And another phone scam/nuisnace

[phil_sutters]

I have started to get emails telling me I have won 'Rewards' from major companies like Tesco and Boots, for which I just have to click...... They all seem to originate from a source in the US, Florida I think, whose name is at the very bottom in very small letters, with an 'unsubscribe' button. I won't touch even that option. It's annoying, but there are a lot of advertising emails from OK companies I have used which I mostly dump anyway, so one more doesn't create much more hassle to delete.

[Metr0Land]

In a similar vein I keep getting emails saying 'We Pay For Your Shopping' - I've not investigated further - straight in the bin.

[mezzoman253]

53 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

I have started to get emails telling me I have won 'Rewards' from major companies like Tesco and Boots, for which I just have to click...... They all seem to originate from a source in the US, Florida I think, whose name is at the very bottom in very small letters, with an 'unsubscribe' button. I won't touch even that option. It's annoying, but there are a lot of advertising emails from OK companies I have used which I mostly dump anyway, so one more doesn't create much more hassle to delete.

Yes, I started getting those types a while back and I checked here  https://haveibeenpwned.com/

and found one of my email accounts had fallen foul of a data breach just before Christmas last.

 

I forwarded every one to report@phishing.gov.uk without fail and recently they all stopped. I was getting 12-15 a day.

 

Hopefully the source has been shut down, although if you are just starting to get them, it may be not.

 

Rob

 

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by mezzoman253

[kevinlms]

Had a new to me scam today.

 

This caller rings up and starts talking about some program that stops scam calls.

 

I tell him that I'm not interested, as clearly it doesn't work. He tells me that it does work. I tell him that it can't work, otherwise his call couldn't have got through!

He did know my surname, so obviously his call centre has listened to my answering machine message before.

I suspect I'll hear more from this crowd. :-(

[Hroth]

My answering machine has the default message on it as its only there to catch the call if I don't pick up in time, and prevents the BT answering machine kicking in.

 

I've not had that one yet, my most recent was a "Microsoft" call.  I didn't have time to lead them down a rabbit hole, so when they said they were from Microsoft calling about my Windows computer, I just said "thats nice for you" and hung up.

 

[johnofwessex]

Why dont we do what the Ukrainians seem very good at.

 

Trace where these calls are coming from and send in the missiles

 

 

[Ian Smeeton]

I must have been bored today.

 

If I am not bored, I never get up to mischief.

 

However, Mischief, I did.

 

The mobile rang.

 

Manchester number.

 

Indian lady on the other end asking to speak to me by name.

 

"I am glad you have called, because I need cheering up. Can you tell me about the underwear that you are wearing?

 

Is it frilly, lacy, crotchless? perhaps."

 

There was some fairly unintelligible invective hurled down the phone from the other end, followed by "Idiot!!", and she hung up.

 

I doubt it made her day, but it cheered me up.

 

Regards

 

Ian

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, Ian Smeeton said:

I must have been bored today.

 

If I am not bored, I never get up to mischief.

 

However, Mischief, I did.

 

The mobile rang.

 

Manchester number.

 

Indian lady on the other end asking to speak to me by name.

 

"I am glad you have called, because I need cheering up. Can you tell me about the underwear that you are wearing?

 

Is it frilly, lacy, crotchless? perhaps."

 

There was some fairly unintelligible invective hurled down the phone from the other end, followed by "Idiot!!", and she hung up.

 

I doubt it made her day, but it cheered me up.

 

Regards

 

Ian

If I tried something like that, I'd find that I hadn't recognised my sister in law or some one similar!

[pH]

We get fairly regular scam calls, usually about questionable charges to ‘your credit card’ - no specifics about which card.

 

My wife has pointed out what has become a characteristic of these calls - they begin midway through a message. And they end with “To hear this message again, press …”.

 

 

[Sitham Yard]

Received an e-mail today supposedly from BT about my direct debit being no longer active and with a button to press to set up a new direct debit. Checked with bank and BT and reported to Action Fraud. Noticed account number wrong and mentions also Vodaphone. BEWARE I expect clicking on the button could give away your bank details.

Andrew   

[Hroth]

Probably been mentioned before, but there are also the calls claiming to be from Amazon about a purchase of an iPhone, requesting you to press any key to connect to an operator to confirm it.

 

Any key I choose is the hang-up one...

 

[Mallard60022]

15 hours ago, Ian Smeeton said:

I must have been bored today.

 

If I am not bored, I never get up to mischief.

 

However, Mischief, I did.

 

The mobile rang.

