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Suspicious bt phone call

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  • Jivesinger
    Jivesinger Posts: 1,221 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited 26 July 2014 at 1:58PM
    As part of the whole '2 week window to protect yourself' story , it was reported by the National Crime Agency that some ISPs would indeed be contacting people if they could tell that a PC was infected.

    From here:
    http://www.getsafeonline.org/nca/
    Your internet service provider (ISP) may have sent you a letter or email warning you about this threat. They will know that your computer is infected because the NCA – working with other law enforcement bodies around the world – has taken over thousands of the criminal servers and examined the records.

    Note that it doesn't mention phoning people up[STRIKE], but I'm not sure that would necessarily rule it out, especially as BT are notoriously bad at communicating in a way that makes them look like spammers.

    Why not ask the supposed BT person something that only they would know - the length of your most recent phone call for instance, or your broadband usage this month (which you can lookup from BT.com)?[/STRIKE]

    I certainly wouldn't run anything on your computer under their instruction, or go to any websites they give you links for.

    [STRIKE]But if they say 'you have malware XYZ' and recommend a well-known product, it might be worth doing it.[/STRIKE]

    Edit:OK I take most of that back. After a bit of Googling it does seem common that the scammers have got hold of people's BT account numbers - presumably BT have been hacked or the information on account numbers has leaked somehow.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Any specialist BT 'spam busting team' (even assuming one exists) is not going to have access to customer accounts info such as the details of their calls.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Biggles
    Biggles Posts: 8,209 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    beegood wrote: »
    I was going to answer and string them along then tell them I was with sky but I'm a bit busy.
    Just hang up, for Pete's sake, then they'll stop! It's just a variation on the 'Windows Support from India' phone call and you've shown them that you're unsure, so they'll will ring again.
  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 32,922 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I would say OK im bored now. If your with BT. WHY dont you know that i left you 2 weeks ago for another provider.

    What number are they calling from?
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • kwikbreaks
    kwikbreaks Posts: 9,187 Forumite
    macman wrote: »
    Fair enough, but they still wouldn't ring you up about it-wouldn't you just get a warning message, and then get cut off?
    I'm pretty much certain they wouldn't either but I did vaguely recall something about ISPs contacting customers because they had malware running and I see someone has now provided a link.
  • beegood
    beegood Posts: 55 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    The caller sounded Indian and because BT call centres are Indian based it was a case of is it genuine or not obviously not.
  • andygb
    andygb Posts: 14,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Most of the internet pc scams originate in India, and most of the internet service providers use call centres based in the same part of India.
    Now, if I was a cynical person, and knowing how badly people are paid in India, then I may think that our personal information is being traded to the scammers by people working in the call centres.
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