A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

[Typhoon]

Interesting phone call today from a firm who claimed they'd installed loft insulation for me "some years ago". They rang off very quickly when I pointed out they'd done no such thing!

i'd have been tempted to reply with 'Who are you again, Trading Standards had a look and asked if I could remember who did it!'

 

[ChrisC]

Interesting phone call today from a firm who claimed they'd installed loft insulation for me "some years ago". They rang off very quickly when I pointed out they'd done no such thing!

I also had a call this morning from a loft insulation company. They initially asked if floor of my loft was completely insulated and when I said it was at quite a depth they tried to tell me that their records indicated that it had wasn’t sufficient. As soon as I tried to say that if I wanted any more insulation I would sort it out myself they rang off before I could finish my sentence.

 

[GusB]

Interesting phone call today from a firm who claimed they'd installed loft insulation for me "some years ago". They rang off very quickly when I pointed out they'd done no such thing!

It wasn't a scam as such, but for years my mum was plagued by sales calls from Weatherseal. She had moved into a rental property so used that as an excuse to get rid of them quickly. She took the phone number with her, but the company had failed to realise that the house she'd moved from recently had double glazing installed by... Weatherseal!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Interesting phone call today from a firm who claimed they'd installed loft insulation for me "some years ago". They rang off very quickly when I pointed out they'd done no such thing!

It's possible that it was a re-used phone number, if you'd moved soon before? When I had a landline (how quaint!) I had this from time to time.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Has there been more use by the scammers of mobile phone numbers to contact their victims, than was the case some years ago?

 

[htafc]

Has there been more use by the scammers of mobile phone numbers to contact their victims, than was the case some years ago?

Quite probably.

It's possible that it was a re-used phone number, if you'd moved soon before? When I had a landline (how quaint!) I had this from time to time.

Come on, I love landlines!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Yesterday, one of my neighbours took a recorded-voice call with the usual harsh American female voice stating that a purchase of over £900 in value had been made on his account and to press 1 to establish this was in order. Of course, hearing the American female voice, he just hung up.

 

[John Webb]

It's possible that it was a re-used phone number, if you'd moved soon before? When I had a landline (how quaint!) I had this from time to time.

I've had the number from new when cable first arrived in the area. The caller's telephone 'line' (it was apparently a mobile number) was atrocious in quality but they even took the trouble to ring me back when I said I couldn't hear what they were saying. Had my name and address correct, but the still atrocious line meant hearing the company name was impossible; possibly a deliberate ploy?

 

[1D54]

I must have 20+ numbers blocked on my mobile that have been answered only to be so obviously callers up to no good. Blocking also puts a stop to texts.

 

[DelayRepay]

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet:

100 people arrested in UK’s biggest fraud investigation

Scotland Yard shuts down iSpoof website, which helped scammers steal using fake bank phone calls

www.theguardian.com

More than 100 people have been arrested in the UK’s biggest ever fraud operation, which brought down a website police describe as a “one-stop spoofing shop” used by scammers to steal tens of millions of pounds from Britons via fake bank phone calls.

It is estimated that more than 200,000 potential victims were targeted via the iSpoof fraud website, which was taken down this week by Scotland Yard’s cybercrime unit with the help of the authorities in the US and Ukraine.

At one stage almost 20 people every minute of the day were being contacted by scammers hiding behind false identities created using the site and it is estimated that criminals may have stolen close to £50m. The actual amount is likely to be higher as fraud is often underreported.

This just shows the industrial nature of the fraud/scam threat we face, and it is good that the UK police and overseas law enforcement worked together to close this site down. For too long the Police have failed to deal with fraud properly, leaving it to banks to reimburse victims. Hopefully some long prison sentences will make other people thinking of committing this type of crime think again.

 

[Bevan Price]

I keep getting emails from someone using the name Jane Cole (never heard of anyone with that name) saying "she obviously should have sent these photos earlier" and including a (probably dodgy) link to goodness knows where. (I never click the links)
Has anyone else been getting similar messages ??

 

[3141]

Yes, or similar wording such as "Here are the photos", or "I'm now sending you the photos". Like you I ignore the temptation to click on the link. But it's quite a clever scam because recipients will naturally be curious to see what the phots are. Actually it's a few weeks since I last had one of these messages, and I think they used different names for the sender.

