Fraudulent call from India - claiming to be Ministry of Justice

BexInLondon

A few moments ago I had a call from someone in India claiming to be from the Ministry of Justice, and wanting to ask me questions about any loans I may have taken out. I said I didn't believe her, and that the MoJ wouldn't be calling me. She then said she works for the "consumer Advice Bureau" who are working in conjunction with the MoJ to inform people of their legal rights. I asked to speak to her supervisor, who basically repeated the same old junk. I told them that I would be reporting them to the police and BT and hung up. I've rung the MoJ on the offchance that this is genuine and am awaiting a call back. If it is from the MoJ, they need to employ people who speak better English. If not, I'll be reporting it. I just wanted to make others aware in case if happens to you!

maxdp

I cannot see that they would ring you. Have you made a complaint. What is the telephone number? Good for you for questioning this.

hethmar

The scammers are getting braver and braver arent they. We had a letter scam in the week - I mean we are used to the emails now but to actually go to the trouble of sending a letter offering to split 12.6 million dollars in return for our bank account details! Amazing.

hethmar

Ah,

The Ministry of Justice has been made aware of a scam involving consumers being telephoned by people who claim they are from the Ministry.
The callers suggest that the consumer could receive payments such as the repayment of bank charges or other debts. They are asked to provide personal information such as bank account details and make an upfront payment, often by money transfer. In other examples, the caller claims to be calling from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) or a high street bank.
These callers have no connection with Ministry of Justice, OFT or other genuine organisations and the intention appears to be to use the details for identity theft in order to commit crimes using the stolen details.
The Ministry of Justice and the OFT would never contact consumers asking them for their bank or personal details. We are therefore warning consumers not to pass on personal or financial details to such callers. If you have already done so, contact your bank as soon as possible to stop or check any unauthorised transactions.
For further advice call Consumer direct on 0845 04 05 06 or check the scams area of the Consumer direct website
A list of registered claims management companies can be found on the Claims regulation website
To report a suspected scam call, you should contact the Claims management helpline on 0333 200 0110.

BexInLondon

The call came from outside the UK so my caller display didn't work, and they wouldn't give me a number to call them on. I've complained to BT's malicious calls department, but apparently it's for the MoJ to investigate. I think they're trying to trade on the reputation of the CAB.

maxdp

Yes if you look on their website they refer to CAB which we all know is the citizens advice bureau. Cheeky bleeders

tiggrae

BexInLondon wrote: »

A few moments ago I had a call from someone in India claiming to be from the Ministry of Justice, and wanting to ask me questions about any loans I may have taken out. I said I didn't believe her, and that the MoJ wouldn't be calling me. She then said she works for the "consumer Advice Bureau" who are working in conjunction with the MoJ to inform people of their legal rights. I asked to speak to her supervisor, who basically repeated the same old junk. I told them that I would be reporting them to the police and BT and hung up. I've rung the MoJ on the offchance that this is genuine and am awaiting a call back. If it is from the MoJ, they need to employ people who speak better English. If not, I'll be reporting it. I just wanted to make others aware in case if happens to you!

the claims management regulation unit (part of the moj) have been warning about these 'scam calls' !!

missesther

My dad had a call today saying that the bank owed him £4356.26. This was from an Indian lady called "Jas" and the number was 0870 479 8229 (08704798229 - for searches). My dad asked if they wanted his bank details (to determine if it was a scam), she said no but he needed to go to a post office to claim it. Basically he'd fill out a form there and they would hand over the money (!!). My dad still didn't believe them so he got passed to the manager who reassured him that they didn't need his bank details, they were just doing him a service.

My dad finished the phone call and rang the bank to tell them (as he knew it must be a scam of sorts) and they said they normally try and weed as much info out of you as possible to commit fraud but they didn't seem to want to know anything.

How bizarre?

pinkhill36

I just took one of these calls. Almost word for word. In told them I wanted time to check out their claims so they offered to call me back. Which they haven't yet done. In have called the claims management helpline (0330 200 0110). They said they are aware of the scam and if I get anymore calls tell them they have been reported. They also said I'd be surprised how many people have lost money to this scam!

dunstonh

Any call that says they are from somewhere official or its about a government initiative (get that one a lot), then you know its dodgy.