What can i do about persistent boiler room calls to elderly MIL??

fiscalfreckles

My in-laws have been receiving persistent and quite aggressive sales calls from a guy trying to get them to invest in shares.

The "investment" is in U S Petroleum Holdings, which I have already established is a well known scam.

I have also found out that the salesmen often prey on elderly customers, which I think is disgusting.

Now, despite saying no, this guy will not stop calling. They are both in their 70's & my MIL has dementia, and we are really worried that she will be tricked into giving away information about herself or even verbally agreeing to something stupid.

This has almost happened, as - despite her claiming that the guy doesn't know her address so he can't action anything, last week documents for a share contract note arrived from New York.

We have taken these off her to make sure she doesn't sign anything.

What can I do to prevent this happening again? She doesn't know the company name, and they always withhold the number.

I am trying to intercept a call myself, so that I can get some more detail and report the company.

Anyway, BEWARE of U S Petroleum Holdings, also the main sales outfits in the UK seem to be called Regency, Matheson Lloyd or Connaught (but I don't know which, if any have called my in-laws!)

pinkshoes

Next time they phone, tell them the number is ex-directory and TPS registered (if it's not, register the number with TPS!), and if they phone again you'll be contacting trading standards.

I've done this a few times, and it seems to work. No guarantees but I guess it's worth a try.

fiscalfreckles

pinkshoes wrote: »

Next time they phone, tell them the number is ex-directory and TPS registered (if it's not, register the number with TPS!), and if they phone again you'll be contacting trading standards.

I've done this a few times, and it seems to work. No guarantees but I guess it's worth a try.

I think they are calling from outside the UK, and TPS doesn't seem to cover this.

trisontana

I have had dealings with these very aggressive salesman's. TPS registration isn't any use and if you put the phone down they keep ringing back. In one case I had to leave the phone off the hook for half an hour just to ensure they stopped bothering me. I don't think getting the police or Trading Standards involved would help either.

As for your question I honestly don't know the answer. All I can suggest is to tell the relative not to fall for the salesman's patter, and keep putting the phone down. These people are the scum of the earth.

Edit,
I have just found this forum which has a great deal of information about these scam artists :-

http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?p=491012

edda

You can get her number changed if there are a lot of nuisance calls.

Register this newnumber with TPS; ensure it is ex-directory and only give it out to those you want calls from.
A bit of a nusisance that this causes some inconvenience to you, but I know at least 3 people that have done this and thought it was worth the bother. They don't get any more annoying or persistent calls.

HTH

trisontana

But if the calls originate outside the UK then TPS registration is no use.

hollydays

I heard of a similar thing on another forum,the salesman eventually kept harrassing them and said they had a verbal contract.It seems to be a type of bullying behaviour. The advice given there was to ignore it.,but if you cant stop mil from answering the phone I don't know what else you can do.That salesman was not from the uk either.

skylight

This company will not stop calling. Sorry to say so, but they are to agressive to give a damn about your parents.

I can only recommend a phone number change.


I used to get calls like this when I was working. Nothing they did would stop these calls. This was 4 years ago. I understand that they still get them.

ariba10

We have caller display and an answerphone.

Any calls from international or number withheld we let go to the answerphone and if it should be one that we want to take we pick up the phone.

Cold callers never seem to want to talk to an answerphone.

Ephemera

Can BT block the number to stop the calls coming through?

0800 661 441 BT malicious calls bureau may be able to help

Browntoa

How can I stop or prevent malicious calls?



General advice
Blocking or screening your calls
Reporting persistent calls
Further information

General advice

• Remain calm and don’t engage with the caller. Many malicious callers are motivated by getting an emotional response from you, and walking away from the phone for a few moments before replacing the handset can be more of a deterrent than simply slamming the phone down or retaliating verbally.
• Don’t disclose any personal information. This may seem like an obvious point, but many people answer their phone by stating their telephone number, or worse, their name. If the caller has dialled your number at random they are more likely to remember it and call you again if you reinforce their memory in this way. Answer the phone with a simple ‘hello’ or wait for the caller to speak first.
• Keep any answer phone messages short and to the point: never leave a message informing people that you are away from home, for example, but simply state that you are unable to take the call at present. A male voice message may be more of a deterrent than a female voice, and women should consider changing their phone book listing if this gives any indication of their sex or marital status. You may find your answering machine a useful tool for screening your calls.

Blocking or screening your calls

The following BT services may help you:

• Caller Display - see the number that's calling you before you answer
• Choose to Refuse - block particular numbers from getting through to you
• Anonymous Call Reject - block incoming calls from withheld numbers
• BT Privacy at Home - a free service that includes Caller Display and registration with the Telephone Preference Service
• You may also wish to make your telephone number ex-directory

Reporting persistent calls

If you are receiving persistent nuisance calls, please contact our specialist advisors at the Malicious Calls Bureau on 0800 661 441 (24hrs, 7 days a week). However, if you are receiving abusive, threatening or obscene calls, malicious or otherwise distressing to you, then you should report them to the police.