i think BT have just broken the law, can anyone confirm?

glennplant

hello, i had a rather unusual call this morning at 10am. First of all the person who called said they were from BT which came to no shock as i am a BT customer. He then said is that Mr Plant, which i confirmed as that is my surname. He then said he was calling because there was an outstanding bill of £130 on my account and the last bill they had sent had came back with a return to sender stamp. I then advised i had no idea what he was talking about as i pay by bill for direct debit and its never more than £30 or so a quarter. He then said that it needs paying now. I asked him what address etc was on the account, he then read to me the account number, landline number, what the outstanding bill was and how it gets paid normally (direct debit) and also the address. I said to him that hes phoned me at 10am on a sunday, asking me to pay a bill ive never known about, and he has just read to me an address ive never even heard of. he then asked me for my new address which i refused to give him as i said he must have the wrong person then i hung up. I have checked the number he called from and it is an official BT number. After the call i was furious thinking how they could have made a mistake and then it hit me....the address they read out to me was my dads old address from about a year ago.

Now here comes my question..... as far as im concerned, and i believe my dad will too BT have just given out information without DPA being checked. At no point in the call was my full name, address, dob, or anything to do with that checked. I am now in the awkward position of having to ring my dad and explain to him that BT phoned me about his bill not being paid. Can anyone confirm what they have just done is against the law because i used to work in debt collections a few years ago and as far as im concerned they have broken the law because they didnt do any dpa checks with me to check they had the right person and also they disclosed the address, payment method and amount of debt to me who is not even the account holder?

sorry for the long post it was quite complicated!
many thanks

Heinz

It's a well-known scam to try to get you to reveal your credit or debit card details.

glennplant

no...it was actually BT who called me, if you take some time and actually read the post i said the address is my dads.

Browntoa

http://neighbourhoodpolicing.devon-cornwall.police.uk/BCU-1663/Sector-1762/NB-1763/News/Pages/BTPhoneScam.aspx

and

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8263637.stm


BT is warning customers to be on their guard after a series of phone scams involving people claiming to be calling from the company. The scammers call up their victim and warn them that their account is in arrears.
They then ask for card or bank details in order to settle the account.
If the person refuses or asks for proof, the fraudsters then offer to prove who they are by disconnecting the phone line then and there.

official bt numbers tend to be 08003289393 or a similar 0800 number

glennplant

has anyone actually read the post fully???? ive CALLED BT and checked the number...it is from them!

Heinz

What number did they call from? Did you get the person's name and get back to that person via 0800 800 150 (CLIs are very easy to forge these days)?

Is your Dad's old address still in the phone book?

If they'd asked you your date of birth, how would that have proved anything? Apart from you giving them more information which would be very handy for identity fraud, of course.

glennplant

please....im not interested in this being a scam because i know its not, i only want to know the dpa legality side of things.

Browntoa

how did you "confirm" the number that called you was from BT ?? if you used 1471 then Caller Id can be spoofed

just ring the number heinz quoted and ask billing if there is an outstanding amount , if there is then you have grounds to complain , otherwise its scam.

As far as I'm aware BT don't make these sorts of calls at the weekend

and I did read what you wrote in your first post

DrScotsman

glennplant wrote: »

please....im not interested in this being a scam because i know its not, i only want to know the dpa legality side of things.

Heinz wrote: »

(CLIs are very easy to forge these days)?

I suggest you take into account what Heinz has said here. In case you ignored it because you didn't know what a CLI is, he means that "Caller ID"/"Caller Display" is easy to fake.

glennplant

jeez does nobody listen anymore. i can understand your good intentions but i know this is not a scam hence me saying im not interested in anyones opinions on it being a scam! i know it isnt.

DrScotsman

glennplant wrote: »

jeez does nobody listen anymore. i can understand your good intentions but i know this is not a scam hence me saying im not interested in anyones opinions on it being a scam! i know it isnt.

How do you know it's not a scam? What evidence do you have that the person you spoke to was definitely BT?