. Edited October 21, 2023 by Protec

[lucastaity]

I recommend signing up to https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/. This take 30 days to work but you should be able to say to any sales person that you are on the tps list and then will hang up the pho

[mikeprice]

TPS doesn't really work with the scammers as they are not UK based - they just ignore it and there is not a lot the TPS people can do about it

 

It does stop the cold call people - it means that if you do get a cold call then the company is almost certainly dodgy

[Davit2005]

I recommend signing up to https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/. This take 30 days to work but you should be able to say to any sales person that you are on the tps list and then will hang up the pho

 

I doubt this will work for Scammers, they do not work by any code and simply exist to prey on vulnerable people or others that do not realise they are been target of a scam by scumbag lowlifes.

 

They typically gain access to a users PC by lying about a refund and either gain access to the target users bank via that person logging in. Then make changes to falsify balances etc.

 

Everyone should be wary of any callers claiming to be from Amazon, your ISP, BT etc.

 

Media should do something useful like highlighting these scams as well as phishing scams, get the awareness out there.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Davit2005

[Protec]

I think the best thing to do is to tell people to be wary of random phone calls and not to give out personal information unless they can be sure the person they are talking to is genuine.

[TechMonkey]

I got one of the phones that screen calls. Allows programmed numbers, blocks known bad numbers, blocks unidentified callers and announces everyone else. It is brilliant and I have had 1 spam call get through in the time I have had it and that was because I was intrigued so allowed it through. The robocallers get flummoxed as it answers but no one is there to do anything. Can highly recommend.

[Rob_D]

I got one of the phones that screen calls. Allows programmed numbers, blocks known bad numbers, blocks unidentified callers and announces everyone else. It is brilliant and I have had 1 spam call get through in the time I have had it and that was because I was intrigued so allowed it through. The robocallers get flummoxed as it answers but no one is there to do anything. Can highly recommend.

After a particularly pushy salesman threatened my mum with "I know where you live..." I got parents some Phillips phones with night mode and set it so the phone only rings for a known number. Sounds pretty similar to what you have.

[Davit2005]

After a particularly pushy salesman threatened my mum with "I know where you live..." I got parents some Phillips phones with night mode and set it so the phone only rings for a known number. Sounds pretty similar to what you have.

 

I run a 3cx and unless the number is in the contacts list it goes straight to a voice mail with nothing that identifies me. The VOIP phones show any calls that have gone to voicemail. I then have option to block but I have not blocked any as see little point to be honest.

[Garacesh]

It does stop the cold call people - it means that if you do get a cold call then the company is almost certainly dodgy

It doesn't even do that.

They can't perform marketing calls.

They can perform surveys. Which then they oh so coincidentally have something for $that.

[LeMarchand]

Got bored after stringing "Walter" from "BT" along for 30+ minutes of giving him (and his colleagues) fake TeamViewer details and going to talk to my "husband" (which I was sure they'd be offended by!). They didn't even get the hint when I told them that the last 2 letters of the password were the sixth and twenty-first letters of the alphabet. In the end I told them that our neighbour, who works for BT was going to fix the problem - but they rang back on a different number! 01132853463 and 01761415165 both now blocked. Edited October 27, 2020 by LeMarchand

[sigma]

Been on the TPS list for years. I give them Radio 4 to listen/talk to. You can also report to the ICO here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/nuisance-calls-and-messages/spam-texts-and-nuisance-calls/

[Davit2005]

Been on the TPS list for years. I give them Radio 4 to listen/talk to. You can also report to the ICO here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/nuisance-calls-and-messages/spam-texts-and-nuisance-calls/

 

Scammers are fraudsters, using basic tools to make people think they have real problem when they don't and then pay over the odds for little if any protection.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Davit2005

[sigma]

Scammers are fraudsters not sales people that is the difference.

 

Generally so, but sometimes the lines are a little blurry. However you look at it, they are "nuisance" calls to be reported.

[Davit2005]

Generally so, but sometimes the lines are a little blurry. However you look at it, they are "nuisance" calls to be reported.

 

They are nuisance calls, sales by scamming is not sales. Cold calling sales is different.

[mikeprice]

Had a strange one today

 

Phone rang and the bloke on the other end said he was from Virgin and was ringing about some problems on the Broadband

 

OK - could be - it was dodgy a few months ago - and we have just swapped to a new hub

 

VERY thick Indian type accent - but still - could be

 

anyway- co-operated for a bit he asked a few basic question - like how many devices currently using the system - I said 10 - all active

then got me to test the speed using speedtest.net (I think) - told himn it was 20 download and 1 upload

got passed onto 'senior technical somethingsomethingsomethingsomething' who apologised for several things and explain things like why the red lights are on the hub - hint - no such lights on this hub - just one

 

started to talk about errors and warning being seen coming from the hub - sounding like he was about to get me to display the event log - which would show errors and warning -

but by now I had finihsed my cup of tea (hint to scammers - don;t call me when I have a hot cuppa - I will talk happily until I have finished it)

and I was half way through my lunch

 

so I got fed up and told him I knew he was talking rubbish and hung up

 

 

anyway - so far so normal

 

a bit later I got a more unusual one

 

lady - not much accent - from - funnily enough - Virgin - calling - about Broadband problems

 

fed up by now but played along in case it was real. But same thing - so I told her I had already had a call from them and knew it was fake

at which point they normally hang up - otherwise they are wasting their time

 

but not this lady - Oh no - she was determined

So I apologised and explained that I had had this scam call shortly before so I would require some proof that she was from Virgin

so then - what is my account number??

she only went and told me!!!

well - to be accurate - she told me AN account number - unfortunately I know my account number doesn't start like that

so I asked her to confirm my monthly payment - she only did that as well

 

10 out of 10 for determination

 

minus several hundred for accuracy - but anyway

 

she then said that as I was so doubtful she didn't feel it was right to continue the conversation - but she is called Lucy and is from Virgin media

I should call Virgin's tech help line and ask for her - they will but me back to her so we can continue - then hung up

 

WHich surprised me!!!

