Industrial Workers Office Scamming

purplephoenix85 · 8 September 2011 at 2:45PM

I've received a phone call from a guy asking for my mum, claiming to be from the Industrial Workers Office. He had a broad northern accent, even though I'm in the north, I've never heard anything quite so strong! I heard the word industrial and the first thing that came to mind was that it was something to do with dad's work when he was still alive... so I gave her the phone.

It didn't even cross my mind that it could be a scam, simply because within the first minute of the call, I'd made the assumption that it was to do with my dad! Anyways, she was asked if anyone in the household had worked in the industries and as soon as she said "my late husband did" they hung, and 1471 said it was a withheld number.

If you google "Industrial Workers Office", there are forums saying that it's a female calling asking to confirm details of previous employment. Now I'm not sure what exactly they can do with the details of previous employment, but please be careful either way, as it's clearly not a new scam yet not everyone has heard of them.

squeaky · 9 September 2011 at 8:25AM

Hi

We have a board especially for warning people of scams, so I'll move the post across there for you.

Forum_Team wrote:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL='forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com']forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

antrobus · 9 September 2011 at 11:09AM

bluerose85 wrote: »

Now I'm not sure what exactly they can do with the details of previous employment, but please be careful either way, as it's clearly not a new scam yet not everyone has heard of them.

I believe that the Industrial Workers Office claim to be able to obtain compensation for work related injuries etc. As in, please give us £300, and we'll put in a claim for you worth £'000!

rose_111 · 12 September 2011 at 12:00PM

Hi all,
That call might be for any purpose, sometime if you join new company, they need to confirmed your old employment details, that time you need to provide all the details excepting bank account details

Stonedcj · 12 September 2011 at 5:45PM

I think I can help alittle, I just started a new job today, not knowing much about the role myself. It is working for Central Claims Group in Bury, and this is what we have to do.

We are given a sheet of paper with Surnames and telephone numbers from what looks to be a 'DIY yellowpages', we also had to create a script for when speaking to customers. We had to say we were calling from the Industrial Workers Office and collect information from whoever we were calling.

The information is to see if you are eligable to get compensation from a past employer for Industrial Deafness.

If you don't meet the requirements after the first few questions then they will just hang up because it isn't "worth" continuing the call when they could be calling the next person...

If you meet requirements, we arrange for you to attend a clinic for a hearing test, if you have 10% hearing loss then you can claim compensation. From what I see it isn't a scam, they are trying to get you money but ofcourse it benefits them too.

I have to say my first day was bad, asking for Mr/Mrs Spence and alot of the time the response would be "my husband has died or passed away".

I am in a Catch 22 situation because I have been claiming Job Centre Allowance for nearly 11months now, I have been reffered to the 'Work Programme', and they will sanction me (stop benefits) if I refuse this job...

I'm hoping to get an interview elsewhere soon as this job doesn't give you the satisfaction of being a "Customer Service Advisor" as it seems rather dishonest

SpitTheDog_2 · 25 October 2011 at 7:37PM

I received a call a couple of days ago from the 'Industrial Workers Office' on my mobile - the caller display was number witheld. On quizzing the caller about what the 'Office' is/did and getting vague answers other than they can get me compensation, I asked for contact details - an email address or website - and was given a telephone number: 01204 557538 in order that I may call back. I have posted the number here as, if the 'Office' is legal, then they may appreciate the free advertisement. I haven't called it to verify as what I have found on here and other sites has suggested that the 'Industrial Workers Office' maybe slightly less than 100% legitimate.

purplephoenix85 · 25 October 2011 at 10:12PM

For what it's worth, I don't think this company is a regulated compensations service. I think it's a scam and as much as they'd appreciate the free advertising... it's not worth the risk of providing them with any personal details until they can prove that they are legit.

BlueAngelCV · 26 October 2011 at 8:03PM

I don't think it's a scam. I think that as Stonedcj explained they are trying to see if you are eligible for compensation. I don't believe that they are Solicitors themselves but an agency which would then sell your details to Solicitors if it is established that you are eligible for compensation. It's obviously very rude to just hang up but I don't think there's anything dodgy about it, no more so than the usual "no win, no fee" cold calling anyway.

asl1956 · 8 November 2011 at 11:50AM

Just had a call this morning from the National Workers Office, same MO as the previous lot so I suspect they have changed the name. When you say not interested they simply hang up.

blitzpixie · 8 November 2011 at 3:44PM

I've just had a similar call from the 'Industrial Hearing Clinic'. They were looking for my partner and when I said he wasn't in, they claimed he was in because they could hear him. They were in fact over-hearing the TV but I ended the call there. I wouldn't trust any company whose representatives are so rude.

cmech · 9 November 2011 at 3:28PM

I had a call from Industrial Workers Office today. He did admit it was to do with insurance companies claiming for industrial accidents etc. However, when I explained that I was not interested and was registered with the TPS operator became very rude, kept interrupting, and told me I was wasting my money paying! for TPS which obviously was not very good. Having informed him that TPS is free he said 'just as well as it doesn't work'.

Industrial Workers Office Scamming

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