Missed Call Scams

[amazon]

It's nothing to do with whether you're ex-directory or not. The scammers are using robot diallers for something called "war dialling" which means they just hit every single number one after another. When they reach a live person the call is either linked to the next free agent in the scammer call centre or they just play a pre-recorded message intended to scare vulnerable people.

If you still have a landline and you're on BT, then you should look at "BT Call Protect". It costs a little extra per month but they block known scam numbers, allow you to whitelist certain numbers and block numbers by category. It's worth a look if you're worried. See https://www.bt.com/landline/calling-features/

Thanks for info im with virgin dont no if they do that anyone no .

[Howard]

I had an email the other day from BT (!) to say their system had detected a problem with my account and that it would be terminated in two days.

It gave a link to access my account to out..

A phone call to BT confirmed that it was a scam

The email has be deleted.

Be very wary of phone calls and emais.

Never EVER click on a link embedded in an unexpected email. It will almost certainly lead you to somewhere malicious that looks EXACTLY like the site you're expecting but with a slightly different name. It might look something like www.bt.supercustomerservice.net instead of www.bt.com. Note that you should read domains from the right, not the left. This will be an exact recreation of BT's homepage but when you type in your username and password it will collect it and then forward you back to the original BT website and you're none the wiser, except your credentials have been stolen.

ALWAYS go to the site directly in your browser instead of using a link in an email and log in there.

[tonyjones]

I had an email the other day from BT (!) to say their system had detected a problem with my account and that it would be terminated in two days.

It gave a link to access my account to out..

A phone call to BT confirmed that it was a scam

The email has be deleted.

Be very wary of phone calls and emais.

[Howard]

BT scammers are around be carefull had call this morning and im ex directory .

It's nothing to do with whether you're ex-directory or not. The scammers are using robot diallers for something called "war dialling" which means they just hit every single number one after another. When they reach a live person the call is either linked to the next free agent in the scammer call centre or they just play a pre-recorded message intended to scare vulnerable people.

If you still have a landline and you're on BT, then you should look at "BT Call Protect". It costs a little extra per month but they block known scam numbers, allow you to whitelist certain numbers and block numbers by category. It's worth a look if you're worried. See https://www.bt.com/landline/calling-features/

[amazon]

 BT scammers are around be carefull had call this morning and im ex directory .

[admin]

My elderly neighbour was almost taken in recently by a scam claiming to be from the council - the story was that nationwide council tax bands are being reassessed and she was on a list that could be back-dated 20 years and she would be able to claim £4,000 back. They offered to fast-track it for a payment of £100. By chance, she had been talking to the council about something else recently and this made it all seem more genuine. Thankfully she had enough doubt to ask me first - but was then doubting me when I told her it must be a scam. We put it to bed after I Googled the phone number they called from, which had a long list of complaints registered against it.

It's easy to see how people are taken in sometimes when the call or email gets the right bank or happens to resonate with your circumstances in some other way.

[Cyberman]

I particularly like the "you are about to be arrested" one as as it's a recording they don't have a clue who is going to pick the phone up.

The first time I got the HMRC call - several years ago - I was seriously worried about it because I had just done a tax return. Only after some googling did I decide I could ignore it. I can see why people can be taken in.

[wheels]

I particularly like the "you are about to be arrested" one as as it's a recording they don't have a clue who is going to pick the phone up.

[tonyjones]

The old scam of 'press 1 to talk to a technician' has been around for a long while.
Many of the scammers are now able fiddle the number they are calling from so it looks like a genuine number.

The problem is that many genuine organisations (doctor's surgeries etc) hide their number and it appears as 'withheld'.

We either don't answer the call or answer but just listen, the line soon goes dead.

Just be very wary !

[amazon]

Our household has suddenly started receiving lots of strange calls on our mobiles (with Virgin). The phone goes dead after a few rings. Have found that this is the Missed Call Scam - you are intended to call back, and you are hit with a large bill. The numbers are different, so you can't block them, but they are likely to come from an area with a dodgy reputation (Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Westminster..). Info here:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/advice-wangiri-missed-call-scams

So don't call back - resist the temptation to tell the scumbags where to go. Please share this with your less tech savvy friends.

One depressing aspect of Working From Home is the many scam calls I've received - on average one per day. Amazon parcels, BT broadband faults (we're not with BT!), cooker guarantee expiring, HMRC about to arrest me, the car accident I've (not) been in - to name a few. I suppose that's life nowadays and you have to live with it.

There is one going round from dpd vie emails allso the post office nearly fell for the one from dpd expecting delivery through them ,so checked with people that im buying from not gone out yet so be very carefull its very well done ,

[Cyberman]

Our household has suddenly started receiving lots of strange calls on our mobiles (with Virgin). The phone goes dead after a few rings. Have found that this is the Missed Call Scam - you are intended to call back, and you are hit with a large bill. The numbers are different, so you can't block them, but they are likely to come from an area with a dodgy reputation (Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Westminster..). Info here:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/advice-wangiri-missed-call-scams

So don't call back - resist the temptation to tell the scumbags where to go. Please share this with your less tech savvy friends.

One depressing aspect of Working From Home is the many scam calls I've received - on average one per day. Amazon parcels, BT broadband faults (we're not with BT!), cooker guarantee expiring, HMRC about to arrest me, the car accident I've (not) been in - to name a few. I suppose that's life nowadays and you have to live with it.