Threatening phone calls cross the Atlantic

Herongull

After being bombarded with junk phone calls despite being TPS registered and ex-directory, I never answer the phone now. My voicemail outgoing message says that dodgy callers should hang up now but asks legitimate callers to leave a message.

It usually works - most dodgy callers hang up early without bothering to hear the whole message.

HOWEVER, today a dodgy caller has recorded a threatening message on my voicemail. It ends sinisterly with : "If you don't return the call or I don't hear from your solicitor either, I can only wish you good luck as the situation descends on you."

The voice has a British accent, but the pausing between phrases is unnatural - as if pre-recorded phrases have been stitched together.

I've googled some of the phrases and found that people in the USA have been hassled for the last few years by scammers using these terms (except they use the terms "attorney" or "lawyer" rather than "solictor").

Some Americans have been very stressed by these calls, which keep being repeated and become more and more threatening eg they claim the person will be arrested within hours etc, and some have even given into the threats and tried to pay them off.

It appears that they (or copycat operators) are now targeting the UK.

So beware and don't fall for it!

maninthestreet

So what was the rest of the call about?

Herongull

My voicemail only recorded the last part of the call - there was part of a phone number. Then "Do not try to ignore this call", then the final bits already quoted.

I think the one I received must have been an automatic call which ended up talking over my voicemail message, so only the last part was recorded.

According to what I found on the internet, in the American incarnation, real humans (with Indian accents) often make the calls, and claim the person has unpaid debt and unless they make an immediate payment to settle it, they will be arrested, sued or whatever.

Apparently the victims have been phoned up repeatedly at work and threatened with imminent arrest, causing considerable embarrassment and issues with employers in some cases. The scammers have also made threats against the victim's children (even when the person didn't have any).

It has appears to have been going on over there since 2009. I found US news articles, police warnings about this scam.