Another Scam?

[melmerby]

Just had an incoming e-mail show up in Mailwasher from "Fredawalters@acemicro.co.in" (You don't download anything until you OK it)

 Looking at the message contents there was no message, just an attachment.

I don't know an ace micro, I don't know a Freda Walters & I don't know anybody from India

Must be a scam so got wiped from the server.

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by melmerby

[MarkC]

3 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Just had an incoming e-mail show up in Mailwasher from "Fredawalters@acemicro.co.in" (You don't download anything until you OK it)

Looking at the message contents there was no message, just an attachment.

 

Must be a scam so got wiped from the server.

 

Definitely a dodgy one - that attachment, if opened, would contain more viruses than, as the saying goes, a South American* house of ill repute...

 

*other locations are available...

[Hroth]

I get regular "Amazon" spam calls referring to purchases of some species of iPhone for £600 (the last couple have upped this to £1000), inviting me to confirm the purchase by pressing key 1.

 

They're almost as good as the spam calls suggesting that my internet provider* is about to cut off my connection and to "press any key" to discuss this with an operator.  I press the hang up key, that seems to cut them off, though it IS any key...

 

* The ISP is never specified.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Purchasers of domestic appliances in the UK will be familiar, or aware of extended warranties and breakdown cover provided by 3rd party insurers. Domestic & General being the dominant player in this market.

 

I received a cold call recently from a lady at a call centre (Indian Accent) purporting to be from Domestic & General.

We don’t usually get such calls because we have phones with Call Guardian, but it was switched off as we were waiting for a particular call that might have been blocked.

 

This lady asked if I was Mr Ron Ron Ron and I enquired who was calling.

Having said she was calling from D&G, I confirmed it was me, which with hindsight I shouldn’t have.

I got the usual reassurance that she wasn’t trying to sell me anything, but was calling to point out the cover we had purchased was ending shortly and wanted to offer me an extension to the cover ( not selling???) .

 

Now, although usually resistant to purchasing such extended cover on many products, we did take up the option of extended 5 year warranty  cover through AEG, when we bought our current washing machine. It was a good deal, balancing up the odds of a breakdown or fault.

The extended warranty cover was of course, provided by D&G .

Coincidentally, that cover is ending in a few months time.

 

The lady didn’t mention what on what appliance the cover was ending, so I responded by asking her what cover she was referring to?
She replied that we had definitely bought appliance cover and it was coming to an end.

I asked what appliance was the cover on and her response was on a television, fridge freezer, dishwasher, washing machine……

I stopped her in her tracks and told her we didn’t have any policy with them on those appliances, said she was a fake and a scammer and put the phone down.

 

Apart from the accent, the call sounded like it was coming from a call centre, rather than someone’s home or elsewhere.

These people must be working on the law of averages as D&G sell tens of thousands of policies per year and there will always be people with that cover coming to an end.

At no time have we received a mail shot from D&G to try and sell us continuing cover, which is their usual modus operandi, so I checked and there are still a few months left.

I’m 99.99% certain it was a scam call.

 

 

.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Ron Ron Ron

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Purchasers of domestic appliances in the UK will be familiar, or aware of extended warranties and breakdown cover provided by 3rd party insurers. Domestic & General being the dominant player in this market.

 

I received a cold call recently from a lady at a call centre (Indian Accent) purporting to be from Domestic & General.

We don’t usually get such calls because we have phones with Call Guardian, but it was switched off as we were waiting for a particular call that might have been blocked.

 

This lady asked if I was Mr Ron Ron Ron and I enquired who was calling.

Having said she was calling from D&G, I confirmed it was me, which with hindsight I shouldn’t have.

I got the usual reassurance that she wasn’t trying to sell me anything, but was calling to point out the cover we had purchased was ending shortly and wanted to offer me an extension to the cover ( not selling???) .

 

Now, although usually resistant to purchasing such extended cover on many products, we did take up the option of extended 5 year warranty  cover through AEG, when we bought our current washing machine. It was a good deal, balancing up the odds of a breakdown or fault.

The extended warranty cover was of course, provided by D&G .

Coincidentally, that cover is ending in a few months time.

 

The lady didn’t mention what on what appliance the cover was ending, so I responded by asking her what cover she was referring to?
She replied that we had definitely bought appliance cover and it was coming to an end.

I asked what appliance was the cover on and her response was on a television, fridge freezer, dishwasher, washing machine……

I stopped her in her tracks and told her we didn’t have any policy with them on those appliances, said she was a fake and a scammer and put the phone down.

 

Apart from the accent, the call sounded like it was coming from a call centre, rather than someone’s home or elsewhere.

These people must be working on the law of averages as D&G sell tens of thousands of policies per year and there will always be people with that cover coming to an end.

At no time have we received a mail shot from D&G to try and sell us continuing cover, which is their usual modus operandi, so I checked and there are still a few months left.

I’m 99.99% certain it was a scam call.

 

 

.

Absolutely 100% scam. If in any doubt, ask them for SPECIFIC details of something that only a genuine caller would know the answer to.

