SCAM police@internetsweep

carolinen07

Hi all

My OH has had a couple of voicemails now from a clearly automated source at around the same time each evening asking to send / validate his bank details and Passport information 

The first stated -

Call was from ‘Geoff from Internet sweeping system’

‘Criminals using his name to commit traffic offences’

‘This is Serious and life threatening’

‘They are Authorised by U.K. government 

They want Full name and bank details and passport number’

States that ‘this is serious and lives are at risk’

‘Failure to do as they ask will result in criminals causing you hospitalisation’

The second he received a day later (tonight)- 

Again asking for same Security details 

It’s his ‘Final warning’

They want to ‘Make sure you’re safe’

They ‘Cannot stand by and watch criminals watch you strip you of your livelihood’

They are ‘Charity funded’

Bank details sort code 

Passport - need number and expiration date. Will ‘allow travel’

They address him near enough by his name (surname is correct) and obviously have his telephone number. 

They tell him to send his details to Police@internetsweep.uk

Obviously - we are aware this is a major scam and will report this to the police but wondered if anyone has had anything similar?!

JJ_Egan

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6169004/scam-police#latest

Jack_Cork

I had one last week from HMRC, apparently I owed tax and they had a warrant for my arrest, and unless I pressed 1 they would issue it and the police would arrest me. Still waiting for the police to turn up, I'd packed an overnight bag just in case as well

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Damn, I had the nice amazon on my phone last weak saying he need access to my computer. He gave up after twenty minutes talking to me and hung up!

carolinen07

Jack_Cork said:

I had one last week from HMRC, apparently I owed tax and they had a warrant for my arrest, and unless I pressed 1 they would issue it and the police would arrest me. Still waiting for the police to turn up, I'd packed an overnight bag just in case as well

😂😂😂

Abbafan1972

Hubby got one of those texts supposedly from O2 saying they were unable to verify payment details and to click on the link.
He was an O2 customer yes and had a final bill, which I've just paid (through the proper channels).
As I deal with the bill payments he even forwarded the text to me and of course I spotted it straight away! Lol!

forgotmyname

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth said:

Damn, I had the nice amazon on my phone last weak saying he need access to my computer. He gave up after twenty minutes talking to me and hung up!

Only 20 minutes.  Please repeat MUST TRY HARDER NEXT TIME.  

That is my attitude to them, talking to me means they are not talking to someone who maybe less savvy.  The guy who hung up when I told
him I couldnt find the computer, he asked is it a laptop and i replied no its a huge beige box. I could tell he was not impressed, the hangup
tone sounded different or was that me giggling at wasting his time?

 

carolinen07

Haha! All these are brilliant guys! We have since had three more.... the other day I was in a fire and needed his card details to buy food. Tonight there is a landslide which could lead to ‘man slaughter charges’ and they mentioned ‘child trafficking’ and they needed PayPal details. Just so odd but also they mentioned the town of you will we living in (not the village). So some details are eerily on point which is what is a concern! Voicemails left all the time as don’t answer it. Might have to answer next time to see what happens...

TripleH

Have I read the first one correctly, ‘Failure to do as they ask will result in criminals causing you hospitalisation' so if you don't give them your details they'll send the heavies round to break your legs?
Yes sounds funny when you read it but can see some might be frightened enough to comply if they get that call.

carolinen07

TripleH said:

Have I read the first one correctly, ‘Failure to do as they ask will result in criminals causing you hospitalisation' so if you don't give them your details they'll send the heavies round to break your legs?
Yes sounds funny when you read it but can see some might be frightened enough to comply if they get that call.

Yes... honestly the second voicemail mentioned ‘wife and newborn’. Which hit too close to home... we’ve been thinking about how whoever it is could glean Information so close to fact but just a bit off mark. Algorithms on internet perhaps? And totally agree. Whilst we are fully aware that this is a scam I imagine some People may not be... especially if some things they say can ring true to a degree. Just not sure who to report - not sure 101 is the appropriate channel? 

hybernia

carolinen07 said:

Hi all

Obviously - we are aware this is a major scam and will report this to the police but wondered if anyone has had anything similar?!

Good luck if attempting to report it to Inaction Fraud, the 'official' online 'protector' against UK scammers.

To notify it of an actual or potential fraud, it's necessary to spend a small eternity registering an account with it -- God knows why -- and labouring over one data input field after another which the website says it will refer to when it comes to actually filing your report. However, Inaction  fraud's IT is supremely mismanaged, so when you've spent half the morning providing  all your details and creating an account, it then fails to populate the 'required fields' that accompany your report with the data you've already wasted so much time giving it. Because the fields don't populate, the report cannot be sent.

It's all strangely British in its way: utterly hopeless, run by blazingly incompetent bureaucratic jobsworths, and so inadequate a defence against cyber crime as to be almost laughable.