A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

[najaB]

Just an idle thought, but does the public at large in Russia suffer from this type of criminality?

Is there any reason to suspect that they don't?

 

[87 027]

Just an idle thought, but does the public at large in Russia suffer from this type of criminality?

I imagine the scammers fish in the pools where they consider the most people will swallow the bait and make it financially worth their while

We shouldn't fall into the trap of overthinking the targeting of individuals

 

[greatvoyager]

There is probably no research whatsoever. They're just ringing folk at random and seeing if anyone positively responds. Accident claim leads are a potential nice little earner!

You make a good point, I guess it’s a completely random exercise.

 

[oldman]

As a less-developed country the scale in Russia may be less, but it is not immune:

Cyber attacks have cost Russian companies and citizens up to 3.6 trillion roubles ($49 billion) this year, the country’s largest lender Sberbank said.

Russia has encouraged its citizens to switch to bank cards and limit cash use to try to crack down on the shadow economy, but the number of crimes linked to bank cards has shot up by 500% this year, the interior ministry has estimated.

Stanislav Kuznetsov, Sberbank’s deputy chairman, who oversees security and services, told Reuters private business and ordinary Russians were the main targets of cyber attacks, as the state security services are better protected.

Source:Reuters

 

[XAM2175]

I had one today telling me that there was a tax fraud case “under my name“. The recording said that I needed to press a number to get connected to an agent immediately or I would be arrested shortly. I hung up and am still waiting for the police to turn up several hours later...

These can be reported to HMRC:

Avoid and report internet scams and phishing

Find out how internet scams work and what to be aware of - misleading websites, report website fraud, suspicious communication and phishing

www.gov.uk

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I had a new one today from the "Mastercard department of your bank" mentioning the sum of £600.00 being transferred to an overseas country and the need for me to press "1" to speak to an advisor. I just let 10 seconds go by, saying nothing and they terminated the call. It was the usual American female voice that was used in the auto message.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Some 01327 numbers called me this week, in fact all on the same day. I picked up the last one as I wasn't taking a call at the time, and some nonsense about your Amazon account was playing. There were 3 or 4 similar numbers, otherwise nothing this past week.

 

[ABB125]

I'm pretty sure this is a scam. I mean, why would a "covid pass" (whatever one of those is) give me free entrance to theme parks etc? And that link looks a bit suspicious...

 

[najaB]

I'm pretty sure this is a scam. I mean, why would a "covid pass" (whatever one of those is) give me free entrance to theme parks etc? And that link looks a bit suspicious...
View attachment 99866

100% Scam.

 

[swt_passenger]

Them: “I’m your local home energy adviser, for your postcode, your home has been selected by the government blah, blah.”

Me: I’m glad you called, I’ve got a bad radiation leak from my oldest home reactor, I was thinking about getting a new one.

Them: “huh?”

Me: repeats same again…

Them: click…

 

[malc-c]

I don't use my mobile much, well with Covid and other things I've no need to. I went out videoing trains with a friend on Tuesday and took the phone with me. I received three phone calls form random numbers, which thanks to websites like "who called me" show these were scammers, but also I received a weird text from HMRC which came in on their standard text number. It juts stated that "we have received your complaint and a member of our team will contact you shortly by phone, text or e-mail". Now I do have dealings with HMRC, but haven't written to them in months, and then it wasn't a complaint. My gut feeling is that these scammers are hoping to catch someone who is in receipt of benefits or tax credits, so that when they then receive a call shortly after the text message they answer it and thus get caught and part with personal data as they believe the call is genuine. Lets face it, how often, even on legitimate calls do we get asked to confirm details as part of security.

The problem is all this **** doesn't help with the anxiety issues !

 

[Ostrich]

In the last 48 hours, we've received 10-12 alerts to our BT landline 1571 service telling us we have voicemail messages. These are all identical "automated" messages inviting us to visit a website and download a "What'sApp" style app. The number these messages are originating from, according to the 1571 intro, is the mobile number of a old friend, so I'm wondering if her phone or her contacts list has been hacked / spoofed in some way?

I have blocked her mobile number on BT Call Minder - but despite that, we've had another "round" of calls just now, which is annoying! (The blacklist should have directed the calls to 1572, not 1571, so I wouldn't get an alert). When I look at "recent calls" on our landline, all I'm getting up is our own landline number, because, I guess, I've been interacting with the 1571 service, not with the nuisance caller .......

Bit loathe to email the old friend about it just at the moment because we know she's away for the weekend, and it might worry her.

Has anyone else had similar, and how did you resolve it? Just wait until they get tired of calling? Report it to BT?

 

[najaB]

Bit loathe to email the old friend about it just at the moment because we know she's away for the weekend, and it might worry her.

Better to err on the side of caution and let her know. It's probably nothing to worry about, but it just takes one person to fall for it.

 

[75A]

If the caller is a 'real' person I have an old Guards whistle on my desk which I use.

 

[Ostrich]

Better to err on the side of caution and let her know. It's probably nothing to worry about, but it just takes one person to fall for it.

Thanks for that, najaB - duly actioned ......