 

I'd had my bank call up and I've asked them about the last 2 credit card transactions as proof of their ID. Giving a particular fuel outlet  and the last supermarket where I used it, is either the truth or else they have hacked the bank!

 

But if really not sure, hang up and ring the bank on a publicly listed number and check. NEVER, EVER ring them on a number they give you or from an email, without checking online that it's genuine.

[Hroth]

43 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

But if really not sure, hang up and ring the bank on a publicly listed number and check. NEVER, EVER ring them on a number they give you or from an email, without checking online that it's genuine.

 

I would also suggest that if you ARE going to phone your bank after hanging up, use a different phone system, eg if you've been called on a landline, use a mobile phone and vice versa.  I believe it is possible for scammers to hold a line open so you think you're dialling your bank and they're actually listening to everything you do and waiting to come back with an appropriate greeting...

 

4 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Purchasers of domestic appliances in the UK will be familiar, or aware of extended warranties and breakdown cover provided by 3rd party insurers. Domestic & General being the dominant player in this market.

 

My father cancelled a D&G breakdown policy for an elderly washing machine as it was apparent that it would be cheaper to buy new than continue to pay for the policy.  Some five years later we started getting calls purporting to come from D&G asking us to renew a policy for an unspecified domestic appliance.  Naturally, the phone was hung up!

 

Of course, it might be that someone has passed on an incomplete D&G customer list to scammers, and they are working it.

 

[melmerby]

6 hours ago, MarkC said:

Definitely a dodgy one - that attachment, if opened, would contain more viruses than, as the saying goes, a South American* house of ill repute...

 

*other locations are available...

Ace Micro in India do exist with that address but I wouldn't want their services as they purport to provide computer solutions for business.

Mind you their website front page looks a bit amateurish, with several repeat phrases and not very good (IMHO) layout, so they might be a scam company anyway.

[melmerby]

5 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

Now, although usually resistant to purchasing such extended cover on many products, we did take up the option of extended 5 year warranty  cover through AEG, when we bought our current washing machine. It was a good deal, balancing up the odds of a breakdown or fault.

The extended warranty cover was of course, provided by D&G .

Coincidentally, that cover is ending in a few months time.

 

 

Buy from John Lewis.

Keen prices on AEG & 5 Year warranty included.

Our Bosch machine came from there, also with a 5 year warranty, as did two Stoves multifunction ovens.

Likewise a Sony smart TV with 5 year warranty

[Ron Ron Ron]

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

Buy from John Lewis.

Keen prices on AEG & 5 Year warranty included.

Our Bosch machine came from there, also with a 5 year warranty, as did two Stoves multifunction ovens.

Likewise a Sony smart TV with 5 year warranty

We did.

AEG’s UK extended warranties are operated by Domestic  & General.

 

I still suspected it was a scam call from the start.

When I asked what appliance the cover was for, it was game over.

 

Call Guardian cuts these calls out completely.

[Mallard60022]

May have been mentioned but there is a phone scam going around and a real person calls. They (a well spoken woman) say it is Rachael Friendly or 'someone' Friendly!. I checked and it is a nation wide scam of some sort.

Phil

[kevinlms]

8 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

I would also suggest that if you ARE going to phone your bank after hanging up, use a different phone system, eg if you've been called on a landline, use a mobile phone and vice versa.  I believe it is possible for scammers to hold a line open so you think you're dialling your bank and they're actually listening to everything you do and waiting to come back with an appropriate greeting...

 

 

Theoretically possible, but by the time you mess around looking up the correct number, their call would have dropped out. The idea that an incoming call can hold up the line indefinitely doesn't apply, once you hang up, there was a maximum time of about 90 seconds.

I think it's much less now. The original idea was that you could hang up one phone and pick up another more convenient.

[MartynJPearson]

Of course the real giveaway that the line has been held open and you're not talking to your bank is that they'll answer quickly. Unless the scammers have cottoned on to this and now make it more realistic by keeping you on hold for an hour while a recording tells you that they're still using Covid as an excuse for poor service.

[ejstubbs]

8 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The original idea was that you could hang up one phone and pick up another more convenient.

 

Much less useful these days when so many people use cordless landline phones (and those that don't are often older folks with mobility problems which mean that they aren't going to be flitting around the house from phone to phone).

 

In a house which still has wired handsets, couldn't you just lay the handset you're using down somewhere, rather than put it on the hook, then go pick up the more convenient phone and be connected to the live call?  Happens all the time in dramas based on "gaslighting" type scenarios where the dodgy spouse picks up an extension to listen in to their partner's calls...

[kevinlms]

27 minutes ago, ejstubbs said:

 

Much less useful these days when so many people use cordless landline phones (and those that don't are often older folks with mobility problems which mean that they aren't going to be flitting around the house from phone to phone).

 

In a house which still has wired handsets, couldn't you just lay the handset you're using down somewhere, rather than put it on the hook, then go pick up the more convenient phone and be connected to the live call?  Happens all the time in dramas based on "gaslighting" type scenarios where the dodgy spouse picks up an extension to listen in to their partner's calls...

It actually doesn't work at all if a mobile is used anywhere, as that system relies on 'freeing up' the bandwidth as soon as it detects that one end is no longer in use.

