Another scam? Sinister this time

[Geoff S]

My wife got a voice mail today which said that she was investigated for some crime and that our address was being watched and warned against ignoring the message. It then gave a phone number starting with 020 ...

My wife's phone (like mine) is a simple PAYG Nokia which she uses mostly for the radio when she's in the garden etc and as an emergency phone when she's out on her bike or in the car etc. Almost no-one knows the number.

First, there's no way our address is connected to the number so it couldn't be being watched. Second, a voice message (with what sounds like a synthesised voice) wouldn't be used by any authority as the first contact in any investigation. And third, she hasn't done anything wrong!

Never the less for someone living alone, particularly elderly or of a nervous disposition it could be quite frightening. Although we're both in our late 70s we're fairly tech savvy and Avice is no fool (as I know to my cost, sometimes!) she was sufficiently unnerved to come to me as soon as she received it.

It's obviously rubbish but I thought I'd mention it.

Geoff

[simon barr]

Have you told the police...?

[Geoff S]

No, never thought about it but perhaps we should.

Geoff

[Peter Miller]

Sounds like a variation on the HMRC scam

[Nigel R]

Clearly rubbish, report it, something might be done. With luck.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[PatMc]

Posted by Percy Verance on 31/01/2019 21:36:30:

Oh, and don't under any circumstances call any number you may be given by whoever called, because that will cost something like £50 a minute, probably with a minimum charge of 5 minutes. The 020 scams have been going round a while now Geoff. The first few lines of your post says it all I think. Demanding you don't ignore the message is a prompt for you to return the call to find out what's going on. Which is where the £50 a minute kicks in........

Calling the number is likely to be 55p a minute max, in any case Geoff & Avice are using PAYG so the limit they can lose is what's left on the phone.
Quote from Ofcom call cost guide :

01 and 02 numbers: geographic numbers

These numbers relate to specific locations in the UK and are used for homes and businesses. For example, Huddersfield is 01484, Bath is 01225, Edinburgh is 0131 and London is 020.

Calls from landlines are typically charged up to 13p per minute.Call costs from mobiles vary according to the calling plan chosen. Typically they cost between 1p and 55p per minute or are included in free call packages.

The call is a phishing scam opener. Try googling the number see if it's already been reported.

[Geoff S]

Avice has transcribed the message in shorthand and written it in text so we'll be able to provide the police with the full message.

I think my wife only has about 10p left on her phone right now so it would be a poor return if the scammers were hoping to rake in a little more. Apparently 020 are normally London area but 0203 ... can be bought to charge callers but I don't know if there's a maximum.

We'll contact the police tomorrow. I'm not sure if such activities are actually illegal but they certainly ought to be.

Geoff

[John Privett]

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 01/02/2019 01:07:34:

Apparently 020 are normally London area but 0203 ... can be bought to charge callers but I don't know if there's a maximum.

020 is just the code for London.

Initially all 020 numbers continued with a 7 as the first digit of the rest of the number if it had previously been an 'inner London' 071 number, or an 8 if it had been an 'outer London' 081 number. Now 3 is also allocated as the next digit of some London numbers.

I can't see a way that any 020 number could be charged at a different rate to other 020 numbers.

[cymaz]

We have been affected by bogus emails from TV License, PayPal and HRMC.

[Tim Flyer]

I have experienced a spate of unwanted calls and messages . I worked out that the people responsible for leaking my phone number were most probably a well known major uk insurance company. These firms make it hard not to provide a phone number. They claim not to distribute details externally but in practice it often happens. The people who get hold of numbers then market the lists. These companies route marketing calls via overseas companies using uk identifiers on numbers which cannot be called back or traced as they are “marketing” numbers . They use the “overseas” location to flout UK Law . In my experience UK authorities seem to be powerless or not interested in stopping this. Despite TPS telephone preference service registration , the calls go on. The only way to stop it is NEVER to reply or answer unknown callers and use the smartphone call barring function on your mobile for each number they use to call you. I have needed to bar many many numbers . I also strongly resist putting personally identifiable information on line.

 

Edited By Tim Flyer on 01/02/2019 09:57:13

[ken anderson.]

theres a lad in Nigeria sitting on millions ,he cant give away....

ken anderson...ne..1..give away dept.

[Dave Cunnington]

...................only the one lad Ken ?

Edited By Dave Cunnington on 01/02/2019 10:23:27

[Keith Lomax]

I previously worked for a vehicle leasing company with a private customer base. We had a spate of calls from customers saying that we had disclosed personal details. On investigation, we narrowed it down to customers who had made insurance claims, so the insurance company's fraud department took over the investigation. They found that the common factor was the national chain of bodyshops that they used for most repairs - at this stage it was found that people (probably the delivery/collection drivers) in individual branches were noting details of customers' names, addresses and phone numbers and selling them on leading to calls along the line of "we are calling about your recent accident".

With the going rate for this level of detail and a definite accident, apparently they were quite lucrative, especially to somebody on minimum wage.

However, calls such a Geoff's wife's are usually just randomly called numbers and they don't usually actually have the name and address. My wife got one yesterday saying that they "were in the area doing soffits and facias for one of our neighbours", but then asked for our postcode!