 

[najaB]

If the caller is a 'real' person I have an old Guards whistle on my desk which I use.

One of my former colleagues had a whistle blown down her ear while on a call and it did permanent damage to her hearing. Unfortunately they weren't able to catch the person responsible, but if they had he would have been up on assault charges.

Please don't do this.

 

[75A]

One of my former colleagues had a whistle blown down her ear while on a call and it did permanent damage to her hearing. Unfortunately they weren't able to catch the person responsible, but if they had he would have been up on assault charges.

Please don't do this.

Then don't cold call people.

 

[najaB]

Then don't cold call people.

Would you punch a chugger in the street as well? Slap a JW person who rings your doorbell? But since it's over the phone somehow it's okay to assault someone.

As noted above, the people making the calls are usually just doing a job, many of them don't even know that there's a scam being pulled.

Not that it makes any difference, but my colleague wasn't cold calling. She was calling a customer about an outstanding bill that they didn't want to pay.

 

[75A]

I'm XDNC and actually have now got phones that require you to leave a message unless your number is programed in, so I don't get the problem anymore.
Got to ask, what on earth are Chuggers and a JW person?

Sorry for being 'dim' JW is probably Jehovah's Witness,

The 'thread' is called Scam Calls, and to me anyone 'cold calling' is scamming.

 

[najaB]

Got to ask, what on earth are Chuggers and a JW person?

Chugger is a portmanteau "charity mugger" - the people who stop you in the street to solicit donations.

The 'thread' is called Scam Calls, and to me anyone 'cold calling' is scamming.

There are legitimate reasons why you might receive an unsolicited call.

I'm XDNC and actually have now got phones that require you to leave a message unless your number is programed in, so I don't get the problem anymore.

Good. Then hopefully you won't end up committing criminal assault.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

A recent piece in the Mail

Let's give phone scammers the cold shoulder pad

According to new research Brits receive 150 million suspicious calls every week. Actress Stephanie Beacham, 74, is heading a campaign urging Brits to tell scammers to 'Push Off, Politely'.

www.dailymail.co.uk

contains a list of "How to spot a suspicious call"

It doesn't mention the obvious give-aways of the computerised voice or non-British accent and the background noise of the call centre.

 

[75A]

Chugger is a portmanteau "charity mugger" - the people who stop you in the street to solicit donations.


There are legitimate reasons why you might receive an unsolicited call.


Good. Then hopefully you won't end up committing criminal assault.

No need now I've got a phone that prevents them getting through.

 

[najaB]

No need now I've got a phone that prevents them getting through.

Then one has to wonder why you even bothered to mention your intention to commit criminal assault in the first place.

 

[GusB]

I'm XDNC and actually have now got phones that require you to leave a message unless your number is programed in, so I don't get the problem anymore.

I haven't seen the term "XD/NC" used for years!

To clarify, it's "Ex-directory, no calls", with the alternative being "XD/CO" (Ex-directory, calls offered).

I'd also caution against blowing a whistle down the phone, or screaming for that matter. It's not a very nice thing to do. With scammers I like to string them along for a bit before politely telling them what I think of their scamming attempt.

 

[75A]

Then one has to wonder why you even bothered to mention your intention to commit criminal assault in the first place.

Because we only got these new phones on Tuesday and prior to that the whistle was on my desk, just in case.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I'd also caution against blowing a whistle down the phone, or screaming for that matter. It's not a very nice thing to do. With scammers I like to string them along for a bit before politely telling them what I think of their scamming attempt.

The plan of action taken by me since the start of 2021 if I should answer the telephone and in recent times, a recorded voice message (usually both female and American) introduces the particular scam they represent (but they all ask "1" to be pressed) is to say nothing and after 10 seconds, the call is always disconnected at their end. That way, they have made no contact with me whatsoever.

 

[najaB]

I'd also caution against blowing a whistle down the phone, or screaming for that matter. It's not a very nice thing to do.

Blowing a whistle down the phone isn't just not a nice thing, it's criminal assault. Probably a breach of the Telecommunications Act too, now that I think about it.

 

[XAM2175]

Because we only got these new phones on Tuesday and prior to that the whistle was on my desk, just in case.

You're actually proud of your intention to assault people, aren't you?

 

[MarlowDonkey]

I had a new one the other day. It was a call to inform me that my protection against unwanted and blocked callers had expired. I told then I knew that as otherwise how did they get through. They terminated the call.

BT's 1572 service isn't much use because it doesn't filter calls from invalid numbers. It enables scam numbers to be logged but that doesn't achieve much because there's a limit on how many can be stored and in any case the call centres generate a different number each time.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

BT's 1572 service isn't much use because it doesn't filter calls from invalid numbers. It enables scam numbers to be logged but that doesn't achieve much because there's a limit on how many can be stored and in any case the call centres generate a different number each time.

One of my neighbours unfortunately has a telephone number that has the same number as a health centre in a nearby town, but the health centre has a different exchange. He uses the 1572 to log in all those callers ringing for the health centre, in order to deter repeat offenders, which he said happened often in the past.