 

Manchester number.

 

Indian lady on the other end asking to speak to me by name.

 

"I am glad you have called, because I need cheering up. Can you tell me about the underwear that you are wearing?

 

Is it frilly, lacy, crotchless? perhaps."

 

There was some fairly unintelligible invective hurled down the phone from the other end, followed by "Idiot!!", and she hung up.

 

I doubt it made her day, but it cheered me up.

 

Regards

 

Ian

That's no way to turn down your invite to the Queens Jubilee Party at Old Trafford.

[fodenway]

I've had quite a few calls over the last couple of months telling me that I've overpaid on my washing machine warranty. It's always £199, and I suppose they would like me to give them my bank details so that they can pay me back - yeah, right. Sometimes I'll ask them "which washing machine? this is a launderette and I've got thirty of them", sometimes I tell them I've already given my details to the nice lady who rang last week, but haven't had the refund yet, and sometimes I tell them that I'm glad they called but I'm just on my way to work, and ask them to wait half an hour and then ring me on my work number - sometimes I give them the Serious Fraud Office number, and sometimes it's our local Police Headquarters. Now and again, if I'm not in the mood for a laugh, I tell them to do something ending in "off". 

[PaulCheffus]

21 minutes ago, fodenway said:

I've had quite a few calls over the last couple of months telling me that I've overpaid on my washing machine warranty. It's always £199, and I suppose they would like me to give them my bank details so that they can pay me back - yeah, right. Sometimes I'll ask them "which washing machine? this is a launderette and I've got thirty of them", sometimes I tell them I've already given my details to the nice lady who rang last week, but haven't had the refund yet, and sometimes I tell them that I'm glad they called but I'm just on my way to work, and ask them to wait half an hour and then ring me on my work number - sometimes I give them the Serious Fraud Office number, and sometimes it's our local Police Headquarters. Now and again, if I'm not in the mood for a laugh, I tell them to do something ending in "off". 

Hi

 

A few years ago we had an insurance for the washing machine and as we didn’t claim they gave us the money back. No contact it was just put back into the account we paid the direct debit from after the allotted time had passed.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[melmerby]

Anyone had a call from 03330459534? I let it go to the answerphone.

"This is Lloyds Bank Fraud Dept, there has been suspicious activity on your credit card" "Please call "XXXX" to safeguard your account"

 

Just checked my internet banking (online) and guess what? No messages from the bank about my card.

 

Just a scam.

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Anyone had a call from 03330459534? I let it go to the answerphone.

"This is Lloyds Bank Fraud Dept, there has been suspicious activity on your credit card" "Please call "XXXX" to safeguard your account"

 

Just checked my internet banking (online) and guess what? No messages from the bank about my card.

 

Just a scam.

Last Friday my wife did receive a call from her bank. To ask if she'd made some purchases earlier that day, as someone had. She told the caller that she hadn't touched the card that day, which we knew to be true as she'd been with me all day.

Anyway some thief had tried to make some on line purchases, but fortunately because a low balance is kept on that account, it triggered an over withdrawal alarm.

They had apparently had all the card details, including the 3 digit code on the back, so presumably someone has hacked where the card details had been used on an earlier purchase. This was surprising, because she hadn't used it for on line purchasing for months.

While Mrs KevinLMS, was on the phone, I carefully went on line and checked the transaction history and sure enough, a major retailer had a pending transaction.

The card has been cancelled and it's replacement arrived today. Still waiting for the funds to be returned.

 

I assume the delay is because the retailer gets a few days to 'prove' that the purchase was genuine - is that right? The bank did say the money would be returned in a few days.

 

The lost money (so far) isn't a huge amount, just annoying.

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, kevinlms said:

Last Friday my wife did receive a call from her bank. To ask if she'd made some purchases earlier that day, as someone had. She told the caller that she hadn't touched the card that day, which we knew to be true as she'd been with me all day.

Anyway some thief had tried to make some on line purchases, but fortunately because a low balance is kept on that account, it triggered an over withdrawal alarm.

They had apparently had all the card details, including the 3 digit code on the back, so presumably someone has hacked where the card details had been used on an earlier purchase. This was surprising, because she hadn't used it for on line purchasing for months.

While Mrs KevinLMS, was on the phone, I carefully went on line and checked the transaction history and sure enough, a major retailer had a pending transaction.

The card has been cancelled and it's replacement arrived today. Still waiting for the funds to be returned.

 

I assume the delay is because the retailer gets a few days to 'prove' that the purchase was genuine - is that right? The bank did say the money would be returned in a few days.

