People claiming to be from the Halifax keep calling me!

Sujoy

I'm receiving a call a day now from people claiming to be from the Halifax. However they won't tell me what the call is about unless I give them personal details - something I don't like doing unless I know who I'm talking to. I asked them to write to me instead, but they claim to have already done so. However I've not received anything from the Halifax so I don't have a clue what's going on. I don't have a Halifax account, mortgage or anything vageuly like that.

In the last few days they've started calling once a day now, despite the fact that every time they do I've refused to give out personal information. They refuse to write to me, and when I asked for a return number to check it out they gave me an 0870 number which I don't want to call anyway!

After a few days of this I broke down and called the 0870 number but was then asked for an account number. Obviously since I have no dealings with the Halifax I also don't have an account number to provide them so I'm stuck there.

When I tried explaining this to the guy who called me most recently he said that I had to give him my personal information over the phone or they would continue to call me more and more frequently. He flat out refused to tell me what the call was about, the only information is that they are from the Halifax.

I don't know if I'm being over paranoid about this, but it seems strange to me. I can't believe a high street bank would have people calling who would be eithe rude or threatening, especially to someone who doesn't have an account with them!

Does anyone have advice on this? Will they keep calling me every day forever until I cave in and give out my personal information to them? Am I right to not give out personal info to people I don't know? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

Sujoy from London

elona

Tell them you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service and that the company can be fined for harrassing you- insist on getting their name and branch.

That should stop them.

Browntoa

definately dodgy,all Halifax contact numbers are 08457 numbers

tell the caller next time that you have BT logging all your incoming calls after you reported the attempted fraud to the halifax helpline

if they keep coming the just ring :-

If you receive persistent malicious calls and would like advice, call BT on Freefone 0800 666 700. A 24-hour recorded message will tell you how to deal with the situation and what to do if you need more help.

If you subscribe to NTL or Telewest and you recieve malicious calls, contact your customer services number for advice

clark1982

Browntoa wrote:

definately dodgy,all Halifax contact numbers are 08457 numbers

tell the caller next time that you have BT logging all your incoming calls after you reported the attempted fraud to the halifax helpline

if they keep coming the just ring :-

If you receive persistent malicious calls and would like advice, call BT on Freefone 0800 666 700. A 24-hour recorded message will tell you how to deal with the situation and what to do if you need more help.

If you subscribe to NTL or Telewest and you recieve malicious calls, contact your customer services number for advice

Thats Slightly Incorrect as the Halifax Retail collections team use an 0870 number! I recon its retail collections who are contacting you. When the halifax ask you for you're personal details i,e DOB, they never ask for you're full DOB, only part of it. I suggest you contact Halifax Head Office, confirm with them if they use that 0870 number, once you have verifed this, next time they call give them the details they ask for, then you'll find out what they want.

Browntoa

was just looking at the main contact numbers on the web site, I stand corrected

oldwiring

Was it any of thsese ( culled from Say No to 0870)?
0870 8500856 International Banking
0870 8500356 Credit card Upgrades
0870 6066417 Investment Services
0870 8501281 Credit card –Retail Bank Collections
0870 6005000 Switchboard

TBH if it is not the gentleman's harassing tactics would make me suspicious. Have you tried contacting Halifax (HBOS) on a knwn valid number to verify if they recognise the number as one of theirs?

Heinz

Sujoy wrote:

I'm receiving a call a day now from people claiming to be from the Halifax.

I don't have a Halifax account, mortgage or anything vageuly like that.

Welcome to the MSE forums Sujoy.

Certainly a strange one this but, as you have no accounts with Halifax, I'd suggest 3 things.

1. Sign up immediately for the Telephone Preference Service. You can do that online and then, after 28 days, Halifax commit an offence if they continue to call.

2. As you have no Halifax accounts, ask them who they are trying to contact. If they give a name other than yours, tell them there is nobody by that name there and they have the wrong number.

OTOH, if they give your name, tell them so and then state that they cannot simply demand your details without giving a reason. If they refuse, advise them politely that you are going to terminate the call unless they do and, if they still refuse, hang up.

3. If you have a BT landline, call 0800 916 55 44 and get Caller Display switched on on your line immediately. If you don't have a Caller Display phone, buy a cheap unit on ebay. You can then ignore any more calls from their number.

Sujoy wrote:

When I tried explaining this to the guy who called me most recently he said that I had to give him my personal information over the phone or they would continue to call me more and more frequently.

That is bordering on harassment and may be a matter with which you should get the police involved.

ben500

clark1982 wrote:

Thats Slightly Incorrect as the Halifax Retail collections team use an 0870 number! I recon its retail collections who are contacting you. When the halifax ask you for you're personal details i,e DOB, they never ask for you're full DOB, only part of it. I suggest you contact Halifax Head Office, confirm with them if they use that 0870 number, once you have verifed this, next time they call give them the details they ask for, then you'll find out what they want.

Why on earth would he want to do this? If they want to comunicate with you badly enough they will write, don't give them your address to do so either if they are genuine they will have it and be able to provide it to you and you can then confirm it or tell them they are wrong and must have the wrong person. Even if it is genuine it is an offence for them to harrass you in this way, you could try contacting Halifax head office and explaining the situation to them, let them locate the source of the calls and advise the caller to write and to desist from making the calls, tell them you will prosecute if they do not do everything they can to ensure the calls stop. (that's of course assuming they are genuinly coming from one of their callcentres)

Sujoy

The number they gave is 0870 8501291. I tried it in google and apparently it is some kind of collection agency associated with Halifax. However as I mentioned I don't have anything to do with Halifax as far as I know. I don't have any debts outstanding that I can think of and my mortgage is with the Woolwich.

What grates on me a little is that they really won't give any clues as to what it's about unless I provide them with my personal details, and that they are a little rude on the phone to me.

Thanks for all the quick replies, I'll contact Halifax on Monday and see if they can shed any light on this.

Sujoy

I've signed up to TPS and FPS but we still get a lot of unwanted calls. I used to spend a few minutes taking their full details if they didn't hang up when I asked, but eventually I got fed up of reporting the non-stop unwanted callers.

I don't think these guys are trying to sell anything, so I guess I'm just being obstinate in not wanting to give out my personal details!

Oh and thanks for the welcome, such nice people on this forum . I've been visiting the site for ages but I've not needed to post anything until now.

madauri

By no means give out your personal details on the phone to a stranger who claims to be something you have no way of checking. For all you know, it might be anyone passing themselves off for a Halifax agent. Plus, if you do not deal with them, there is nothing you should tell them.
Next time, while you wait for the TPS to have effect, you may want to tell the unwanted caller his call is being recorded for security reasons. Then, suddenly, cut him off.
If they are a little rude to you they shouldn't take offence that you are a little too tired of them. You simply needn't put up with this. It's ridiculous.