A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

[baz962]

Had the usual email about how i have been earmarked for 100,000,000 dollars. Different twist though. Apparently , banks in Nigeria , USA and some other country collectively owe this money to me , but due to horrible scammers and cons , they want to speak to me directly. Signed by some Aaron gentleman.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Has the annoying usual 'COMING UP' and 'HERE IS WHAT YOU SAW 5 MINUTES EARLIER!' daytime show format but if you watch it on iPlayer you can skip bits

See what you mean. How to pad out 20-25 minutes of material to "fill out" a 45 minute programme slot. Usually even worse on commercial TV real life documentaries which of course have numerous advert breaks, and where 20-25 minutes of original material will invariably be repeated in part and spread out over a whole hour.

 

[najaB]

See what you mean. How to pad out 20-25 minutes of material to "fill out" a 45 minute programme slot.

Largely because they're made for resale to US networks in mind. A 30-minute program usually has 23 minutes of actual content, and a 60-minute program is about 44 minutes of content.

 

[Howardh]

Largely because they're made for resale to US networks in mind. A 30-minute program usually has 23 minutes of actual content, and a 60-minute program is about 44 minutes of content.

Television is becoming so unwatchable I very rarely have it on. YouTube's blighted by ads too, but as a plus on some videos there is a timeline under with chapters so you can skip the parts that have no interest.
That's something these so-called reality shows could do on iPlayer, so you could skip the reminder parts.
But even worse is the start of many programmes spending the first three mins showing you what's coming up.
Thanks, I've seen the programme in that time and I won't bother!

 

[gg1]

But even worse is the start of many programmes spending the first three mins showing you what's coming up.

Definitely, who on earth thought 'look, here's a bunch of spoilers' was a good idea and what viewers want to see.

 

[Howardh]

Definitely, who on earth thought 'look, here's a bunch of spoilers' was a good idea and what viewers want to see.

Try that on Match of the Day showing all the goals!!

 

[Gloster]

Try that on Match of the Day showing all the goals!!

Do they still say, “If you don’t want to see the results, look away now,” on the news? Or is it all instant news nowadays? (I don’t have a TV so I don’t know.) I shouldn’t really take the thread off track: maybe it should be a new thread on familiar phrases that have disappeared.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Do they still say, “If you don’t want to see the results, look away now,” on the news?

Yes, they sometimes still do, particularly before a midweek edition of "Match of the Day".

Anyhoo, back to our regularly-programmed discussion on scam-busting !

 

[swt_passenger]

Dear antivirus scammers,

I regret to say I am totally confused, today I am informed in successive emails that my PC’s MacAfee has been terminated, and then that it is renewed.

I am still not really sure whether to go with the 75% discount for renewing the version that’s expired, or the 80% discount for renewing the other one that’s already been renewed.

I might just wait until it runs out again next week, perhaps the discounts will get even larger. Or will it be the turn of my Norton AV?

Sent from my phone, as I‘m far too worried to turn my PC on - that’s if I actually had one…

 

[BluePenguin]

Dear antivirus scammers,

I regret to say I am totally confused, today I am informed in successive emails that my PC’s MacAfee has been terminated, and then that it is renewed.

I am still not really sure whether to go with the 75% discount for renewing the version that’s expired, or the 80% discount for renewing the other one that’s already been renewed.

I might just wait until it runs out again next week, perhaps the discounts will get even larger. Or will it be the turn of my Norton AV?

Sent from my phone, as I‘m far too worried to turn my PC on - that’s if I actually had one…

Reading that made me laugh so much, I really needed this after today lol

 

[GusB]

My scam folder is full of stuff from maildealuk.com telling me that my order has been dispatched, delivery has failed etc. I find it all rather strange, as in order to have a delivery I would have needed to have placed an order in the first place.

I seem to recall that the last time I placed an order for anything, I was required to have money in the bank to cover it...

(There has been none of that since I gave my bank details to the lovely African prince who kindly emailed to say that there was a fortune waiting for me in an overseas account )

 

[nw1]

I often get the "silent treatment" pest call.