 

 

now - as it happens - I was in the middle of a conversation with someone from Virgin media via their 'community forum' - he was checking whether or not they had received my old hub3 that I sent back after installing the new Hub4

They had sent someone round to collect it yesterday - which was confusing

But he was very helpful and found it had been received

 

so - I asked him about the phone call - and whether or not someone was trying to get hold of me - thinking probably not - but as I am communicating with him anyway.....

 

he askedfor the phone numbers of the calls - which he confirmed were not numbers Virgin uses

 

I suspect the hanging up bit was not actually real - if I had dialled Virgin them someone from the scam people would have answered and passed me back onto 'Lucy'

 

not had one like that before - especially the willingness to carry on after being called out

 

 

apologies for the disertation ("from you - nooo how unexpected" - - they all cry) but it was unusual - so I though it might me worth the details

[stevejp]

They didn't even get the hint when I told them that the last 2 letters of the password were the sixth and twenty-first letters of the alphabet.

 

Love it! I am so nicking this one...

[LeMarchand]

Home phone and both mobiles all had "Accident Claim" scammers within the last 2 hours. Next one is going to get "Simple Jack", the one after "Old Deaf Colonel" and then I might try a new one: Mr. Pervy.

[mikeprice]

I have had the old 'renewing you Amazon Prime membership for £toomuch tomorrow" scam

 

I keep wondering if I should "Press 1 to waste someone's time" option

[mikeprice]

Ok - things are getting to be a problem now

 

Over the last few months/weeks we have been getting occaisional attempted scam/phishing calls

 

normal rubbish - problem with Virgin router/hub - probably winding up to trying to login to my system remotely etc etc

or maybe looking to take some details

 

OK - pain but OK

 

but now the frequency has increased quite a lot - several every day

 

normally pretend to be from Virgin Media - recently Amazon Prime has become more common

 

and - worst of all - they are ringing several time early morning - like 7:30 to 9:00

 

OK - doesn't sound especially early but my wife has sleep problems at the moment - and often the only time she gets to sleep is 5-6 in the morning - then gets up very late - so a phone call at 7:30 means she ends up with only 3-4 hours sleep over several days

which is not good - I think worry about Covid/US election and upcoming grandchild no 3 is all part of it

 

 

anyway - so nuisance calls are not funny any more

 

tried all the usual

ignore - they just try again

answer and ask then to stop - they try again

answer and shout- they try again

answer and threaten - threaten what - they know you can't trace them via the spoofed number

answer and waste their time - actually seemed to generate extra call the next day - could be revenge??

 

 

Tried TPS - not interested if it is a spoofed call - they are set up to stop genuine companies in the UK cold calling

tried ACtion Fraud - it can be logged - but as I haven't lost any money that is all they seem to do

Tried Virgin Media - they supply the phone line - helpful - but they can't do anything other than confirm that it wasn't them ringing

 

We can't just ignore number we don't know when wife's son could ring at any time to say baby is on the way - and he could use the hospital switchboard (hence unknow number) or possibly someone else's phone or something (he works at the hospital so he knows people there)

 

 

kinda at a loss - any ideas???

 

 

thanks

 

 

silly extra - feel like a failure due to this

it is affecting my wife and I feel I should protect her

 

dumb but upsetting

Edited November 3, 2020 by mikeprice

[bald_pig]

What phone do you have? Is it possible to turn the volume right down and keep the handset with you so you can answer straight away?

[Rob_D]

Airhorn?

 

But seriously, if this is on your landline, can you get wife's son to call you on a mobile so you can just ignore the landline (DND or unplug or something), or visa versa if it's on a mobile. At this point, I'd consider getting a new number. If you're mobile only, you could even grab a free payg sim for wife's son to call you on so you can ignore unknown callers on your regular numbers. (Given how bad/disruptive it sounds, it's probably worth the hassle - and you never know when a "burner phone" might come in handy).

[clareq]

I know when my Mother-in-law had problems with nuisance calls BT intercepted her calls for a time, and only put through legitimate calls. Do Virgin offer such a service?

[IRL]

On Android you can set your phone to DND but to allow calls from starred contacts. Then you could set your house phone to DND at nights and just rely on your mobile for those starred contacts.

[mikeprice]

Hmmm - thanks for the ideas

 

I do have a payg Vodaphone in an old phone - I will switch my number to this soon as Virgin (who use EE) have rubbish signal round here - especially indoors

 

I might give them that number and keep the cordless landlines down stairs at night

[LeMarchand]

We had a rash last week. Not sure how the number spoofing works, but after we blocked the numbers they used (about 3) it stopped. Could also have been that the last time our fake neighbour who works for BT (where they were pretending to call from, even though we're with Virgin) told us that there wasn't a problem with our router and that they were criminals.