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Scam? Have you had a phone call like this?
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poet123
Posts: 24,099 Forumite
Yesterday out of the blue my mobile rang (I hardly ever give this number out) it was from a withheld number. A well spoken lady identified herself as beigng from a "third party company working along side British insurers" and asked for me by Surname, I answered and she then proceeded to call me by my first name in full (which is a very unusual name and not the one I am normally known by)and said she was calling regarding an accident I had been involved in in 2009.
I said I had never had such an accident (I have full no claims for over 12 years) she said it had been a 3rd party who had run into me. I said I had no knowledge of such an incident and that I found it hard to believe that it would be the first I had heard of it seeing as she said it was in 2009. She said she had all the paperwork from the third party insurer and as I was denying all knowledge it would be passed back to see what the problem was. I wanted to get off the phone as I didn't want her to have nay more info that she already had. She said someone would be back in contact with me in due course. I have contacted my insurer for that period(since changed) and they have nothing on their system.
So, where did she get my full details from? Is somebody trying to make a PI claim? Has anyone else had this happen?
Clearly it is a scam, but a plausible one given the obscure detail she had on me.
I said I had never had such an accident (I have full no claims for over 12 years) she said it had been a 3rd party who had run into me. I said I had no knowledge of such an incident and that I found it hard to believe that it would be the first I had heard of it seeing as she said it was in 2009. She said she had all the paperwork from the third party insurer and as I was denying all knowledge it would be passed back to see what the problem was. I wanted to get off the phone as I didn't want her to have nay more info that she already had. She said someone would be back in contact with me in due course. I have contacted my insurer for that period(since changed) and they have nothing on their system.
So, where did she get my full details from? Is somebody trying to make a PI claim? Has anyone else had this happen?
Clearly it is a scam, but a plausible one given the obscure detail she had on me.
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Comments
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It sounds like the typical personal injury claim fishing (more than a scam).
They buy your details, call you to talk about the compensation your owed for the non-fault accident you were involved in and either try to glean the rest of the details or say it was in 2009 in the hope that you just correct them saying actually it was 2008 etc.
Needless to say if you say you want to proceed with a claim they will then sell your details on to a solicitor as a hot lead and bag circa £750 for the referral of a hot lead -v- the pennies they paid for your details in the first place.0 -
My 10 year old daughter got a phone call on her mobile telling her she could claim for an accident. Your basic data is available (name, address, tel number). The rest is just fishing.
If they phone 10 people, then maybe 1 in 10 they will get lucky with and find a fool that uses them to put in a retrospective claim. The money they make from that will more than make up for the 9 failed scam calls.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0 -
InsideInsurance wrote: »It sounds like the typical personal injury claim fishing (more than a scam).
They buy your details, call you to talk about the compensation your owed for the non-fault accident you were involved in and either try to glean the rest of the details or say it was in 2009 in the hope that you just correct them saying actually it was 2008 etc.
Needless to say if you say you want to proceed with a claim they will then sell your details on to a solicitor as a hot lead and bag circa £750 for the referral of a hot lead -v- the pennies they paid for your details in the first place.
yep i think you are correct, i my self had just the same call in the last 30mins on my work line. company called CI Claims and when i questioned the lady on the phone on how she got this detail she stated it was a on a database but fell shaort in mentioning the name of this database.
when said who gave them this number as this was a business line. by shock and horror the line got disconnected :rotfl:Total Debt in June 2013: Barclaycard 0% until Nov 2014: £1550
Tesco CC: £1200 0% Until March 2014
HSBC CC: £384 25%APR - TARGET to make GREEN ASAP0 -
I had two calls yesterday ... same thing, annoying isnt it0
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They fish and quite possibly you volunteered the information without even realising.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0
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forgotmyname wrote: »They fish and quite possibly you volunteered the information without even realising.
No, I really didn't. I just answered their question, with a yes is that Mrs xxx but then they went on to call me by my full first name which I rarely, if ever , use. I didn't give them any other info than they already had.0 -
name, address, date of birth are all in the public domain. Beyond that they tend to ask questions that lead you to drop information in without realising you are doing it. Not saying they did for you but that is the sort of approach they usually take.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0
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