22725297 - what sort of scam is it?

grumbler

Received a text:

Dear [MY REAL FIRST NAME] Thank you for writing to Barclays, we are dealing with your request, and will respond within 5 working days.

The only way to see the number in my Android was to tap 'Call' from the 'Menu' (no 'reply' option), and the above number came up without any area/county code.

I do have Barclaycards, but have not contacted them for a long time.

Any ideas?

scottishsavingsgirl

If you're concerned, I'd maybe give Barclays a call and check for any correspondence on your accounts.

On checking the number, it does appear to be associated with the Barclays Arab Emirates website, providing call details as 0800 BARCLAYS (22725297). If you do a search on Google for the number it's the first result that appears.

Hope that helps.

grumbler

scottishsavingsgirl wrote: »

On checking the number, it does appear to be associated with the Barclays Arab Emirates website, providing call details as 0800 BARCLAYS (22725297). If you do a search on Google for the number it's the first result that appears.

I've seen this. If the text was sent from abroad the number would have shown with the country code.

That's why I suspect that it's some unusual (premium?) UK number. I am pretty sure it's some scam, but can't understand what exactly.

scottishsavingsgirl

Not always,

I've received marketing texts from companies where only the name appears or just a 5 or 6 digit number.

I'd contact Barclays to be sure though, if it is some kind of illegitimate number they will be able to confirm it.

grumbler

OK, I called Barclays out of curiosity.
They said to ignore the message as it was sent by mistake.
However, as it was an Indian call center, I was under impression that they had no idea and said that just to shake me off.

ASWhite

Hi,

I reveived a text from this number, inviting me to apply for a job at Barclays Manchester Customer Service Centre. It looked like a scam so I contacted Barclays, and they were very helpful. The "personal banker" who took my call contacted their HR team to check. Oddly, the recruitment people did not send the text, but the URL in the text DID point to a valid Barclays job ad.

They confirmed that they did not have any of my details on file in HR, and could only suggest that the text was sent by a recruitment agency. That seems odd too - if it WERE sent by an agency, how would they ever make any money out of pointing me directly to Barclays??

So, scam or not scam? I'm still not sure!