Cellphone scam

[Braddock, VC]

If you get a text from phone number +447423596933 advising you that you have set up a new payee on your bank account and further advising you to click on a link to cancel the payee (in my case it purported to be from Santander) you would be wise not to click the link.

If you are concerned go into to your bank account as you normally do and check to see if you have set up a new payee.

Just saying.

[Andy Stephenson]

Scam callers spoof a different number each call they make so it's very unlikely they will use this number again. This trick renders websites like whocallsme.com useless for tracking these scammers.

[Andy Stephenson]

To follow up on my post above, see this article from the BBC on phone number spoofing...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56934517

The rule is never give any personal details to anyone who phones you even if you are convinced they are genuine.

[Eric Robson]

Just had one today on my mobile saying I had a new payee on my HSBC account. As I have never had an HSBC account I ignored it.  

[Brian Sweeting 1]

I do wish that people would read/listen to the banks and similar businesses.

 

Not one money related business in the UK, including the tax offices will ever contact you by phone, text or email and ask for your bank details.  So whoever purports to contacvt you about any form of money transaction is lying and only want to steal your money so ignore them by deleting the message or hanging up the phone.

[Eric Robson]

I had one last week from supposedly BT open reach, so I played the senile old man not hard in my case. He said your internet connection is slow, I said don't worry about it young man I have got all day. He said have you a tablet? I said yes! he asked if I could turn it on. I said I had just swallowed it, I take them every day for my heart. H e asked if I could get to my router, I said it is in the garden shed but the ground is too hard to get the roots up at the moment as we have had no rain. Getting frustrated he asked if I could turn my computer on. I said I don't know about those things my son does that for me. Can you please get him.   I said he lives 250ml away and have not seen him since lockdown and put the phone down. At least he did not bother anyone else during that time. 

[Peter Miller]

I expect that many people know this but some may not.

 

When you get a phone call from a number  you don't recognise pick the phone up and keep quiet. 9 times out of 10 the phone will go to the dialling tone.

 

Only if someone answers do you answer.

 

The numbers are voice activated and usually have a recorded message which ends in the "Dial 1"

[wingcoax]

My late mother got one of these calls. She managed to keep him going for a good fifteen minutes before advising him she had found the problem. When asked by the foreign "gentleman" what the problem was she said "I dont have a computer" The resulting sound was like he was trying to put the receiver through the base unit.

[Engine Doctor]

Why are we so polite by calling these dregs of society scammers call them what they " thieving scumbags" when I get one call me my second word is usually "     off" and hang up.

 

The following is a true account. Only some of the language has been changed to protect the decency rules (And me)?

 

A few years ago a mate of mine had a foreign gentleman call him regarding an car accident he'd supposedly had . After strining him along for ten mutes or so he called him a " cheeky so and so" might have been a bit stronger and hung up. A few minutes later the phone rang again and the same but now disgruntled foreign gentleman shouted " who are you calling a cheeky so and so ?" At that point my mate burst out laughing and hung up.

[Bob Cotsford]

The best I had was when the Indian chappy on the line finally twigged that I was stringing him along, somewhere around where I'd had my temporal lobe removed following a bump.  I think he had a complete breakdown as he just started screaming '* YOU * YOU *YOU' over and over while in the background I could hear him hammering on his desk.  Quite made my day did that ?

[wingcoax]

Several years ago we ran a hotel and used to get many of these calls, usually offering alternative telecoms services. On one morning we must have received five calls during room servicing and i hadn´t taken the cordless phone with me( silly i know) I had reached breaking point and on this occasion i told the caller where to go and hung up. Before i could get back upstairs the phone rang again and this chap started telling me what various members of my family could do, I let him ramble on for a while and then said "I hope this is being recorded for training purposes" and hung up. I had no more calls from India.

[Megawatt]

I generally ask them if they are proud of what they do - do they go home to their families and tell them what a great day they've had and how many innocent people they have scammed out of their life savings - do they think they are setting a great example to their children - have they no shame at all .....

[Allan Bennett]

I deal with nuisance calls by setting my default ring tone to 'silent', and all my saved contacts to an audible ring tone.  So I don't hear the nuisance calls any more.  I can review my missed calls list from time to time to check if I've missed anyone, but usually anything important comes by text or by answerphone if they can't get through by phone.

[Andy Gates]

I used to "play" with double glazing sales people who were forever calling.

Our place was fully double glazed.

Once they knew that they switched tack to conservatory's which we did not have.

We let them going through their sale spiel adding bits and pieces to keep the conversation going.

Then they would get to the bit about the space available or could they visit to measure up, at this point I would ask how they could fit a conservatory on the 3rd or 4th floor of the building.

Reactions ranged from silence, slammed down receivers or some time swear words.

Soon the calls stopped as I suspect we got black listed from their database - job done.

[Peter Miller]

I once made a very serious mistake. I had a call offering me some vouchers and I accepted this. What I didn't realise that it was an excuse for double glazing salesmen to get in to the house.  It took me three hours and the threat of personal violence to get them out. Lesson learned.

 

Since then over the years I have had occasional calls with offer of vouchers. At that point I enjoy myself with the description of the morals. the ancestry and the personal habits of the callers and the representatives.  Only trouble is that I never seem to be allowed to finish my diatribe before they hang up

 

 

[Peter Miller]

JUst had a recorded phone message from my bank to the effect that two large payments have been made on my account, were they correct, press one for yes and two for no.

 

As they didn't mention which bank I phoned my main one and they checked my accounts and payments etc and agreed that it was a scam call.

Te fact that no bank name was given in the call was the most suspicious thing of all.

[Braddock, VC]

I don't know if all are aware but the telephone preference service, (TPS) now applies to cell phones, too.

 

tpsonline.org.uk

[Basil]

The TPS does not apply to overseas calls. There is nothing to stop anyone just ignoring the TPS, therefore the rip off merchants will still call, they dont abide by the rules.

TPS is only obeyed by bonafide companies.

Bas

[Andy Stephenson]

To add to this spoofing of numbers they call from and the TPS might as well not exist.

[Braddock, VC]

That's the finale on me trying to be helpful

[Ron Gray]

I got one purporting to be from Interparcel, who I use a lot, saying that a UPS delivery from abroad didn’t collect the correct duties and that I had to pay £30, reducing to £15 if I paid within 7 days. I said that right, I’d better pay it so, as I work locally to their offices (I don’t) I’ll be right round later on as my shift duties take me past but added not to be alarmed if they see a police car pull into their car park as I’ll still be on duty. Conversation ended at that point!

[Andy Stephenson]

Braddock, don't take it to heart, it's just the way the world is going.

[Ron Gray]

8 minutes ago, Braddock, VC said:

That's the finale on me trying to be helpful

I use TPS and whilst it may not work in all cases it certainly has cut down on the amount of unsolicited calls, so good to put it out there VC. 

[Peter Miller]

I had an email from USPS (United States Parcel Service)  

It was already in my Scam folder which saved me pressing a button

[Denis Watkins]

On 13/05/2021 at 11:57, Andy Stephenson said:

Braddock, don't take it to heart, it's just the way the world is going.

Was just reading through to qualify a post

And Braddock VC 

Never did come back, which is a shame, and I hope he reads this.