 

[Sprinter107]

Yes, or similar wording such as "Here are the photos", or "I'm now sending you the photos". Like you I ignore the temptation to click on the link. But it's quite a clever scam because recipients will naturally be curious to see what the phots are. Actually it's a few weeks since I last had one of these messages, and I think they used different names for the sender.

Yes, im getting them too. Ive had 3 from a bloke called Jeremy Everett rambling on about sending photos. I've deleted them and thought id blocked the email, but ive just had yet another telling me I must take a look at the latest 4 photographs.

 

[londonbridge]

I’m regularly getting “your package delivery notification” emails claiming to be from the likes of FedEx, UPS or DHL, as well as plenty of messages that all say “re: second attempt for (my name) which are trying to make think they’ve tried to deliver something and missed me. Or “re: your recent (company name) purchase, when I haven’t ordered anything. Otherwise it’s “you have won a…..”, checking my spam box on one occasion I found I’d “won” an air fryer, a drill set, three Samsung 4K televisions and no fewer than five IPhone 14 Pro’s……Many of them claim to be from various US companies including Walmart, now if the scammers were any good they’d know roughly my country of residence and also the fact that Walmart don’t ship to the UK……

 

[DelayRepay]

I’m regularly getting “your package delivery notification” emails claiming to be from the likes of FedEx, UPS or DHL, as well as plenty of messages that all say “re: second attempt for (my name) which are trying to make think they’ve tried to deliver something and missed me.

There are loads of these doing the rounds. They are usually especially prevalent during November/December when a lot of people will be expecting parcels due to online Christmas Shopping. They send thousands, so there's a good chance that at least some of the recipients will be expecting a parcel.

They are nasty. If you click the link, they'll normally ask you to fill in a form and pay £1 to arrange re-delivery. They've then got all your information and your card details. From your card number they know where you bank. They'll call you later claiming to be from the bank, saying they've spotted a £1 transaction to a fraudulent website, and encourage you to move your money to their 'safe account' to protect it.

People fall for this and loose tens of thousands of pounds because the call can be very convincing - they know a lot about you because you've filled in their form.

So beware!

And also beware of HMRC impersonation which is rife at the moment due to the self-assessment deadline being 31 January.

 

[Lost property]

There are loads of these doing the rounds. They are usually especially prevalent during November/December when a lot of people will be expecting parcels due to online Christmas Shopping. They send thousands, so there's a good chance that at least some of the recipients will be expecting a parcel.

They are nasty. If you click the link, they'll normally ask you to fill in a form and pay £1 to arrange re-delivery. They've then got all your information and your card details. From your card number they know where you bank. They'll call you later claiming to be from the bank, saying they've spotted a £1 transaction to a fraudulent website, and encourage you to move your money to their 'safe account' to protect it.

People fall for this and loose tens of thousands of pounds because the call can be very convincing - they know a lot about you because you've filled in their form.

So beware!

And also beware of HMRC impersonation which is rife at the moment due to the self-assessment deadline being 31 January.

The HMRC scam is hilarious and has been around for a few years...only the electronic voice gender changes because let's face it, it's very kind of HMRC to let you know a warrant has been issued for your arrest....and then there's the "your National Insurance number has been detected for fraud "....apparently, mine was in West Wales...which narrows the are down then.

Simple policy...if I don't recognise the number, it doesn't get answered...if it's genuine, the caller will leave a message on voicemail.

 

[DelayRepay]

The HMRC scam is hilarious and has been around for a few years...only the electronic voice gender changes because let's face it, it's very kind of HMRC to let you know a warrant has been issued for your arrest....and then there's the "your National Insurance number has been detected for fraud "....apparently, mine was in West Wales...which narrows the are down then.

Simple policy...if I don't recognise the number, it doesn't get answered...if it's genuine, the caller will leave a message on voicemail.

The ones we've seen recently (I work in banking) have been SMS messages or emails, which say you're due a tax refund and provide a helpful link to claim it. There is no tax refund, but they will collect lots of personal data which they can then use to scam you. As organisations like HMRC have started to use more emails and SMS messages for genuine communications, more people fall for the fake ones.

I am surprised anyone still falls for the 'electronic voice' whether it's from HMRC, Amazon or anywhere else, but the SMS and emails can be a lot more convincing.

