A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

[najaB]

But then rather oddly, I received an almost identical text from HSBC (with whom I have no accounts) telling me that a new payee request had been created from an unrecognised device and to authorise or cancel by clicking on a link. As I have no contact whatsoever with HSBC, they cannot transfer money out of a non-existent account. So what's going on? I'm just going to ignore it.

Do you by any chance bank with M&S? They're owned by HSBC.

 

[Westcountryman]

Do you by any chance bank with M&S? They're owned by HSBC.

No I don't. I have no accounts with HSBC, no credit cards with them. Nothing1

 

[najaB]

No I don't. I have no accounts with HSBC, no credit cards with them. Nothing1

Then that is extremely strange. There's no way that a third-party would have any way of knowing that you just set up a new payee.

 

[Gloster]

I've just had something odd happen. Not a phone call but a text message.

I have been collaborating with my daughters to buy Christmas presents for my wife. My younger daughter ordered them and I needed to transfer some money via online banking to reimburse her. As I hadn't done this before I had to set up a new payee. The money transfer was fine.

However, after she had sent me confirmation of the transaction, I received a text from my bank, telling me that there was a new payee set up from an unrecognised device and to contact them if it wasn't me that had initiated it. It did have the name of the payee and it was correct. But then rather oddly, I received an almost identical text from HSBC (with whom I have no accounts) telling me that a new payee request had been created from an unrecognised device and to authorise or cancel by clicking on a link. As I have no contact whatsoever with HSBC, they cannot transfer money out of a non-existent account. So what's going on? I'm just going to ignore it.

There is a report of something similar in the Isle of Wight County Press [.iwcp.co.uk].

[Sorry, mods, but doing a direct link to the article is beyond me.]

 

[najaB]

Sorry, mods, but doing a direct link to the article is beyond me.

Here's the article in question: https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/18893824.iwasp-warning-islander-falls-foul-bank-scam/

An Island man has reported a scam to the Isle of Wight's trading standards experts - in the hope that others will not fall foul of something similar.

He received a text which appeared to be from his bank, claiming a new payee request had been created, on an unrecognised device.

To 'cancel' it, he needed to click a link.

It took him to a page that mimicked his bank's, which required personal details before the request could be blocked.

He was in a message that a member of the bank's fraud team would call him and help him to log into his account in a different way.

After hanging up, he contacted his bank and was told it had been a scam.

 

[Westcountryman]

No chance of me falling for this particular fraud, as I have no account with the bank. However the genuine ones I get from my bank actually mention the payee, so I'm sure it's genuine. As I did set up the transactions, there is no need to click on the link.

 

[najaB]

No chance of me falling for this particular fraud, as I have no account with the bank. However the genuine ones I get from my bank actually mention the payee, so I'm sure it's genuine. As I did set up the transactions, there is no need to click on the link.

It's quite an expensive fraud for them to undertake - unlike email, SMSs have a direct cost associated with sending them. Even at bulk message rates (typically around 1p per message) they'll be spending quite a bit casting the net. Though I suppose the payoff if they do manage hook someone can be quite profitable.

 

[Lucan]

I was rung up this morning by someone with an Indian accent who claimed to be calling from "the technical department of the [sic]Microsoft". The number he rang from was 07909 400367. Something didn't sound right to me and I told the caller I didn't believe him, and hung up. Just thought it might be useful to warn others on the forum.

You made it through to late 2020 without ever getting one of these calls before? That must be some kind of World Record!

 

[Gloster]

You made it through to late 2020 without ever getting one of these calls before? That must be some kind of World Record!

I have never had one either, but I keep my ‘phone switched off unless I am expecting a call.

 

[Lucan]

I have had a new one a week or so ago and again yesterday. Posh British male voice (recorded) tells me

Some of my calls sound like from Stephen Hawking. He must have faked his death and is now the front man for an Indian scam centre.

 

[ABB125]

I had one today (mobile phone), the first I've ever experienced not on a landline.

Phone rings. UK landline number (supposedly).
Hello?
Pause for a few seconds (presumably the time taken for the automated system to register that I've answered and connect an operative).
Hello?
Hello.
I'm calling from xxx insurance about your car crash recently (I can't remember the name they used, but it sounded legitimate).
Ummmm... (short pause) What crash?
The recent one you had.
I haven't had a car crash recently ((nor ever!); especially as I haven't driven a car since late September!)
Oh... what about any of your family members or friends?
Er... nope
Any medical negligence, accidents at work or anything?
Nope
Ok, bye.
Call ends.

