[Finance] ******** The Scam Thread *********

[Peteinblack]

Getting 4-6 cold calls per day on (otherwise rarely used) landline - sometimes before 8.00 on a Saturday morning, and sometimes 2 calls in 5 minutes.

All are pre-recorded messages (usually with an American accent) purporting to be from Amazon Prime, BT Broadband ("Your internet service is about to be terminated....."), or British Gas.

We block them, but a day or two later, they phone again with a different, or withheld, number.

 

[Official Old Man]

Just going to bounce this up because my mate just responded to an email from the NHS. Although older than me, he is still bright but actually filled in the email response with his bank details, mothers maiden name and other personal details. He got as far as filling in the form to pay £5 by credit card but called me before pushing the 'send' button. My concern was that having filled in an online form the details may have been transferred prior to pushing the final button. He was straight on to the bank to cancel everything.
But the fact that this intelligent guy fell for the scam only goes to show how easy it is.
PLEASE TELL EVERYONE NOT TO RESPOND AND IF IN DOUBT, CALL YOUR SURGERY FIRST.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

Amazon have some gizmo for sale which comes pre-loaded with thousands of known scam phone numbers and blocks them. I wonder how good this would actually be as these feckers use robo-callers which continually change their numbers.

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

Just a heads up.

A recorded message about HMRC arrest warrant sent from 01274 505766 to my mobile recently. Blocked and reported.

 

[Ding Dong !]

Just a heads up.

A recorded message about HMRC arrest warrant sent from 01274 505766 to my mobile recently. Blocked and reported.

Had this to, very pleased to get a heads up from them prior to the Police arriving, gave me a head start and chance to leg it !!! Very considerate

 

[GT49er]

I think this was the one you got.

Beware fake Covid vaccination invites, NHS warns https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55811161

Yes, this one is very convincing - I only suspected it was a scam when it asked for my bank details to pay a booking fee (I didn't give them!).

 

[albionfan37]

Just had an automated call from HMRC saying I’d be arrested if my tax records aren’t updated etc etc 022 2444 5556
That’s the number they called from

 

[rippleman]

022 2444 5556 has been used for several telephone scams. I think the number originates in India.

Anyway - as everybody knows (hopefully) you don't get arrested for not "updating your tax records" whatever that might actually mean.

 

[AmexRuislip]

022 2444 5556 has been used for several telephone scams. I think the number originates in India.

Anyway - as everybody knows (hopefully) you don't get arrested for not "updating your tax records" whatever that might actually mean.

https://who-called.co.uk/Number/02224445556

 

[Official Old Man]

HMRC SEISS For self employed only, fourth payment.
email that looked very genuine regarding the fourth payment by HMRC to us self employed. It occurred to me that the fourth payment was to be announced in March so triple checked it. Link goes to 1st-fx.com/tax so knew then it was a fake.

 

[sparkie]

I am expecting a tax refund as HMRC had asked for tax returns for the last 4 years. So I sent them off and had calculated I had paid too much.

I received an email saying I was getting a refund on my tax for 2016-2020 and to click a button if wanted a rapid payment. So I checked the email sender and it was a random goon with a Japanese address.

Nearly fooled me, but it was pretty astounding that they randomly guessed that I was due a refund for the exact 2016-2020 period. They could have said 2018-2020 for example. Spooky !

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

loads of scam ant-virus renewal emails flying around saying that they are from either Norton or McAfee. Most look rubbish but there are some very convincing ones mixed in.

 

[Weststander]

Getting 4-6 cold calls per day on (otherwise rarely used) landline - sometimes before 8.00 on a Saturday morning, and sometimes 2 calls in 5 minutes.

All are pre-recorded messages (usually with an American accent) purporting to be from Amazon Prime, BT Broadband ("Your internet service is about to be terminated....."), or British Gas.

We block them, but a day or two later, they phone again with a different, or withheld, number.

Do you ever pick up the calls as you receive them?

 

[nicko31]

Call after call from Amazon prime, press 1 to stop your subscription.

I used to prefer it when they would actually speak to you, if I was bored would have a bit of fun with them and see how long I could keep them on the line

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Slight change to all of the above - been getting automated calls to my mobile to say I will be cut of within 24 hours due to something dodgy with my IP - it's a pay as you go and despite 5+ calls of this nature is still working fine with EE

Also had a couple of recent "Life Insurance" calls with a very strong Asian accent. They're not trying to sell you a policy, they are interested in buying your policy off you. Not a genuine scam as such, but more of a shady, underhand business model - I hung up. Same call today and when I told the Asian lady I didn't have a life insurance policy, she politely said her goodbyes and hung up, unlike the genuine scammers who don't have the manners to close the call out politely.

A few previous scam calls, once they had worked out I knew they we attempting to scam me, yelled that I was a "mudder fukker!" before hanging up - salt of the earth people ....

 

[Boys 9d]

I had a phone call offering to stop me getting cold calls. He got very annoyed when I pointed out that his was a cold call.

 

[Peteinblack]

Do you ever pick up the calls as you receive them?

If we pick-up but say nothing, they end the call immediately.
If we pick-up and speak, it activates their pre-recorded message.

Now, we just refuse to answer at all - as soon as the answer-phone starts ("Please leave a message after the tone"), they end their call.

It's still annoying, though, particularly first thing on a weekend morning or in the evening, or when you are genuinely expecting a call from someone.

 

[Weststander]

If we pick-up but say nothing, they end the call immediately.
If we pick-up and speak, it activates their pre-recorded message.

Now, we just refuse to answer at all - as soon as the answer-phone starts ("Please leave a message after the tone"), they end their call.

It's still annoying, though, particularly first thing on a weekend morning or in the evening, or when you are genuinely expecting a call from someone.

Hi,

That what was I going to say. By answering, their systems then target you in the future, making it a vicious circle.

I'm not sure why, but my guess would be that they sell on lists of those who answer to scammers or their colleagues, making later scams more effective.

By coincidence, I had an International Call on our landline today and ignored it. We only have a BT landline, as that enables us to a hard-wired ISP of our choosing.

 

[Jack Straw]

A nice Asian sounding gentleman who said his name was Leo, phoned me this morning to inform me that I'm paying too much for my boiler maintenance. What he didn't know is that I don't have a boiler! Acting thick (which comes naturally to me) gets rid of them quickly.

 

[Bob!]

Had a very good email from 'The Post Office' asking for me to pay Customs duty on a recent parcel.

Might have fallen for it if I'd posted anything recently.