Mobile threat;Genuine warning?

missingink

I received this via email today...
If you receive a phone call on your mobile from any person, saying that he or she is a company engineer, or telling that they're checking your mobile line, and you have to press #90 or #09 or any other number, end this call immediately without pressing any numbers.

There is a fraud company using a device that once you press #90 or #09 they can access your 'SIM' card and make calls at your expense.

Forward this message to as many colleagues, relatives and friends as you can, to stop it.

Many thanks for your time regarding this matter, take care and regards.

Phil Corris
Police Constable/Crime Prevention Officer
[EMAIL="PhilCorris@lancashire.pnnpolice.uk"]PhilCorris@lancashire.pnn[/email]police.uk

:confused:

esuhl

Groan. This only affects certain PBXes - anyone with a line connecting directly to their telco will not be affected by this issue:

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/jailcall.asp

soolin

Mobile threat;Genuine warning?

No

missingink

Thought it seemed a bit fishy! Thanks!:D

trisontana

As usual with these chain emails (IE the "PDS parcel scam") it seems the police are usually first in line to pass them on without doing any background checks with such sites as Snopes or Hoax-Slayer.

Sponge

I always treat things like this as spam/hoax/wrong until research proves otherwise, to date it never has. Especially if the phrase 'Forward this message to as many...' is used.

soolin

trisontana wrote: »

As usual with these chain emails (IE the "PDS parcel scam") it seems the police are usually first in line to pass them on without doing any background checks with such sites as Snopes or Hoax-Slayer.

I would be rich if I had £1 for every hoax passed on to me from friends and colleagues in public employment. A police friend was particularly dim, he believed everything he was told and would email out to his entire address book, sometimes even using his work based email warning us all. Daft bloke. What I will never forgive him for is passing on a printed out version to my dearest MIL which frightened her half to death and made her an almost prisoner in her home for days until she finally confessed to us what she had been told (that was the foreign burgular masquerading as a BT worker hoax)

When I worked in one branch of the NHS they actually made it policy to discipline any member of staff who was shown to be passing these things on through an NHS account as by the time every one of the 2000 staff had received a copy and then passed it on to all their friends it used to crash the system.

dmg24

trisontana wrote: »

As usual with these chain emails (IE the "PDS parcel scam") it seems the police are usually first in line to pass them on without doing any background checks with such sites as Snopes or Hoax-Slayer.

As usual with these chain emails, someone has fallen for the fact that the email purports to be from a police officer. :rolleyes:

trisontana

dmg24 wrote: »

As usual with these chain emails, someone has fallen for the fact that the email purports to be from a police officer. :rolleyes:

But then real members of the police force do pass these emails on. This was demonstrated in the case of the "PDS parcel" email last year. Then various police forces, local councils, Neighbourhood Watch schemes and local newspapers passed on this "warning" without doing any research or basic checks.