Current Phone Scam - Be warned

H

Herne

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 March 2009
Messages
373
Visit site


I have just (15th September 2009 15:36 BST) been the target of an attempted telephone fraud.

I answered the phone and a man said that he was calling from OffCom, with regard to the letter that they had sent on 1st September. He then said that they had tried to contact me by telephone last Thursday.

He told me that the letter had informed me that my line was being switched from analogue to digital with effect from midnight tonight and that I was supposed to have made contact with them before this time.

I had, so he said, to make a one-off payment to OffCom of £6.00 for the privilege of having this transfer made. If I didn’t make the payment before Midnight tonight, my phone would be disconnected and an engineer would have to call to reconnect it, which would take 7 to 10 days. Of course, I didn’t have to make the payment, it was entirely my choice to be cut off for a week.

He then asked me if I had noticed that my phone had already been restricted to incoming calls only? “No”, said I. “Hang up,” said he, “and then try to make an outgoing call and then I will call you back.”

I hung up and sure enough, when I tried to make a call, there was no dialling tone. I hung up again and in a minute or so, he rang back.

He then said that my phone would remain like that until the transfer fee was paid, and if not paid by midnight, then the engineer would be required and it would remain like that for 7 – 10 days.

“Why can’t you just put it on my Bill?” I asked. “Because we are not BT, we’re OffCom. Your Bill with BT is entirely separate” (Quite cunning, that bit, I thought.)

“So,” said I, “I’m just supposed to take your word for this, am I?” “No,” he said, “We wrote to you and explained it all.”

Me: “But, seeing as I didn’t get the letter, how do I know that you are from OffCom?”

Him: “Who else would have the power to stop you making out-going calls? That’s a very technical process.”

Me: “Not if you just didn’t hang up, when I did. Then the reason that I couldn’t call out would be because I was still connected to you.”

Him: “Only for a matter of seconds.”

This was where I was absolutely sure that he was talking bullshit. “Can you call me back in half an hour, please?” I said.

That confused him. He passed me on to his supervisor.

“Hello,” said the Supervisor, “this is the International Bank of Nigeria calling. We have discovered that you have a chicken in your bank account which has resulted in a freeze on your assets. Please could we have your account number, sort code and P.I.N. in order to remove it?”

I had to laugh at the sheer gall of the cheeky sod!

He then told me that I was one of the first people to refuse to pay – which is why he decided to talk to me – and then went on to ask me what had given them away and what they could do to make it better? Talk about brass neck…!

He then asked me whether I would have fallen for his other scam, which is where they ring up claiming to be BT and did I know that my Bank had cancelled my Direct Debit? Obviously this was a matter between me and my bank but in the meantime, they had put my line on incoming calls only (followed by the bullshit about try making a call) and if I wanted it reconnected then I could make a credit card payment.

That one sounded as if it would be a bit more plausible.

So there it is. It happened to me, not much over two hours ago. Anyone relatively well-informed about technology should pick up on it, but we all know people who might easily be conned, so let anyone you might be concerned about know.
 
Cheeky sod!
blush.gif

Wonder how much they have conned out of people who diddnt think to question them?
mad.gif


[ QUOTE ]
He then asked me whether I would have fallen for his other scam, which is where they ring up claiming to be BT and did I know that my Bank had cancelled my Direct Debit? Obviously this was a matter between me and my bank but in the meantime, they had put my line on incoming calls only (followed by the bullshit about try making a call) and if I wanted it reconnected then I could make a credit card payment.

That one sounded as if it would be a bit more plausible.

[/ QUOTE ]
It is,is'nt it?
We had that one a while ago,they hung up pretty shapish when I laughed and told them WE had stoped paying via DD a year before his call..and that someone from BT would know that
tongue.gif
 
This scam has been running for a while now - there should be a way of screening your calls for dodgy Nigerians. I'm sure there are nice ones, but every scam originates from there it seems!
 
Have you reprted this to the Police and BT? It might be that they can trace this scammer before he tricks some poor old person out of money then sends his friends with other scams round to polish off their entire life savings!

Pond scum!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
This scam has been running for a while now - there should be a way of screening your calls for dodgy Nigerians. I'm sure there are nice ones, but every scam originates from there it seems!