 

The lost money (so far) isn't a huge amount, just annoying.

I had a card cloned, back in pre-chip days (most likely at a petrol station in Portsmouth, but of course impossible to prove). When I reported it to the bank, they sent me a list of recent transactions, and simply asked me to tick which ones were real, and which were the thief. I then had the money back within a few days. It seemed to just be done on trust, though it was pretty obvious to anyone looking at the list - pre-pay topups for a mobile network that wasn't the one I used, and a load of train tickets for a TOC that didn't serve the area I lived in...

[melmerby]

14 minutes ago, Nick C said:

I had a card cloned, back in pre-chip days (most likely at a petrol station in Portsmouth, but of course impossible to prove). When I reported it to the bank, they sent me a list of recent transactions, and simply asked me to tick which ones were real, and which were the thief. I then had the money back within a few days. It seemed to just be done on trust, though it was pretty obvious to anyone looking at the list - pre-pay topups for a mobile network that wasn't the one I used, and a load of train tickets for a TOC that didn't serve the area I lived in...

That's interesting.

 

I've just changed my SIM card to a different provider (Asda Mobile PAYG) and registered my CC to the new account (that went through correctly).

Tried to top up and I couldn't.

 

I have been on help today and the person I spoke to went through all the registration details to check and said they were right.

Would you like me to put some money on the card she said - Just put £5 on please.

She tried it and said it had been declined by the card issuer as a payment type that isn't authorized for that card.

 

So something for the bank to deal with by the look of it.

 

 

 

[Damo666]

On 26/05/2022 at 01:08, kevinlms said:

If I tried something like that, I'd find that I hadn't recognised my sister in law or some one similar!

Something very similar happened to a school friend of mine many many years ago.

 

Pre Caller ID days in Ireland.

House phone rang, woman with a strange voice calling to speak to his mum. My friend didn't recognise the voice and started a weird rant, containing animal noises, grunts, fart noises and some 'minor' rude words.

 

After 30-40 seconds of this, the woman said “Is that you Kevin?” (It was). “Everything OK? Can you get your mum to call me, it’s aunty Meave, tell her I’ve got a cold and sore throat will you?”

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

That's interesting.

 

I've just changed my SIM card to a different provider (Asda Mobile PAYG) and registered my CC to the new account (that went through correctly).

Tried to top up and I couldn't.

 

I have been on help today and the person I spoke to went through all the registration details to check and said they were right.

Would you like me to put some money on the card she said - Just put £5 on please.

She tried it and said it had been declined by the card issuer as a payment type that isn't authorized for that card.

 

So something for the bank to deal with by the look of it.

 

 

 

Top up is a cash advance on a credit card, blocked by default on my account.

Debit card works fine.

[Hroth]

Had an odd call this morning from a foreign gent claiming that he represented my ISP and wanted to discuss my account.  What made me decline his kind offer was the bad line and background noises of family life.  While I appreciate that some folk still work from home...

 

Anyhow, I've had no parallel communication so it probably was nefarious!

 

[Il Grifone]

I keep getting emails telling me I'm in danger because my McAfee account has expired. Straight to spam (if that actually does anything!!!!!! (I have reported things in the past, but, not receiving any reply whatsoever, I suspect they got lost in cyberspace and no longer bother!

It has to be a scam*, because I don't have a McAfee account. It comes with a new computer, but since it's carp gets immediately replaced with Avast....

* A second clue is the gibberish that is the sender's email address.

[JJGraphics]

16 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

I keep getting emails telling me I'm in danger because my McAfee account has expired. Straight to spam (if that actually does anything!!!!!! (I have reported things in the past, but, not receiving any reply whatsoever, I suspect they got lost in cyberspace and no longer bother!

It has to be a scam*, because I don't have a McAfee account. It comes with a new computer, but since it's carp gets immediately replaced with Avast....

* A second clue is the gibberish that is the sender's email address.

Make sure you forward any dodgy e-mails to: report@phishing.gov.uk

John

[jbqfc]

3 hours ago, JJGraphics said:

Make sure you forward any dodgy e-mails to: report@phishing.gov.uk

John

 

I try to but stupid Virgin media will not let me as it contains spam 🤬

 

John  

[JJGraphics]

39 minutes ago, jbqfc said:

 

I try to but stupid Virgin media will not let me as it contains spam 🤬

 

John  

 

Someone needs to give Virgin a serious ear-bashing about that. Its quite ridiculous to block a genuinely useful way to report spam.

John