Telephone scam

[Aberdeenplotter]

was sent this by email today. It originated from a police officer although I have not given his police station or contact details here. Of course, it could well be a hoax but it is important enough to consider if you get such a call.

"TELEPHONE SCAMS

A number of people in the UK have recently fallen victim to the latest telephone scam.

The scammers leave a polite voice message on your voicemail and ask you to call them back as soon as possible.

Some people have been told that a family member is ill, or died or been arrested to ensure they call back.

The number to call back is prefixed with 0809, 0284 or 0876.


These numbers are registered in the Dominican Republic and are charged at £1,500 per minute to you.

The charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you actually DID make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please be careful."

[Aberdeenplotter]

Those who have elderly relatives who may be ill are particularly vulnerable. My 79 year old auntie had a hospital appointment here in Aberdeen yesterday. All went well but on her way out of the hospital, she collapsed. She was checked out in A & E and I had a call from her at the hospital asking If I could collect her and take her home (35 miles or so). I did so but if I'd had a hoax call telling me my aunt was ill in hospital, with her health history, I would have called the number.

[Jeanied]

Just checked this with snopes - apparently this is a mixture of true and false information. Better safe than sorry though!

[julesapple]

We use caller display and don't answer the phone to any number we don't recognise. You think to yourself, it's ok, any genuine callers will leave a message.

That seems a pretty pointless exercise in the face of these scumbags though

[Bill HH]

There seems to no depths that these criminals won't sink to. The only course to this one is to refuse to pay and let them try to take you to court. I cant see any British court supporting their claims. It would be illegal as far as I know to make that sort of charge without telling you first what the cost of the call is.
My son recently got a parking charge for briefly stopping on private land, it was a parking spot in the town. They gave him no ticket but sent a photo of his car, on the spot. These people are the ones who used to clamp cars but now this is illlegal they have satarted this new scam. There was a sign very high up on a wall saying if you park there you agree to pay £60. I wrote to them and said we refuse to pay please take us to court. They increased the charge to £120. We ignored it and have heard no more.
Its high time the law was tightened up on all these scams.

[AllInContainers]

Folks like that make me sick!

The security controls that legitimate companies now use is also heavily flawed. They phone you from a call centre, so it's an unrecognised number. They then ask you to answer some security questions to verify they are actually talking to you. But are you actually talking to them ...?

My standard routine if someone calls from a service provider is tell them to verify they are from that company before I answer their questions. They can't! If they tell you anything, they are in breach of data protection - but there's no way I'm giving out personal details to anyone over the phone unless I have called them and know I am indeed talking to someone genuine.

..... can be useful if one of them is chasing money too ...

[alldigging]

Phone scam warning from East Lancashire police (From Lancashire Telegraph)

The number is prefixed with 0809, 0284 or 0876 but Tony Ford, from Blackburn Police, warned: “These numbers are registered in the Dominican Republic and are charged at £1,500 per minute to you.

[AllInContainers]

I can remember a story a few years back of one scam that involved their (ridiculously high premium rate) number being answered automatically and instantly, and you sat there listening to a recording of a ringing tone waiting for them to answer a call they'd already answered ...

[Sheneval]

If you check the Internet for this scam you will find it is a mix of Fact and Gross Exaggeration - the amount of money from the USA was being quoted as $2.400 whereas a more accurate figure would be $25

Nevertheless better to be aware that it is on the go

[Veggielot]

Most of these messages tend to be hoaxes, we have been banned from forwarding them at work.

If it is a genuine then the caller should tell where they are from, you can then get the number from directory enquiries. Never ring if they only give a number.

[Bill HH]

Most of these callers from call centres work on commision depending on the number of leads they can get, being semi retired I have plenty of time so I enjoy playing them along as if I am very interested in their product. It is truly amazing how long it takes for them to realise you are yanking their chains.
"Double glazing ?" Oh yes we need that, only last tuesday, or was it wednesday? there was a chilly wind blowing right through our house. No hold on it was Tuesday because Aunty Alice pops round on Tuesdays on her way to the acupunture clinic............... and so on.

[Veggielot]

I used to get regular calls from people trying to sell me a new mobile phone, saying they could save me money. I useually just hang up, however sometimes i used to play along and when asked how much I spent on calls. I would tell them, truethfully, that I spend something like £40. They would then witter on about various contracts and how I could save £10/£15 a month or whatever at which point I would have to tell them that they had misunderstood me, I only spend about £40 a year. I don't get calls from phone companies anymore probably just conicidence.

My other favourite is to say I will get the person who they have asked for and then just leave the phone on the side, it it amazing how long some will hang on before they realise you are not coming back.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Most of these callers from call centres work on commision depending on the number of leads they can get, being semi retired I have plenty of time so I enjoy playing them along ............... and so on.

Yes, but they are not. They are doing a job - a pretty cr@ppy low paid job at that, and one which is not made any easier by wise guys yanking their chain for their own amusement. You can always say 'no, thank you' and put the phone down. If you don't like the calls, register with the TPS. If you still get calls, complain to the TPS. Or don't answer calls with 'withheld number' or similar.

My other favourite is to say I will get the person who they have asked for and then just leave the phone on the side, it it amazing how long some will hang on before they realise you are not coming back.

I don't think that is terribly big and clever either.

We periodically have this conversation about cold callers, and resurrecting it is probably not enormously productive.

I think we've all got the point about the OP's comment on potential telephone scams, perhaps we can leave it there rather than churning the subject up again - mods?

[Veggielot]

To be fair you will see that I did say I usually just hang up. In fact most aren't even answered, the answer phone gets them. However when you get multiple calls from the same people sometimes on the same day, waking up you grandchild in the middle of the night despite polite requests asking them to stop and telling them that you don't want or need what they are selling then I don't have a problem.

[Bill HH]

Yes, but they are not. They are doing a job - a pretty cr@ppy low paid job at that, and one which is not made any easier by wise guys yanking their chain for their own amusement. You can always say 'no, thank you' and put the phone down. If you don't like the calls, register with the TPS. If you still get calls, complain to the TPS. Or don't answer calls with 'withheld number' or similar.



I don't think that is terribly big and clever either.

We periodically have this conversation about cold callers, and resurrecting it is probably not enormously productive.

I think we've all got the point about the OP's comment on potential telephone scams, perhaps we can leave it there rather than churning the subject up again - mods?

These people are persistant and annoying, it may be their job but I have no sympathy whatsoever, my wife is disabled and struggles to get to the phone in time only to hear this unwanted drivvel several times a day sometimes. Saying you don't want their product does not stop them calling again. Why in the name of God would i be so stupid as to buy financial services from some guy in Bombay? I would have some sympathy for these people if they were polite but they rarely are. I am not being a wise guy I am being harrased in my own home. Further more TPS doesn't work because the type of calls I am getting are mostly from India and they dont give a toss what rules they break.

(Added in Edit)

Furthermore I am getting a bit annoyed at some of the comments on this forum, Recently I have been told "I am trying to be cool" "Shut up" and now "Trying to be a wise guy". Disagree with me by all means but I dont come on here to be insulted. Some lessons in basic good manners need to be learned.