[/ QUOTE ]

He wasn't Nigerian, he was British (Birmingham from the accent) but calling from abroad. The Nigerian thing was just a topical joke (on his part).

[ QUOTE ]
Have you reprted this to the Police and BT? It might be that they can trace this scammer before he tricks some poor old person out of money then sends his friends with other scams round to polish off their entire life savings!

Pond scum!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I rang BT but they were supremely disinterested. They did confirm that it was an untraceable foreign number, though.
 
Oh my latest one is that HM Revenue and Customs want to send me tax back and wanted all the bank account details et al

I just laughed at the scammer and told him that the British Government does not give us British People ANYTHING back-they only take the shirt off your back!

Told him to do like the eastern block do-come over here and live for free-no need to work hard scamming every again-free house, free benefits, free phone, free health care, free satellite!

Would think a mass exodus now from nigeria!
 
This would be better placed in New Lounge. Ridiculous scams like this one are not Latest News!
I had the Inland Revenue one as well a week or two back, and duly reported it to IR.
 
According to the front page, the New Lounge is for General Equestrian items, which this is not.

As it happened yesterday, it is current, and as I was seemingly one of the first people to have refused to pay this guy, it is obviously "news" to some people less worldly-wise than yourself...
 
Sorry I forgot that New Lounge is now for equestrian - it's Soapbox for non-equestrian chat.

What evidence have you that you were one of the first people to refuse to pay this con-man? You cannot think the guy who told you that was telling the truth about that!

It's really hard to credit that there are many people who would fall for such an obvious load of nonsense. There are certainly some clever scams around, but this isn't one of them. By the way, for future reference there's no such body as offcom. I presume you were thinking of ofcom.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry I forgot that New Lounge is now for equestrian - it's Soapbox for non-equestrian chat.

[/ QUOTE ]

Soapbox is registered users only. I felt that this had a wider pertinence.

[ QUOTE ]
What evidence have you that you were one of the first people to refuse to pay this con-man? You cannot think the guy who told you that was telling the truth about that!

[/ QUOTE ]

What reason did he have to lie? It gained him nothing, wasted him time, and cost him money.

If lots of people were refusing all the time, it would just be a case of "Ok. [Click] Next..." The fact that the first guy was confused and the second guy suprised hints that it doesn't happen that often...

You obviously think that this was somehow still part of the scam? Explain...?

[ QUOTE ]
It's really hard to credit that there are many people who would fall for such an obvious load of nonsense. There are certainly some clever scams around, but this isn't one of them.

[/ QUOTE ]

You only need to read any local rag on a regular basis to see that there are loads of people who fall for all sorts of scams. Look at how many people still get diddled by the Nigerian scam or the fake e-mails from their banks or PayPal.

As I said, not everyone is as worldy-wise as you. If you are above such things, count your blessings and move on. Why bother trying to big yourself up by putting other people down?

Real big people don't need to big themselves up.

[ QUOTE ]
By the way, for future reference there's no such body as offcom. I presume you were thinking of ofcom.

[/ QUOTE ]

Correcting spelling mistakes? Wow, is your self-esteem really that low...?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sorry I forgot that New Lounge is now for equestrian - it's Soapbox for non-equestrian chat.

What evidence have you that you were one of the first people to refuse to pay this con-man? You cannot think the guy who told you that was telling the truth about that!

It's really hard to credit that there are many people who would fall for such an obvious load of nonsense. There are certainly some clever scams around, but this isn't one of them. By the way, for future reference there's no such body as offcom. I presume you were thinking of ofcom.

[/ QUOTE ]

OMG who died and made you forum police
laugh.gif
tongue.gif
 
sounds like SJFAN got out of bed on the wrong side... no need for nasty, sniping comments.

and obviosuly this scam DOES work- do you really think these people would spend all day ringing people in the UK if no-one ever fell for it???

i know, my elderly grandmother for one would fall for this as she isn't technically minded and is easy to lead on- it doesn't make her stupid, it makes her old!!!!!
 
Herne - I really did not intend to offend you.

You are a Registerd user so are allowed to post in Soapbox should you wish to.

I would have been very surprised if the second man you spoke to had told you that other people had refused to pay. Of course he wanted to make you think you were alone in doubting the validity of the demand. Why would it have cost him money? If he has the same type of phone account that we have, all calls to landlines lasting less than 1 hour are free.

