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PLEASE READ: RE: Competition Scam

I am an employee of a LA. We have had a security alert emailed to all staff follows:

The following telephone scam is being operated in relation to home and /or work phones, including mobiles. The scenario is:

Your phone rings and you receive a recorded message which says:

''Congratulations. We are calling you to advise you that you have won an all expenses paid trip to an exotic destination. Please press 9 now to hear further details.''

If you press 9, you'll be connected to a premium line that bills in the region of £20.00 per minute.

If you press 9 and connect, even if you disconnect immediataly, the other end will stay connected for a minimum of 5 mins- at a cost to you of £100. The message lasts for 11 mins.

The final part of the call asks you to key in your postcode and house number (which has other serious considerations) and then, after a wait of a further two minutes, responds with the message: ''Sorry, you are not one of the lucky winners'' and disconnects, adding a further £260.00 to your bill.

Unfortunatley, the calls are originating from outside the UK and such as BT and other providers are relatively powerless to act.

The only safe solution is to hang up before the message prompts you to press 9

The same thing is also happening with Mobiles on a 0709 number.

There have been speculation as to the truth of this incident but by coincidence a couple of days ago I answered the phone to be greeted by this message saying I had won a holiday. I thought it was just a stupid auto dialler and hung up straight away. I don't know if it would have asked me to press 9.
:) ~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
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Comments

  • HAPPY_CHRIS
    HAPPY_CHRIS Posts: 709 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Thanks Poppy9 we had one of these calls yesterday evening, fortunately my husband just hung up!!:eek:
  • M.E.2-2
    M.E.2-2 Posts: 7,354 Forumite
    Had one two weeks ago but thankfully put the phone down.
    You might want to post this in the Warnings board as well.
    Guest.
  • jadring
    jadring Posts: 1,305 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    if you have been targeted by this scam and have had a phone bill you can get the phone number off the phone bill and report them to ICSTIS @ https://www.icstis.org, they will look into it, you may not get a refund but if everyone reports them they could get hit with a huge fine and sometimes people are refunded, hope this could be of some use to someone


    Absolutely gutted about Paul Walker - RIP xx

  • rogjen
    rogjen Posts: 282 Forumite
    jadring wrote:
    if you have been targeted by this scam and have had a phone bill you can get the phone number off the phone bill and report them to ICSTIS @ https://www.icstis.org, they will look into it, you may not get a refund but if everyone reports them they could get hit with a huge fine and sometimes people are refunded, hope this could be of some use to someone


    :mad: Thanks for this, will pass this info on.
  • MarkyMarkD
    MarkyMarkD Posts: 9,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    This is an urban myth. There is no way that dialling "9" in response to an incoming phone call can connect you to a £20 a minute line. There are no £20 a minute lines in any case.
  • cruesfan
    cruesfan Posts: 133 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I agree. This is definitely a hoax and has been doing the rounds for over a year. Enter 'dial 9 mobile phone hoax' in google and you will find lots of information about it.
  • toozie_2
    toozie_2 Posts: 3,278 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I've actually put the phone down, and pulled the plug out of the socket, plugged back in after a minute, and the speel is still rolling on!
    :j
  • Poppy9
    Poppy9 Posts: 18,833 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The problem is lots of people have had these phone calls. How do you know the urban myth isn't a myth itself:confused: . If you want to risk pressing 9 go ahead - me I prefer to hang up.:cool:
    :) ~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
  • MarkyMarkD
    MarkyMarkD Posts: 9,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I also hang up because it's obviously a scam - but the scam is that the holiday isn't free at all, not that it will cost you £20 a minute to hear about the scam.
  • Frogling
    Frogling Posts: 1,220 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    I had one of these messages on the voicemail of my mobile phone when I switched it on tonight. Just deleted it as soon as I realised that it was a recorded message about 'winning' something.
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