text message supposedley from British gas

Mally_england

Hi all,
I have just recieved a text message on my mobile supposedly from British gas as follows,
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM BRITISH GAS.
your electricity meter is now due for an upgrade
please call UNITED UTILITIES(our meter operator) on 08450501268

I of course rang BGas and the first operator said i was due but because of my persistence i asked her to phone them for me, as i found it amazing that with the phone scams going about it was a foolish thing to do, She put me on hold and came back a few mins later and said "surprise" my meter is not due for renewal until 2013 and the contact she spoke to said they had never known B Gas send out requests like this.
So beware everyone
I am now going to send a complaint to trading standards do any of you know of any other sites i should be reporting to.

trisontana

But how could the supposed scammer derive any benefit from this? They didn't ask for any payment or bank or credit-card details.


I don't think this is a scam at all. What probably happened that somebody is due to have their meter replaced and whoever is responsible for sending out the text message keyed in the wrong phone number.

LeeSouthEast

http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1141669322

Mally_england

Tristontana,
I contacted British gas, and was told they do not send out text messages to customers, i was thinking more on the lines of the recent phone scams going about, likethe courior card through your door saying you have a package that they could not deliver please contact this number then when you phone the number it will immediatley bill you for £15 / £25.
But feel free if you recieve one call them it may be genuine, although i was being cautious and decided to contact bgas on the proper number and as i said they are not aware that this is a method they use to contact customers.

trisontana

Mally_england wrote: »

Tristontana,
I contacted British gas, and was told they do not send out text messages to customers, i was thinking more on the lines of the recent phone scams going about, likethe courior card through your door saying you have a package that they could not deliver please contact this number then when you phone the number it will immediatley bill you for £15 / £25.
But feel free if you recieve one call them it may be genuine, although i was being cautious and decided to contact bgas on the proper number and as i said they are not aware that this is a method they use to contact customers.

That so called parcel scam involving the "£15 immediate call charge" is an urban myth . You cannot be instantly charged £15 just by making a phone call. The maximum charge is £1.50 a minute. What that false warning refers to is a short lived scam which was closed down in 2005 and the £15 part was tacked onto the end of a chain-email which has been making the rounds every Christmas since then.

A STATEMENT FROM PHONEPAYPLUS ABOUT THE CURRENT
‘POSTAL SCAM’ CHAIN EMAIL
PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, is aware that a chain e-mail about an alleged
postal scam is being circulated on the internet. The email refers to the Royal Mail, Trading
Standards and ICSTIS (PhonepayPlus’ former name).
PhonepayPlus appreciates that recipients of the email may want to find out more information
about the alleged scam and has therefore issued the following statement:
•
The chain email refers to a service that was shut down by us in December 2005.

•
We subsequently fined the company that was operating the service, Studio Telecom
(based in Belize), £10,000.

•
The service is NO LONGER running and has NOT been running since December 2005.

•
The email refers to a £15 charge for simply being connected to a recorded message.
This is NOT TRUE – a £15 connection charge does NOT exist. The service in question
actually cost £1.50 per minute and lasted six minutes, making a total cost of £9 if callers
stayed on the line for the full six minutes.

•
You do NOT need to contact us, or the Royal Mail, about this service as it was stopped
almost two years ago.

•
If you receive a copy of the email warning you about the alleged scam, please do NOT

forward it to others. Instead, please forward this statement from PhonepayPlus.
•
Please go to https://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/pdfs_news/ConsumerGuide.pdf for useful
information about how to recognise phone-paid services and understand what they cost,
and some simple tips to help you enjoy using services with confidence.

•
For more detailed information about our work, please visit https://www.phonepayplus.org.uk.

Mally_england

Hi trisontana,
Ok i believe you, Our local weekly paper has just published the following,

Royal mail & trading standards are making people aware of the following scam: a card is posted through your doorfrom a company called PDS (parcel delivery service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parceland that you need to contact them on 09066611911 (a premium number) Do not call this number as this is a scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you hear a recorded message you will have already been billed £15 for the phone call.
If you recieve a card then contact Royal mail fraudor ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator.

Tris, i am not trying to cause panic here but having just been a victim of a scam i do want to warn others of potential dangers.
Take care
mally

trisontana

Mally_england wrote: »

Hi trisontana,
Ok i believe you, Our local weekly paper has just published the following,

Royal mail & trading standards are making people aware of the following scam: a card is posted through your doorfrom a company called PDS (parcel delivery service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parceland that you need to contact them on 09066611911 (a premium number) Do not call this number as this is a scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you hear a recorded message you will have already been billed £15 for the phone call.
If you recieve a card then contact Royal mail fraudor ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator.

Tris, i am not trying to cause panic here but having just been a victim of a scam i do want to warn others of potential dangers.
Take care
mally

Well your paper is wrong. All it's done is pass on that chain email without doing any research. You can tell how old that message is. It refers to "ICSTIS". That organization changed its name to PhonePayPlus over two years ago.

Going back to your original point, as LeeSouthEast has pointed out, 0845 050 1268 (and I have just rung that number!) is a genuine United Utilities meter exchange number. So I cannot see any scam

Nilrem

The local paper has probably just printed a message they've received without doing any checks
As mentioned the maximum that any phone line can charge per minute via the phone billing system is capped at £1.50 a minute, there is no way you can be charged via your phone bill at more than that per minute,

I can't see the text message being legitimate though, as if/when your meters are due for replacement your supplier should send you a letter well in advance, from memory when ouy gas meter was replaced we got a letter from BG advising us that the meter company would be out on X date to replace it FOC and that we should contact them if we had any questions or would not be available to let him in on the day.

[edit]
Reading that previous post it sounds like the number may be legitimate, however it strikes me as a very silly way to contact someone about it (letter to the address is more reliable, and more likely to be taken notice of)

trisontana

All that text message is doing is asking you to ring that number so a convenient appointment can be made to exchange the meter.

You would be surprised who uses text messages nowadays. My dentist sends me one a couple of days before an appointment is due.

Mally_england

Trisontana,:A
Thanks for your help and comments,
I hear everything you are saying and take on board,
Although why would the BG assistent tell me they do not send out text messages to customers,
and i am not due a replacement for another 3years?
Anyway issue resolved.
I personlly would not contact anyone by phone if they (A left a recording or (B sent me a text.
If they want me then they should phone or write.
it is not very professional (My opinion)
again thanks for your comments.
Take care / be safe
Mally

dfh

Mally England-check your phone bill to make sure it was not one of those premium text numbers that charge 1.50 per text.I am glad you are being vigilant and thank you for letting other money savers know.