It took me a bit of time to actually realise it was some sort of dodgy call (although it wasn't necessarily a scam, probably more of a cold call), at first I thought they must hav the wrong number. The woman on the line had no accent I could detect, and sounded normal.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Had a call on the stroke of 0900 this Saturday morning purportedly from "the BT technical engineering department". I said (in the full knowledge of it being a scam) that I had a BT engineer on the premises performing annual tasks as part of our BT Halo 2 plus package for which we had a 0900-1000 slot booked and asked if the caller would like to speak to the BT engineer himself. The caller hung up.

 

[Trackman]

Do you by any chance bank with M&S? They're owned by HSBC.

They own First Direct too.
Sightly OT: I'm with Lloyds group, if I set up a new payee I receive a message on screen and a verification number and told I will be called by an automated service.

 

[C J Snarzell]

There has been a bit of publicity recently about a nationwide scam involving Royal Mail Christmas deliveries.

A seemingly authentic RM e-mail is being sent out claiming the RM have tried to deliver an important document to the recipient's address and not been able to deliver it.

They then request a payment of £1.99 to re-deliver this item which involves putting in your payment details.

If anyone on the forum gets this e-mail just DELETE.

The Royal Mail post a little card through your door anyway if they cannot deliver something and they certainly would not know the householder's e-mail address.

CJ

 

[The Ham]

There has been a bit of publicity recently about a nationwide scam involving Royal Mail Christmas deliveries.

A seemingly authentic RM e-mail is being sent out claiming the RM have tried to deliver an important document to the recipient's address and not been able to deliver it.

They then request a payment of £1.99 to re-deliver this item which involves putting in your payment details.

If anyone on the forum gets this e-mail just DELETE.

The Royal Mail post a little card through your door anyway if they cannot deliver something and they certainly would not know the householder's e-mail address.

CJ

The only time Royal Mail will ask for money is of the value of the postage is too low, however again this is via a leaflet through the door.

 

[ainsworth74]

The only time Royal Mail will ask for money is of the value of the postage is too low, however again this is via a leaflet through the door.

Or if there is some sort of customs charge due. I've had to pay that before now when getting something from somewhere outside the EU (so I guess that might become more common in the future...).

 

[najaB]

The only time Royal Mail will ask for money is of the value of the postage is too low, however again this is via a leaflet through the door.

I think they also post a card if there's duty due on an international package.

so I guess that might become more common in the future..

A benefit of Brexit, no?

 

[C J Snarzell]

The only time Royal Mail will ask for money is of the value of the postage is too low, however again this is via a leaflet through the door.

I've had to pay for postal charges in the past, but I've had to visit the local sorting office and settle up over the counter. I've never done any electronic transactions with the Royal Mail.

CJ

 

[The Ham]

I've had to pay for postal charges in the past, but I've had to visit the local sorting office and settle up over the counter. I've never done any electronic transactions with the Royal Mail.

CJ

Likewise, but not for some time. As such I want sure if there was a new online payment system, however I was fairly sure that it would still be that there was something posted through the door advising of the fact.

 

[headshot119]

Likewise, but not for some time. As such I want sure if there was a new online payment system, however I was fairly sure that it would still be that there was something posted through the door advising of the fact.

You can pay online, but you still get the same card through the door with the details on.

 

[PeterC]

There has been a bit of publicity recently about a nationwide scam involving Royal Mail Christmas deliveries.

A seemingly authentic RM e-mail is being sent out claiming the RM have tried to deliver an important document to the recipient's address and not been able to deliver it.

They then request a payment of £1.99 to re-deliver this item which involves putting in your payment details.

If anyone on the forum gets this e-mail just DELETE.

The Royal Mail post a little card through your door anyway if they cannot deliver something and they certainly would not know the householder's e-mail address.

CJ

This is circlulating as a DPD delivery as well. I had expected a delivery the previous day and so started off thinking that it was genuine until I did a double take at the demand for a "redelivery fee". Unlike Royal Mail email addresses are passed on to DPD.

 

[d9009alycidon]

Wife got one this morning, this recorded message was to say that there was suspicious activity using her National Insurance Number, what will they think of next

 

[JohnMcL7]

I've just had something odd happen. Not a phone call but a text message.

I have been collaborating with my daughters to buy Christmas presents for my wife. My younger daughter ordered them and I needed to transfer some money via online banking to reimburse her. As I hadn't done this before I had to set up a new payee. The money transfer was fine.

However, after she had sent me confirmation of the transaction, I received a text from my bank, telling me that there was a new payee set up from an unrecognised device and to contact them if it wasn't me that had initiated it. It did have the name of the payee and it was correct. But then rather oddly, I received an almost identical text from HSBC (with whom I have no accounts) telling me that a new payee request had been created from an unrecognised device and to authorise or cancel by clicking on a link. As I have no contact whatsoever with HSBC, they cannot transfer money out of a non-existent account. So what's going on? I'm just going to ignore it.

I think the timing is just coincidence as there seems to be a few HSBC text scams at the moment and I received a similar one to you a few days after.

