NEW BT. SCAMMERS beware

twinmom04

PLEASE
> PA SS ON
> TO YOUR FRIENDS &
> FAMILY.
>
> The
> new telephone
> 'scam' has arrived in Medway.
>
> I received a call from a 'representative'
> of BT, informing me that he was dis-connecting me because
> of an unpaid bill. He
> demanded payment immediately of £31.00 , or it would be £
> 118.00 to re-connect
> at a later date.
>
> The guy wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with
> Virgin Media, allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for
> line rental!
>
> I
> asked the guy's name - the very 'English' John
> Peacock with a very 'African'
> accent - & phone number - 0800 0800 152.
>
> Obviously the fella realized
> I wasn't believing his story, so offered to demonstrate
> that he was from BT. I
> asked how & he told me to hang up & try phoning
> someone - he would
> dis-connect my phone to prevent this.
>
> AND HE DID !! My phone was dead -
> no engaged tone, nothing - until he phoned me again.
>
> Very pleased with
> himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he was with
> BT. I asked how the
> payment was to be made & he said credit card, there
> & then.
>
> I
> said that I didn't know how he'd done it, but I had
> absolutely no intention of
> paying him , I didn't believe his name or that he
> worked for BT.
>
> He hung
> up.
>
> Did 1471 & phoned his fictit ious 0800 number - not
> recognised.
>
>
> I phoned the police to let them know , I wasn't the
> first! It's only just started apparently but it
> is
> escalating.
>
>
> Their advice
> was to let as many
> people know by word of mouth of this scam. The fact that
> the phone does go off
> would probably convince some people it's real, so
> please let as many friends
> & family aware of
> this.


a friend has emailed me this so passing it on.

Jemma-T

DO NOT pass this on to anyone. I'm sick of getting this sort of !!!!! off 'helpful' people who think it's good to mass spam everyone in their address book.

This is essentially forwarding chain mail. The original would of had all sorts of crap hid in the HTML code.

Stop abusing email.

Fortyfoot

I have had a similar email and asked BT about it, they responded very quickly as follows -

"...............I can confirm that there are scammers ring people claiming to be from BT demanding payment. I have been speaking to BT Security today and they have confirmed that they are aware of this scam and are currently working with the Policy in trying to stop these people.

I would like to thank you for contacting us directly and making us aware of this. Both BT Security and the Police are taking this matter very seriously........................."

Fortyfoot

Ypaymore

The scam is being performed Nationwide: http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2044

Fortyfoot

North Yorkshire Police is warning householders to be careful when giving financial and other personal information over the phone.



This advice follows a incident on Tuesday (2 June 2009) in Pickering when a telephone caller claiming to be from BT allegedly stated that payment was overdue. To prove they were from BT, the caller said they would disconnect the homeowner's telephone line so that they were unable to make outgoing calls before then apparently reconnecting the line. In reality the person does not hang up the phone but simply presses the mute button. The homeowner then gave their credit card details from which several hundred pounds was removed.
PC Terry Triffitt of Pickering police said: "BT informed us that they would not cut anyone off using this type of procedure. This case highlights the lengths that criminals will go to invent a highly believable ploy to get you to part with your banking details. It is always better to be safe than sorry and a quick call to BT Customer Services will clear up whether or not this type of call is genuine or bogus."
A spokesman for BT said: "We never ask for bank details over the phone. If anyone does receive a call requesting bank details, they should treat it with suspicion and report it to the police."
As well as reporting these incident to the police, anyone who may have been contacted by someone trying to commit this type of fraud is asked to contact the BT Nuisance Calls Bureau on 0800 411422 so that the scale of the problem can be identified.
If anyone is aware of people carrying out this type of fraud they should report it to North Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060247 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
4 June 2009

Jemma-T

Unless it's someone you are related to, are having sex with (or hope to) you should never confirm or even speak about anything private over the phone to anyone unless it's an expected call. And even then I would want to satisfy myself the person is who they say they are.

That's a very simple thing to remember. The Internet and phones are not toys. People have been killed for their mobile phones in the street so scammers would think nothing of phoning you obviously.

Keep your private info private. If you get spam, phishing or scammers do your best to report the communication but DO NOT forward full emails to people you know.

MothballsWallet

Jemma, so how can you go about reporting these scammers? Your post concentrates heavily on what to do, but is vague on how to do it.

Heinz

I think the final few paragraphs of post 5 above covers that aspect.

Ypaymore

MothballsWallet wrote: »

Jemma, so how can you go about reporting these scammers? Your post concentrates heavily on what to do, but is vague on how to do it.

If anyone receives a call it should be reported to both your Local Police Force and to the BT Malicious Calls Bureau on 0800 661 441. It is important BT are advised as they can collate evidence for the offence . If they have provided Credit card details they should inform the relevant financial institution."

Jemma-T

My local police and council run a scheme to report scumbags that both call your house and even cold call your door.

Speak with your local community officer or have a dig around on your local Trading Standards council site as they tend to have a load of info there https://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk

It's getting to the stage that we need to treat out phone line like our front door. I only like calls from relatives etc so I tend to block anyone else (you can do that with certain Panasonic phones -latest being the 83- and 84- ranges). It's a shame but telephone communications (and VOIP) is so cheap and dirty nowadays there's scammers queuing up all around the world to to take advantage of people.

If someone with authority or someone who must speak with you wants to communicate they will send you a letter. Best policy if you answer the phone to anyone is to tell them to do just that and you will then reply.

syko29793

twinmom04 wrote: »

PLEASE
> PA SS ON
> TO YOUR FRIENDS &
> FAMILY.
>
> The
> new telephone
> 'scam' has arrived in Medway.
>
> I received a call from a 'representative'
> of BT, informing me that he was dis-connecting me because
> of an unpaid bill. He
> demanded payment immediately of £31.00 , or it would be £
> 118.00 to re-connect
> at a later date.
>
> The guy wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with
> Virgin Media, allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for
> line rental!
>
> I
> asked the guy's name - the very 'English' John
> Peacock with a very 'African'
> accent - & phone number - 0800 0800 152.
>
> Obviously the fella realized
> I wasn't believing his story, so offered to demonstrate
> that he was from BT. I
> asked how & he told me to hang up & try phoning
> someone - he would
> dis-connect my phone to prevent this.
>
> AND HE DID !! My phone was dead -
> no engaged tone, nothing - until he phoned me again.
>
> Very pleased with
> himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he was with
> BT. I asked how the
> payment was to be made & he said credit card, there
> & then.
>
> I
> said that I didn't know how he'd done it, but I had
> absolutely no intention of
> paying him , I didn't believe his name or that he
> worked for BT.
>
> He hung
> up.
>
> Did 1471 & phoned his fictit ious 0800 number - not
> recognised.
>
>
> I phoned the police to let them know , I wasn't the
> first! It's only just started apparently but it
> is
> escalating.
>
>
> Their advice
> was to let as many
> people know by word of mouth of this scam. The fact that
> the phone does go off
> would probably convince some people it's real, so
> please let as many friends
> & family aware of
> this.


a friend has emailed me this so passing it on.

The trick he pulled to stop you phoning out and making you think the line is dead is to not hang up when he said he would ( you cant hang up on an incoming call from most numbers) so when you redialled he was still there probably muted the handset then hung up and called you back

BT cant cut you off that quick and reconnect you in a matter of seconds