PPI refund offer - scam??

yabbadoo

I received this call -
"I am Sam Mardin (he spelt it) from (company unknown, I had difficulty with his Indian/Pakistani accent) telephone no 0208 0997989."
He then asked me verify my full name, address incl post-code, and date of birth. (To be crystal clear - HE gave ME these details in full and asked me to confirm).
He continued "We have recently won a class action concerning mis-sold PPI, and your share is £3568. How do I want it paying?" (I said cash, tongue in cheek).

He then asked me to go to a paypoint (and named the Post Office in a nearby town, its exact address) and asked me to buy a UKASH voucher for £356 (10%) and call him on the above no when done, after which a rep would call WITHIN AN HOUR and hand over £3568 on production of photo ID (D/L, passport or bus pass) I need NOT hand over the UKASH voucher - all I need do is tell him the last 3 digits of its 11-digit no. (since checked, it's actually 19 digits)

Needless to say I did no such thing. To my knowledge I am not entitled to a PPI refund, nor have I registered for one. I've never (to my knowledge) paid PPI. My wife paid a small amount (on a catalogue, about £2, till I stopped it) but that would have been in her name, not mine.

I phoned the police, who told me to report it on a fraud-reporting website. Filled in the form, couldn't find the "category" so classed it as "other". On completion/submission, the website said thanks, we'll look at it, but advised me contact the police (Catch 22!).

I'm a little surprised that he had all this personal info. I'm ex-directory, limited data on electoral roll, and religiously shred all address labels, letter headers and financial papers.

It's also difficult to see how this scam actually works, if one doesn't hand over the UKASH voucher. My guess is that they won't give cash, just a fake UKASH voucher (akkegedly as good as cash)

Anyone had this, been caught out, or any other info? Be good if it WAS genuine (unlikely!)

DrSqueeze

Link here which may help people avoid being tricked by such a scam:

http://www.ukash.com/uk/en/alerts/loan-fees---do-not-send-ukash1708.aspx

DO NOT send Ukash to anyone cold-calling you to offer a tax rebate, personal loan or any other inducement. This is a fraud and you will lose your money. They may claim to be from the Ministry of Finance, Money Saving Expert or a loan company but in ALL cases are fraudsters who will ask you to send them a fee in the form of a Ukash voucher code by email or over the telephone.

Never email vouchers or give voucher codes in full or part by email or over the telephone to anyone as you will lose your money
Ukash advice is never to provide any voucher details to a third-party by any method as it should be treated just like cash
The Ukash product is not designed for person to person or Escrow payments; it should only be used for making payments online at Participating Ukash Merchants
Participating Ukash Merchants will never ask for payment to be made by sending voucher details over the telephone or by email
Participating Ukash Merchants will never ask for payment to be made directly to a carrier to release a shipment

dunstonh

He continued "We have recently won a class action concerning mis-sold PPI, and your share is £3568. How do I want it paying?" (I said cash, tongue in cheek).

Its funny the lies that they come up with. There has been no class action and it would be virtually impossible for such at thing to take place as the retailer has the responsibility and there are tens of thousands of those. Plus, there is nothing wrong with having PPI. So, each case has to be viewed individually. Therefore making any class action action virtually impossible.

He then asked me to go to a paypoint (and named the Post Office in a nearby town, its exact address) and asked me to buy a UKASH voucher for £356 (10%)

Goodbye £356.

It's also difficult to see how this scam actually works, if one doesn't hand over the UKASH voucher. My guess is that they won't give cash, just a fake UKASH voucher (akkegedly as good as cash)

There are people gullible enough to fall for advance fee fraud. That is why it is the most common fraud going. If he phones 100 people a day and gets 2 people to do it then that is £700 made a day. They can then usually sell those details on to other fraudsters who will then target that person with other frauds as you tend to find the same people are gullible to make the same mistake again.

DrSqueeze

yabbadoo wrote: »

I'm a little surprised that he had all this personal info. I'm ex-directory, limited data on electoral roll, and religiously shred all address labels, letter headers and financial papers.

All it needs, and this is not uncommon, is for one of the fraudsters (or a friend / relative) to work for a financial company (bank, credit card provider, insurer etc). Then they have access to everything.

yabbadoo

I didn't fall for it, primarly because I've never paid Bank charges, PPI and the like, so not entitled to refund. (Never been the victim of any other scam either).
Just found it odd that (googling) the named Co and contact no is legitimate, active in this field and filing accounts.
I'd never heard of UKASH either (googled that too) and appreciate the additional info posted above.
Incidentally, had yet another call from them (the third) was passed to a "manager" who tried his best to convince me (failed). Told him I didn't want the money as I'm not entitled - hopefully there's an end to it.
Thanks for the input,everyone, hopefully this scam will get wider publicity. To clarify - the caller claims his Company is RECLAIM RIGHT LTD in Finchley Road, London - (got this on the 2nd call, original post was after the 1st) the tel no is 0208 0997989, which is indeed their phone no.

DrSqueeze

I can't see why any legitimate business would cold call people offering a large sum of money to which they're not entitled. Or why they would ask people to buy a virtually untraceable cash voucher in order to claim it, let alone directing them where to buy it from.

The question has to be, what would someone buying a UKash voucher prove to them? It doesn't prove ID, or entitlement to anything.

However, what they would have is the reference number and where it was bought. Getting the whole number from someone is also easy. When a person's mind is concentrating on the prospect of receiving money, it loses focus on other things. So they might ask for the last part of the number, then say "Sorry, that's not showing up, can you tell me the first few digits as well...."

There is a company under that name which gives its address on several websites. If you google that address, they're not the only ones to use it.

yabbadoo

As stated originally, I called the police after the first call, who directed me to a fraud-reporting website. Filled in the form, but (as no crime yet commiitted) was unable to categorise it so chose "other". On completion, the wbsite auto-response was "thanks, we'll look at it, suggest you call the police..... "

Look forward to seeing some hard evidence or action. As a private individual I've gone as far as I can in broadcasting here to alert/protect others, and reporting it officially. Needs someone with more clout than me to take it further! Thanks all, for your interest.