As an aside, about 25 years ago I was at a friend's home, with a few others when he took a phone call. He played along to what was an obvious salesman, and got to the point of making an appointment for one evening the following week, and gave his address. He then said, when the salesman arrives, he should take the lift to the tenth floor. When the caller queried this, he replied along the lines of "if you are going to waste my time trying to sell me a conservatory, you should check your facts before you call".

 

Edited By Keith Lomax on 01/02/2019 10:35:25

[Geoff S]

After some effort starting with dialling 101 she was recommend by a live person to contact the Fraud agency but that was taking some time on hold. However, there was an email address and she was recommended to supply as many details as possible by that method, which she's done. So we'll see. Probably nothing will come of it but she's made the effort.

I think the most unsettling part is the implied threat which could be very unpleasant (to say the least) for a vulnerable person.

Geoff

[dejampea]

an interesting topic, we get 2/3 of these calls a day. our current approach on the land line is to pick up the phone and say nothing then generally within a few seconds they hang up.

By the way most of these numbers are not traceable they belong to groups of phone numbers not in general use, there are blocks of numbers retained for advertising/ film/ tv uses , normally connected with country capitals , eg London hence the 02---. certain companies hire /loan them out !. its seems that's the current way to overcome the call blocking devices that bt and other offer.

[Peter Miller]

I have a bit of fun these days.I answer the call in Spanish. THis also has the advantage that I can swear at them fluently in Spanish.

Well, it amuses me!!!

[Dave Hess]

Anti-scammers, like Jim Browning, do more to disrupt the them than the police. It might be worth seeing if you can get the details to him. He can infiltrate their computers and systems to see what they're up to. Interestingly, he normally gives everything about them to the police, but they never seem to be interested. In one case, he gave their names, adresses, bank details, photos and everything, butheard nothing back. Here's an example of what he does:

[onetenor]

I often get calls that hang up as soon as I say hello. I think they are checking to see if anyone is home.

[Ray Dunn]

I'm currently plagued with automated calls says BT will cut off my Internet today.

The voice was initially of the computer generate sort, but the last was an elderly British accented man.

Where applicable, isn't BT the base cause of this, allowing ridiculous phone call rates? What sort of legit. business needs this?

[Peter Miller]

ON the BT will cut off your internet, I ha d abit of fun when they had actual people calling.

I was told that my Talk Talk would be cut off. I said "but I am withSky".

They said "Oh right we wil put you through to the SKy department"

The nexxt time I got similar call they were going to cut off my Sky internet.

I am still with talk talk.

[Keith Lomax]

Posted by Ray Dunn on 02/02/2019 07:43:10:

I'm currently plagued with automated calls says BT will cut off my Internet today.

The voice was initially of the computer generate sort, but the last was an elderly British accented man.

Where applicable, isn't BT the base cause of this, allowing ridiculous phone call rates? What sort of legit. business needs this?

This one is not about call rates. What they want you to do is to access their website and hand control over to their "tech support" department under the premise of checking out the problem, but will install a virus or trojan that watches your keystrokes and captures your passwords. Some of the more sophisticated ones also trap the cookies that store remembered passwords.

Several years ago, somebody who I know initially fell for this, and once she saw that he was trying to install something she tried to shut the PC down but every time the mouse got close to the menu button the remote user moved it away. She had the foresight to disconnect her broadband connection (pre- wi-fi) before any damage was done.

My answer to these is to ask which computer is causing the problem, and when they say "the Windows one", I say that we only have Apple products, or vice-versa. (Similar to the above poster changing his ISP).

[John Privett]

Posted by Peter Miller on 01/02/2019 12:43:37:

I have a bit of fun these days.I answer the call in Spanish. THis also has the advantage that I can swear at them fluently in Spanish.

Well, it amuses me!!!

I used to occasionally get a call with a recording implying that I had "won" a free holiday in Florida and I should press 1 for further details. At the time the 'free' holiday was a common scam where the accommodation was indeed free, but you had to buy the flights from them - at a highly-inflated price.

One day I pressed 1 to see where it would lead. An American lady answered and proceded to work her way through a list of questions. I answered each one in French.

She seemed a little confused, but carried on for 3 or 4 more questions before declaring, "I'm really sorry, I don't speak Spanish!"

I almost gave her a very rude Anglo-Saxon response - I know my French isn't brilliant, but mistaking it for Spanish... REALLY? Instead I told her, in French, "What a shame" and hung up.

I never received another call from them after that!

[PatMc]

Posted by Ray Dunn on 02/02/2019 07:43:10:

I'm currently plagued with automated calls says BT will cut off my Internet today.

The voice was initially of the computer generate sort, but the last was an elderly British accented man.

Where applicable, isn't BT the base cause of this, allowing ridiculous phone call rates? What sort of legit. business needs this?

How are BT responsible for bogus calls ?

BT only set their own call rates & have no power to regulate anyone else's.

What ridiculous call rates are you refering to anyway ?

[Andy J]

Think all of this dates back to when tiscali lost all of our account details.