Phone rings in the middle of the day. No-one answers.

What the hell is that all about? Makes you want to say "For heaven's sake, if you want to try and defraud me, say something rather than just giving me the silent treatment..."

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I often get the "silent treatment" pest call.

Phone rings in the middle of the day. No-one answers.

What the hell is that all about? Makes you want to say "For heaven's sake, if you want to try and defraud me, say something rather than just giving me the silent treatment..."

Could be a genuine marketing call, or, of course, could be a scammer.

Automated calling systems make calls to whomever, if the call is answered, you'd normally expect to be put through to a salesperson straightaway (or scammer if you're particularly unlucky), but if there's no-one available, the call will then be dropped, so from your point of view, it'll seem like a silent call.

More here... (Link to OFCOM website)

Silent, abandoned and scam calls

www.ofcom.org.uk

Silent calls​

If the phone rang but there was no one on the other end of the line, complain to Ofcom.

Information about silent calls is important to us. Although we can’t investigate individual cases, your complaints can lead to investigations and to us taking action.

Read our guidance on abandoned and silent calls.

 

[317 forever]

I had a scam email the other day.

Last Saturday I bought a rail ticket online and used my paypal account. I got an email confirmation from [email protected]

Anyway, I received an email said to have been from a similar address [email protected] (plus a junk email address in light grey) which made out I had sent a payment in US Dollars. There was even a button I could press to cancel the payment. I have not pressed the cancel button as it is so unlikely to do any good.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I had a scam email the other day.

Last Saturday I bought a rail ticket online and used my paypal account. I got an email confirmation from [email protected]

Anyway, I received an email said to have been from a similar address [email protected] (plus a junk email address in light grey) which made out I had sent a payment in US Dollars. There was even a button I could press to cancel the payment. I have not pressed the cancel button as it is so unlikely to do any good.

You should consider forwarding the potentially dodgy e-mail to <[email protected]> . Genuine PayPal will then be able to look af it.

 

[87 027]

Watch out for email addresses and links using characters from different alphabets (e.g. Cyrillic) which look similar to the letters people are familiar with but are not the same and are not genuine!

 

[swt_passenger]

Gosh, I’m really having bad luck. Because as well as my non-existent McAfee and Norton subscriptions being cancelled or renewed every other week, they‘re now offering me great deals to renew my soon to expire but non-existent Netflix contract.

It must get a bit tedious if you actually do use some of these services…

 

[Mcr Warrior]

...they‘re now offering me great deals to renew my soon to expire but non-existent Netflix contract.

It must get a bit tedious if you actually do use some of these services…

Quite. It's a numbers game, of course, so clearly some will use Netflix. If you so wish, you can always on-send the dodgy "Notflix" e-mail to <[email protected]>. Link below...

Phishing or suspicious emails or texts claiming to be from Netflix

Tips for identifying and reporting possible phishing, fake, or scam emails or text messages.

help.netflix.com

 

[najaB]

...they‘re now offering me great deals to renew my soon to expire but non-existent Netflix contract.

Perhaps that's why Netflix's subscriber numbers dropped so precipitously, they were counting the fake ones too!

 

[swt_passenger]

Quite. It's a numbers game, of course, so clearly some will use Netflix. If you so wish, you can always on-send the dodgy "Notflix" e-mail to <[email protected]>. Link below...

Phishing or suspicious emails or texts claiming to be from Netflix

Tips for identifying and reporting possible phishing, fake, or scam emails or text messages.

help.netflix.com

I’ll do that, if only to add another one to the thousands they’ll see most days…

 

[John Webb]

Beautiful example of a scamming letter through the post this morning! A Spanish 'lawyer' writes from Madrid saying he had a client, a British ex-pat with the same surname as myself who died in 2018. Said gentleman died without a will and no known relations and has left 9.5 million euros in his bank account. The bank now wants the lawyer to finalise the gentleman's affairs and close the account. The lawyer asks that as I have the same surname, could he present me to the bank as the 'next-of-kin'. He goes on to propose we take 40% each and pass the remaining 20% to charities.

