Customer service calls from Withheld - Ovo and others

badmemory

I do admit to being paranoid. When someone has put almost £2k on your credit card & it takes almost 6 months to get rid of it, well frankly it makes paranoid a preferred & less stressful way of life.

I'm so paranoid that when I get a call saying there is a problem with my computer I say my computer? I don't have a computer. Oh sorry that's not paranoia, that's common sense.

trickytree1963

badmemory wrote: »

I do admit to being paranoid. When someone has put almost £2k on your credit card & it takes almost 6 months to get rid of it, well frankly it makes paranoid a preferred & less stressful way of life.

I'm so paranoid that when I get a call saying there is a problem with my computer I say my computer? I don't have a computer. Oh sorry that's not paranoia, that's common sense.

You keep quoting Financial Services etc. What has this to do with your Energy Supplier trying to contact you?

KanalVictor

trickytree1963 wrote: »

You keep quoting Financial Services etc. What has this to do with your Energy Supplier trying to contact you?

A bank or other fin services co doing these security checks will often ask you something that appears on your credit reference.Probably more often at account opening.

That could include energy bills, mobile suppliers, insurance etc etc., they are all on your credit report.

I think their scripts are often setup so they continue to ask 8 or 9 questions until you get two right [learnt the frustrating way some years ago .. oh I have to get the bill for that or I think it was around this scores a wrong answer]. Once your alloted questions are used back to the end of the phone queue you go.

A criminal with just a few bits of info just needs to wait for the desired two questions [and they're less bothered by a 30 minute phone queue for a new set of questions].

Cardew

trickytree1963 wrote: »

You keep quoting Financial Services etc. What has this to do with your Energy Supplier trying to contact you?

I think you are missing the point.

I get scam(phishing) calls from people purporting to be from all manner of organisations. If it was a scam call, giving out the information you think is harmless goes some way towards 'identity theft' i.e.

The information Customer Service Officers ask is:

Name on Account

First Line of supply address

Post Code of Supply address

Fuel or Fuels supplied or due to be supplied

Method of payment.

This quote from an earlier post seems perfectly reasonable:

I never give my info to an unsolicited call, likewise I will only phone them on a number that I've already got or got from another source, never to a number that they offer or even the number that they phone me on unless I know it's OK.

Same with E-mails

brewerdave

I agree with Cardew -unsolicited calls I never give out personal info.
I used to get incoming calls from one of my banks, quite clearly marketing calls - and every time they wanted me to answer their security Qs! ( D.o.b, post code, 2nd & 4th character of password etc).
I refused each time, and in the end, I made an appointment at my local branch to make a formal complaint -seems to have cured that particular issue!!

r2015

One way to tell if the call is a phishing call, give them your wrong DOB.


If they say passed then you know it is a scam.


I have numerous people calling me asking for variations on my name and address, each one a scam.


Need some way to pass the time since I became housebound:rotfl:

MothballsWallet

Highlighting is mine.

Sparx wrote: »

And how do you expect OVO to prove who they are? Giving out your name, address, DOB, last bill and account details?

Oh dear! You'd be fuming to high heaven, if again the person they rang wasn't the person they thought it was. Again you'd be upset - you just can't win with some people!

Just use your bloody common sense. Don't give out your bank, card, financial or PIN details and you can't go far wrong. What is the harm confirming your basic information i.e. name, address and date of birth to pass Data Protection? All public record information.

By not withholding their number.
By releasing a number to caller display that can be Google'd for verification.
It's not hard, even a lobotomised Ofgem staffer can figure it out.

silvercar

I have the same problem with Natwest including their fraud and data protection teams.

I had a call from a NatWest fraud team, when I queried that they were calling me, so I was reluctant to give security information, they requested that I dial the number on the back of my debit card from a different landline. Correct procedure.