Our local paper is certainly not full of stories about people falling for scams.

I was not trying to put you down.

I have always expected to have my own mistakes pointed out - corrections are part of the learning curve on which we are all on throughout our lives. I merely thought you might find it useful to know the correct name of the organisation that the scammer claimed to represent.

Again I apologise for any offence caused.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You are a Registerd user so are allowed to post in Soapbox should you wish to.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am fully aware of that. However, Soapbox can only be read by registered users and, as I said, I thought it had a wider pertinence than that.

[ QUOTE ]
I would have been very surprised if the second man you spoke to had told you that other people had refused to pay. Of course he wanted to make you think you were alone in doubting the validity of the demand.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why? Why would he care one little jot what I think about it?

In fact, if anything, surely it would be better for him if I thought that everyone saw through it, because then I would be less likely to bother to warn other potential victims about it or contact the police.

More to the point, however, why the second man at all? If I’m a miss, simply hang up and move on to the next target. As the telemarketers say: “Some will, some won’t, so what? Next!”

What earthly point was there to his conversation with me at all?


[ QUOTE ]
Why would it have cost him money? If he has the same type of phone account that we have, all calls to landlines lasting less than 1 hour are free.

[/ QUOTE ]

International?


[ QUOTE ]
I was not trying to put you down.

[/ QUOTE ]

Really?

“…ridiculous…” “what evidence do you have…” “…you cannot think…” “…it’s really hard to credit…” “…obvious load of nonsense…” “… this isn’t [clever]…” Plus of course the cute spelling mistake correction.

Forgive me for being dubious.


[ QUOTE ]
I have always expected to have my own mistakes pointed out - corrections are part of the learning curve on which we are all on throughout our lives. I merely thought you might find it useful to know the correct name of the organisation that the scammer claimed to represent.

Again I apologise for any offence caused.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was not offended, merely bemused by the [unintentional] put downs.

The apology would come across as more sincere if not preceded by the patronisation, but thank you anyway.
 
Well, well, lookee here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8263637.stm

It seems that SJFAN was right, this didn't belong in "Latest News", it should have been in "Advance News".

That's right, folks, you heard it here first...

It seems that now a genuine, full and sincere (and possibly even slightly grovelling) apology is due to be coming my way from SJFAN...
 
I already apologised for any offence caused. If you don't believe it was genuine, I don't think there's any more I can do.

I heard the item on Radio 4 this morning. Tt is not quite the same scam as the one you wrote about. In the one the BBC is publicising the caller claims to be from British Telecom and saying the account is in arrears. Of course it could be the same people - a variant on the line they tried on you. It's just as daft, or is it the case that people don't keep records of having paid their bills? Sorry if that sounds harsh, and yes I do realise that there are vulnerable people out there. I truly hope they don't get conned by these people or any other scoundrels.
 
Third paragraph from the end of the original post...

So, on one side there's me and British Telecom and the BBC that think that it is worth warning people about.

And on the other side, there's you and ... well, there's just you, really.

All that self-righteous stuff about learning curves sort of loses its value when faced with an inability to admit that one is in the wrong.

'Nuff said.
 
I'm sorry if it came across as self-righteous: it is simply fact that people learn throughout their lives (well most of us anyway) and I hate the concept introduced in schools that correcting pupils' work stifles their creativeness!

I am very ready to admit that I was totally wrong in that I failed to realise that there could many people who could be deceived by such an amateur sounding scam. I make a point of forwarding scam emails (which as you will know are very numerous) to the organisations they claim to be from, and let them take the appropriate measures - just sent one to Alliance & Leicester.

I apologise for being old, cynical and sometimes crabby.
 
Well that was gracious - which in turn makes me feel guilty for being beligerent.

Bloody-mindedness is a failing that I recognise in myself but which I make little effort to correct.

I also apologise for crabbiness.
 
I would just like to add it is nice to see someone well and truly OWNING somebody on here.
grin.gif


Well done herne, (in all seriousness from above statement!) you have raised to my attention a very serious situation which, given my nerves about speaking on the phone, I may very well have fallen for.

Plus it is good to see someone who doesn't back down to ridiculous, pointless, criticism on here, which HHO is famed for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top