I feel like writing back and pointing out that this is fraud, which he ought to know about if he's any sort of lawyer! But the letter will be suitably disposed of, and he will not be hearing anything from me. (I wonder if Interpol would be interested in it?)

 

[Ostrich]

One current annoying phone scammer is "John from The Driveway Centre". He's a very busy boy, operating from at least 6 different UK landline numbers which I've blocked so far, and I suspect there's more to come .....

 

[Mcr Warrior]

One current annoying phone scammer is "John from The Driveway Centre". He's a very busy boy, operating from at least 6 different UK landline numbers which I've blocked so far, and I suspect there's more to come .....

Not had that one yet! When 'John' next calls, maybe tell him that you're an undischarged bankrupt. That'll probably get rid of him!

P.S. What's the actual scam? Grossly overpriced and substandard driveway resurfacing if you say 'yes'?

 

[Ostrich]

Not had that one yet! When 'John' next calls, maybe tell him that you're an undischarged bankrupt. That'll probably get rid of him!

P.S. What's the actual scam? Grossly overpriced and substandard driveway resurfacing if you say 'yes'?

No idea - I've never let him get as far as a sales pitch!

Initially, it's a phish for personal information ...

 

[najaB]

What's the actual scam? Grossly overpriced and substandard driveway resurfacing if you say 'yes'?

If by 'sub-standard' you mean non-existent, then most probably yes.

 

[bearhugger]

One current annoying phone scammer is "John from The Driveway Centre". He's a very busy boy, operating from at least 6 different UK landline numbers which I've blocked so far, and I suspect there's more to come .....

I hope he rings me, I'll let him do his sales pitch and say something along the lines of "You can do my 12th floor flat a driveway, yes?".

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Why do I think a scam call is being made when a male Indian sub-continent voice says "Hello, BT here. How are you today"?

I have not had a direct telephone call from the scammers for ages, so I just asked if it was BT who were calling, why the normal BT 0800 telephone number was not being used rather than one in the 01686 Montgomery, Powys area number shown on my phone screen. The scammer hung up quickly.

 

[ChrisC]

Why do I think a scam call is being made when a male Indian sub-continent voice says "Hello, BT here. How are you today"?

I have not had a direct telephone call from the scammers for ages, so I just asked if it was BT who were calling, why the normal BT 0800 telephone number was not being used rather than one in the 01686 Montgomery, Powys area number shown on my phone screen. The scammer hung up quickly.

A few weeks ago I had a series of similar calls from a female Indian sounding voice also saying she was from BT. This was a caller from an 01490 number from Corwen, Clwyd. Both rural areas in Wales. This lady introduced herself in a similar way but also knew my name. She actually became quite aggressive when I refused to listen to her.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

A few weeks ago I had a series of similar calls from a female Indian sounding voice also saying she was from BT. This was a caller from an 01490 number from Corwen, Clwyd. Both rural areas in Wales. This lady introduced herself in a similar way but also knew my name. She actually became quite aggressive when I refused to listen to her.

One of my elderly neighbours (all six of us are over 75 years old) is from a rural area in central Anglesey and is as fluent in Welsh as he is in English and used to work in the council building in Llangefni in a senior role. His method if telephoned from a number nothing like one he might expect a call to be made from is to speak only in Welsh.

 

[najaB]

His method if telephoned from a number nothing like one he might expect a call to be made from is to speak only in Welsh.

Not directly on-topic, but it reminds me of when I used to work in a BT call centre. We had a fair number of foreign students working there, as I live in a university town and is pretty easy work. It was a fairly common occurrence for a caller, on hearing an Indian/foreign accent to demand to "speak with someone in the UK". Most of them would back down when we explained where we actually were, but the ones who were particularly belligerent would get transferred to.... the Welsh helpdesk!