A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

[swt_passenger]

I think 23 Leinster Gardens does have a postbox, but presume the posties know not to post anything through it....

The next door hotel (to the left looking at the false frontage) uses the address 23 Leinster Gardens, according to the Post Office address checker:

Henry the VIII Hotel, 23 Leinster Gardens, LONDON, W2 3AN

That's a bit odd because old OS maps at suitably large scales clearly show the gap was 23/24, and the hotel was at 19-22, presumably connected internally?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

the gap was 23/24, and the hotel was at 19-22, presumably connected internally?

I doubt it - there's just a frontage across the gap, no actual building - unless they've recently added one...?

 

[swt_passenger]

I doubt it - there's just a frontage across the gap, no actual building - unless they've recently added one...?

The house numbers on the oldest OS maps that show numbering have 23/24 as the missing numbers in the normal sequence. That suggests either the Met demolished the original houses on the site, or stopped the full terrace being built, but the two dummy facades were where they expected to have built 23/24.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

A friend of mine of long-standing when asked for confirmation of his address by a scammer supposedly checking on existing records of white goods warranties has a prepared answer....

502 Bad Gateway, Skaw, Isle of Unst, ZE2 9ZZ. (ZE2 is the correct postcode area for that part of the Isle of Unst, but the rest is totally fallaceous)

 

[Buzby]

ZE2 9ZZ

I get the humour, but I don’t believe there is a xZZ postcode for any geographic address. When giving a spurious code, it is easier to give one that actually exists (the address needn’t) because a postcode checker will throw up the anomaly much quicker as invalid, than offering a pick-list of addresses that should be selected.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I don’t believe there is a xZZ postcode for any geographic address.

Surrey Street, Sheffield, perhaps? (= S1 9ZZ, which I think is used by/allocated to Sheffield council) Or isn't that a normal postcode?

 

[Buzby]

Or isn't that a normal postcode?

It is classed as a ‘Large User’ postcode, and doesn’t identify with a defined geo-location (along with PO Boxes), as such it doesn’t appear in street lookups etc.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I get the humour, but I don’t believe there is a xZZ postcode for any geographic address. When giving a spurious code, it is easier to give one that actually exists (the address needn’t) because a postcode checker will throw up the anomaly much quicker as invalid, than offering a pick-list of addresses that should be selected.

But why should we worry about how criminal scamming gangs may be affected by a postal code that disrupts their criminal activities?

 

[najaB]

But why should we worry about how criminal scamming gangs may be affected by a postal code that disrupts their criminal activities?

I think the point was that the longer you can keep them talking, the less time they have to scam other people.

 

[Buzby]

But why should we worry

As @najaB notes, these callers are plausible and if they suspect duff info (ie that they’ve been rumbled) they drop the call and move on. A non-ZZ would keep the ball in play (it IS a sport!).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

As @najaB notes, these callers are plausible and if they suspect duff info (ie that they’ve been rumbled) they drop the call and move on. A non-ZZ would keep the ball in play (it IS a sport!).

I will pass the forum thoughts on the postal code matter to my friend when I ring him tomorrow.

Incidentally, I am now informed that Skaw on the Isle of Unst has only a single resident and is involved in livestock trading.

 

[Gloster]

My postcode is S-0-D 0-F-F.

 

[dgl]

Surely the postcode to use is S9 1XY!

 

[MP33]

There is another property, which must have a number. This is on Eastern Avenue in Ilford and is a sub station for the Central London. There is an address in New York City, which is President Grant's tomb.

 

[Howardh]

Still getting scam calls (from those wanting to flog warranties) for my father who died in 2018. Sometimes I try to drag them along to waste their time "I'll go and get him" "can you wait a few more minutes" before telling them he's in the cemetery and can't reach the phone.

Still very upsetting though.

 

[swt_passenger]

Still getting scam calls (from those wanting to flog warranties) for my father who died in 2018. Sometimes I try to drag them along to waste their time "I'll go and get him" "can you wait a few more minutes" before telling them he's in the cemetery and can't reach the phone.

Still very upsetting though.

You’ll get used to it - phone calls are now rare, but I had a letter just a few weeks ago addressed to my late wife offering her travel insurance, so I rang the firm and suggested they get a better mailing list provider, who wasn’t 25 years behind the times.

Last year I actually got through to a ‘compliance officer’ at a mailing list provider, he suggested I should use something called the bereavement register. A bit like TPS for mailings. I replied that I’d registered with it in 2000, and why didn’t they make use use of it themselves…

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I have just seen on BlueSky a most ingenious way of messing around with the scammers:

Journeydude (@scottishinsider.org)

bsky.app

I've got into an unhealthy habit where every time I get a scam text I set a Gumtree account saying free puppies and to call the number... I then reply saying "I hope the puppies are well" so they know I did this to them! Today I got my first reply:

"Whatever you've done with this number, please stop!"

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

When I very recently moved into this house, I took over the existing landline number, from the elderly lady who was entering into a special care association flat. This morning, I took a call on the landline, asking to speak to "the lady of the house" and I explained that the lady in question no longer lived here. The man said "it is your wife that I want to speak to", to which I responded by saying that would pose a problem as my wife died four years ago. He said that he was from Domestic and General, to which I interposed that I had heard of scam calls being made using that company name. The caller suddenly hung up.