 

[Westcountryman]

A while ago I wrote about a scam call where you have to press a button to connect to an advisor. I thought that if you did you would be connected to a premium rate phone line and be charged a fortune. This was debunked and I am certain that this is not possible.

Forward to today. At lunchtime my mobile phone rang for about 2 seconds and then stopped. It was far too quick to answer. My phone recorded a missed call from 0845 134 1973. Six hours later, same thing except that the number this time was 0845 134 0474. The thing that worries me about call like this is that some people may dial the number to find out who called. In this case I think it is possible or even likely that this will connect to a premium phone line and cost money. I don't really know how much could be charged for a call like this. So my advice is to expect a scam and not to dial.

If anyone has any further info on calls like this i would be pleased to hear it.

 

[Nicholas43]

my mobile phone rang for about 2 seconds and then stopped. It was far too quick to answer. My phone recorded a missed call from 0845 134 1973. Six hours later, same thing except that the number this time was 0845 134 0474.

The cost of calling 0843, 0844 and 0845 numbers is made up of two parts: an access charge going to your phone company, and a service charge set by the organisation you are calling.

The service charge for calls to 084 numbers is between 0p and 7p per minute. The service charge must be clearly displayed wherever the phone number is advertised or promoted.

The access charge – which is additional to the service charge – will vary depending on your phone company, and can range from 8p to 65p per minute.

See Ofcom's website for more information.

 

[pdeaves]

The service charge for calls to 084 numbers is between 0p and 7p per minute. The service charge must be clearly displayed wherever the phone number is advertised or promoted.

Of course, a scam number won't be advertised or promoted but could well catch the unwary (especially those who associate 0845 with 'local rate' and thus think it's a cheap call).

 

[Trackman]

I've just had something odd happen. Not a phone call but a text message.

I have been collaborating with my daughters to buy Christmas presents for my wife. My younger daughter ordered them and I needed to transfer some money via online banking to reimburse her. As I hadn't done this before I had to set up a new payee. The money transfer was fine.

However, after she had sent me confirmation of the transaction, I received a text from my bank, telling me that there was a new payee set up from an unrecognised device and to contact them if it wasn't me that had initiated it. It did have the name of the payee and it was correct. But then rather oddly, I received an almost identical text from HSBC (with whom I have no accounts) telling me that a new payee request had been created from an unrecognised device and to authorise or cancel by clicking on a link. As I have no contact whatsoever with HSBC, they cannot transfer money out of a non-existent account. So what's going on? I'm just going to ignore it.

One of my friends received a HSBC text today found and out it's a scam.
I wont give the full link out, but it began with 'cancelpayee'

 

[JohnMcL7]

A while ago I wrote about a scam call where you have to press a button to connect to an advisor. I thought that if you did you would be connected to a premium rate phone line and be charged a fortune. This was debunked and I am certain that this is not possible.

Forward to today. At lunchtime my mobile phone rang for about 2 seconds and then stopped. It was far too quick to answer. My phone recorded a missed call from 0845 134 1973. Six hours later, same thing except that the number this time was 0845 134 0474. The thing that worries me about call like this is that some people may dial the number to find out who called. In this case I think it is possible or even likely that this will connect to a premium phone line and cost money. I don't really know how much could be charged for a call like this. So my advice is to expect a scam and not to dial.

If anyone has any further info on calls like this i would be pleased to hear it.

My guess is it's an auto dialler trying to find valid phone numbers since it just needs your phone to ring briefly then they can add it to a list for other systems to use, looking up one of the numbers there's a comment from a user that when they answered they briefly received a message that the number had been verified and then disconnected.

 

[dgl]

Best thing we ever got was a combination of caller display and one of the BT 8500(?) call blocking/screening phones. Asks any non-approved caller (either someone who has previously called or is in the phone book) for their name (and possibly a key press to confirm) which then gets played back to the recipient who can then block (either once or always iirc) or allow the call, automated calls can't handle the system and a lot of foreigners can't understand it either, to that fact I can't remember the last time we had a scam call come through.

 

[JohnMcL7]

Best thing we ever got was a combination of caller display and one of the BT 8500(?) call blocking/screening phones. Asks any non-approved caller (either someone who has previously called or is in the phone book) for their name (and possibly a key press to confirm) which then gets played back to the recipient who can then block (either once or always iirc) or allow the call, automated calls can't handle the system and a lot of foreigners can't understand it either, to that fact I can't remember the last time we had a scam call come through.

My experience is the same and I'd highly recommend them since it's worth answering the phone rather than just ignore it and if it's important they'd leave a message. There's been a few occasions where I've disabled the Call Guardian while a relative was in hospital to make sure they could get through and it was a good reminder of how many calls are blocked by the system.