 

[busestrains]

I find those HMRC scam calls are so common these days. I have had over thirty of those calls in the last five years. It is always scammers in India with very poor English reading out the same script that there is an arrest warrant for me because i have not paid the correct amount of taxes. They always want you to go to the shop and buy gift cards to pay them. I like to have some fun wasting their time and keeping them on the phone for as long as i can.

 

[AM9]

Simple policy...if I don't recognise the number, it doesn't get answered...if it's genuine, the caller will leave a message on voicemail.

The problem there is that various calls fom within the NHS are now presenting local numbers (as one might expect) and won't leave a message for privacy reasons, so you have to pick up on numbers that,you don't know.

 

[Amos]

I’m regularly getting “your package delivery notification” emails claiming to be from the likes of FedEx, UPS or DHL, as well as plenty of messages that all say “re: second attempt for (my name) which are trying to make think they’ve tried to deliver something and missed me. Or “re: your recent (company name) purchase, when I haven’t ordered anything. Otherwise it’s “you have won a…..”, checking my spam box on one occasion I found I’d “won” an air fryer, a drill set, three Samsung 4K televisions and no fewer than five IPhone 14 Pro’s……Many of them claim to be from various US companies including Walmart, now if the scammers were any good they’d know roughly my country of residence and also the fact that Walmart don’t ship to the UK……

I have been getting a lot of these lately,it’s amazing the things I have won. I haven’t read the whole thread but suspicious emails can be forwarded to [email protected]

 

[najaB]

I haven’t read the whole thread but suspicious emails can be forwarded to [email protected]

For this to be effective you need to forward the original email as an attachment, rather than just hitting forward. When you forward the email inline all the tracking info is lost from the headers of the original message.

 

[londonbridge]

That I didn’t know (about sending it as an attachment). Been forwarding suspicious text messages to 7726 and have noticed a fair drop in the amount of those I’ve had last few months, maybe I’ll start doing the same with emails.

 

[swt_passenger]

You know the automated call where they pretend to be “bank security” and launch into the spiel about “suspicious transactions”, how come the amount you’ve supposedly spent abroad, or on Amazon, is exactly the same figure every time? Obviously they’re unaware of the effects of inflation…

 

[John Webb]

Late last year my phone provider moved me across to their internet-based system from the previous copper-wire based network. Unwanted calls have subsequently dropped by half, although already reasonably low due to having 'Call Guardian' on the phone handsets for the last 5 years. (These hand sets have continued working on the new system, I am happy to say.)
But it makes me wonder if one of the few advantages of the changeover is a better ability to intercept spoofed or otherwise suspect numbers?

 

[Amos]

For this to be effective you need to forward the original email as an attachment, rather than just hitting forward. When you forward the email inline all the tracking info is lost from the headers of the original message.

Wasn’t aware of that,thanks for the info.

 

[Gloster]

I don’t know if this is a new one, but a variant of the e-mail scam is ones that are marked with titles like ‘Draft agenda/report’ and have a comment such as ‘Any comments on the agenda for the meeting’: then there is a link marked ’Agenda’. The scammers have apparently learnt and keep the message as short as possible.

 

[DelW]

I keep getting emails from someone using the name Jane Cole (never heard of anyone with that name) saying "she obviously should have sent these photos earlier" and including a (probably dodgy) link to goodness knows where. (I never click the links)
Has anyone else been getting similar messages ??

I've had two of those in the last week, purporting to come from a friend of mine, who might well have been sending me photos - except for the unfortunate fact that he died just over three years ago. Still, at least they're obviously fake, so better that than something possibly more convincing.

 

[Pinza-C55]

I've just had the fake "Windows Defender access to your computer is locked" alert on my PC. I just pressed Restart to get rid of it.

 

[The Ham]

I had a text saying it was from a parent saying that they had broken their phone and to WhatsApp them on the friend's phone.

It was at an odd time and the parent in question has two phones, so clearly out for information (and likewise money).

 

[swt_passenger]

I had a text saying it was from a parent saying that they had broken their phone and to WhatsApp them on the friend's phone.

It was at an odd time and the parent in question has two phones, so clearly out for information (and likewise money).

Can someone remind me how that scam is supposed to work?

I’m never going to get bona fide texts from my parents, in fact I have never had a text from either of my parents, even when they were alive…