If you get a call from the police call the police!

clive0510

FYI. 
If you get a phone call  from someone claiming to be a police officer and asking you to call 999 on your handset now, don't do it! its a scam.
hang up the call and call 999 on your mobile and tell the police everything the other person said to you. 
i;ve just had that exact call and luckily i realised what was happening. dont get caught.

Browntoa

And the scam is ......

clive0510

Browntoa said:

And the scam is ......

I'm not sure. looked to see what number they were calling from, withheld number. told the police and they are looking into it.

mr_stripey

I would say that a potential scam call from the "police" hardly warrants a 999 call anyway.

Just hang up and get on with your day. Why would the Police call you and ask you to call 999 anyway? 

Exodi

Browntoa said:

And the scam is ......

I expect they try to trick the victim into thinking because they get them to dial 999 (notably during the live call, which does nothing) that they've been transferred to the police (and I'm sure they have transfer sounds and assertive sounding people ready).

From there, I guess it could be any ol' scam, possibly something like claiming that there is a warrant out for the victims arrest for unpaid taxes, but upon speaking to the police, they offer agree to not arrest you if you settle the outstanding amount, or something like that.

The only difference from the classic version of this scam, is that they're hoping to convince the victim they are genuinely speaking to the police because they dialed 999.

That's my best guess at least.

EDIT: sorry and yes as @mr_stripey says, certainly don't actually call 999 because you received a scam call... it's not an emergency, just hang up and report it to action fraud or something.

EDIT 2: sounds like the OP has already called 999, Christ's sake.

clive0510

Exodi said:

Browntoa said:

And the scam is ......

I expect they try to trick the victim into thinking because they dialed 999 (notably during the call, which does nothing) that you've been transferred to the police (and I'm sure they have transfer sounds and assertive sound people ready).

From there, I guess it could be any ol' scam, possibly something like claiming that there is a warrant out for the victims arrest for unpaid taxes, but upon speaking to the police, they offer agree to not arrest you if you settle the outstanding amount, or something like that.

The only difference from the classic version of this scam, is that they're hoping to convince the victim they are genuinely speaking to the police because they dialed 999.

That's my best guess at least.

EDIT: sorry and yes as mr_stripey says, certainly don't call 999 because you received a scam call... it's not an emergency, just hang up and report it to action fraud or something.

no. the guy was claiming he had someone there in custody who was claiming to live at this address and also had same surname as me. apparently he had in his possession some stolen bank cards. something wasn't right, so I told the police and then they can do as they wish.

Exodi

clive0510 said:

Exodi said:

Browntoa said:

And the scam is ......

I expect they try to trick the victim into thinking because they dialed 999 (notably during the call, which does nothing) that you've been transferred to the police (and I'm sure they have transfer sounds and assertive sound people ready).

From there, I guess it could be any ol' scam, possibly something like claiming that there is a warrant out for the victims arrest for unpaid taxes, but upon speaking to the police, they offer agree to not arrest you if you settle the outstanding amount, or something like that.

The only difference from the classic version of this scam, is that they're hoping to convince the victim they are genuinely speaking to the police because they dialed 999.

That's my best guess at least.

EDIT: sorry and yes as mr_stripey says, certainly don't call 999 because you received a scam call... it's not an emergency, just hang up and report it to action fraud or something.

no. the guy was claiming he had someone there in custody who was claiming to live at this address and also had same surname as me. apparently he had in his possession some stolen bank cards. something wasn't right, so I told the police and then they can do as they wish.

Ahh fair enough, seems a pretty ineffective one, but the concept is the same.

Pretty ridiculous and over the top to actually call 999 though.

clive0510

I think maybe I was panicking about it, (maybe thats the reaction they want). and on the spur of the moment dialled 999. but better do that than nothing i suppose.

FreeBear

clive0510 said:

Exodi said:

Browntoa said:

And the scam is ......

I expect they try to trick the victim into thinking because they dialed 999 (notably during the call, which does nothing) that you've been transferred to the police (and I'm sure they have transfer sounds and assertive sound people ready).

From there, I guess it could be any ol' scam, possibly something like claiming that there is a warrant out for the victims arrest for unpaid taxes, but upon speaking to the police, they offer agree to not arrest you if you settle the outstanding amount, or something like that.

The only difference from the classic version of this scam, is that they're hoping to convince the victim they are genuinely speaking to the police because they dialed 999.

That's my best guess at least.

EDIT: sorry and yes as mr_stripey says, certainly don't call 999 because you received a scam call... it's not an emergency, just hang up and report it to action fraud or something.

no. the guy was claiming he had someone there in custody who was claiming to live at this address and also had same surname as me. apparently he had in his possession some stolen bank cards. something wasn't right, so I told the police and then they can do as they wish.

The next stage would have been to instruct you to move all your money to *this account number to make sure it is safe. Alternatively, they would send someone round to check your cards to make sure they were not fake (or something similar).

My go to response to any scam call sometimes starts along the lines of "Hello little girl. Does your mummy know you are playing with the phone again ?"... More often than not, it ends with "Do you know what I have in my hand. It is long, black, and very hard" (the handset).

Neil_Jones

clive0510 said:

FYI. 
If you get a phone call  from someone claiming to be a police officer and asking you to call 999 on your handset now, don't do it! its a scam.
hang up the call and call 999 on your mobile and tell the police everything the other person said to you. 
i;ve just had that exact call and luckily i realised what was happening. dont get caught.

If you feel you must call the police on this matter, it would have been better to call 101, as this is hardly an emergency by any stretch of the imagination

If the caller told you to jump off a cliff would you have done that as well?

clive0510

Neil_Jones said:

clive0510 said:

FYI. 
If you get a phone call  from someone claiming to be a police officer and asking you to call 999 on your handset now, don't do it! its a scam.
hang up the call and call 999 on your mobile and tell the police everything the other person said to you. 
i;ve just had that exact call and luckily i realised what was happening. dont get caught.

If you feel you must call the police on this matter, it would have been better to call 101, as this is hardly an emergency by any stretch of the imagination

If the caller told you to jump off a cliff would you have done that as well?

NO. And likewise I did not press 999 on my handset as he also told me. rather I called the police on my mobile while caller was on the landline. 
just an update on this. had phone call back, (this time actually from the police). and apparently I did the correct thing and they have some on the case.