 

The reason why it was better to hang up one phone and pick up another, was because some phones had different impedances and so you couldn't hear. So if talking on the 2nd phone, you had to go back to phone 1, hang that up and go back to phone 2!

 

Yes Hollywood was dreadful in that, because in practice, the line clicked when a 2nd handset was picked up.

But never spoil a good storyline!

[45669]

We sometimes get phone calls from 'BT' about our broadband.  I think 'BT' stands for Bombay Telecoms...

[BernardTPM]

Wouldn't that be MT  (Mumbai Telecoms) now?

[Al51]

I just had the Amazon scam call thanking me for the purchase of an iPhone. Funny, when I buy anything from Amazon I get an email confirming my purchase and not a phone call! I hung up straight away. 

 

Al

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, BernardTPM said:

Wouldn't that be MT  (Mumbai Telecoms) now?

 

There's a Bombay Telecom in Mumbai

 

Here's the Address:

Bombay Telecom, E-48, Garden Ln, Nityanand Nagar, Ghatkopar West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400086, India

[laurenceb]

On 01/09/2021 at 11:19, Ron Ron Ron said:

Purchasers of domestic appliances in the UK will be familiar, or aware of extended warranties and breakdown cover provided by 3rd party insurers. Domestic & General being the dominant player in this market.

 

I received a cold call recently from a lady at a call centre (Indian Accent) purporting to be from Domestic & General.

We don’t usually get such calls because we have phones with Call Guardian, but it was switched off as we were waiting for a particular call that might have been blocked.

 

This lady asked if I was Mr Ron Ron Ron and I enquired who was calling.

Having said she was calling from D&G, I confirmed it was me, which with hindsight I shouldn’t have.

I got the usual reassurance that she wasn’t trying to sell me anything, but was calling to point out the cover we had purchased was ending shortly and wanted to offer me an extension to the cover ( not selling???) .

 

Now, although usually resistant to purchasing such extended cover on many products, we did take up the option of extended 5 year warranty  cover through AEG, when we bought our current washing machine. It was a good deal, balancing up the odds of a breakdown or fault.

The extended warranty cover was of course, provided by D&G .

Coincidentally, that cover is ending in a few months time.

 

The lady didn’t mention what on what appliance the cover was ending, so I responded by asking her what cover she was referring to?
She replied that we had definitely bought appliance cover and it was coming to an end.

I asked what appliance was the cover on and her response was on a television, fridge freezer, dishwasher, washing machine……

I stopped her in her tracks and told her we didn’t have any policy with them on those appliances, said she was a fake and a scammer and put the phone down.

 

Apart from the accent, the call sounded like it was coming from a call centre, rather than someone’s home or elsewhere.

These people must be working on the law of averages as D&G sell tens of thousands of policies per year and there will always be people with that cover coming to an end.

At no time have we received a mail shot from D&G to try and sell us continuing cover, which is their usual modus operandi, so I checked and there are still a few months left.

I’m 99.99% certain it was a scam call.

 

 

.

Just tell them to send a quotation, by post. If they are genuine then they will have your address and if not.....

[kevinlms]

15 minutes ago, laurenceb said:

Just tell them to send a quotation, by post. If they are genuine then they will have your address and if not.....

That's what I tell scammers who want to cut off my internet. I tell them great, cut me off that will save me a fortune. But please send some information by post, in case I change my mind and need to get it reconnected.

Stunned silence, then suddenly CLICK!

[Al51]

Apparently an account I have no knowledge of has over £13 grand ready to withdraw, lucky me!

 

Email reads (I've deleted the link):

 

Amount increased to:£13,581.50

 

Please review the information listed below.

We are happy to inform you that your "Bitcoin" bonus is now availiable and ready to be withdrawn..

[grahame]

I've recently been sent this by a friend. It may have been mentioned before (apologies if it has) but if not it may be of interest:

 

 

 

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, grahame said:

I've recently been sent this by a friend. It may have been mentioned before (apologies if it has) but if not it may be of interest:

 

 

 

Banks in particular, should know better than sending an email with a clickable link! NO EXCUSE.

 

If they need to contact you by email, they should tell you to contact them by logging onto their website, by using a different source, NEVER the one in an email!

 

Give them a right serve if they do! The exception might be a link they send you, while you are actually speaking to you about something - that will be legit. Obviously make sure you ARE speaking to your bank and not a scammer! You could always ask them when you last purchased fuel - a scammer would have no idea.

 

Most banks will provide you with some internet security information - it is there for a reason!

 

Here's my bank in Australia's advice.

 

https://www.greatsouthernbank.com.au/tools-and-services/support/security-and-fraud/hoax-emails-and-scams

 

But yes mistakes can happen. A recent case was a bloke who was purchasing a house and an email was sent allegedly (email account hacked - no one was really sure) from the RE Agent, with a fake bank details on it which he promptly paid! Fortunately he got his money back, but that is rare.

 

If you are doing a large transaction (one that you can't afford to lose!), send them a token amount, then call up the advertised number, and check that it arrived safely. Only then is it safe to do the full amount to that account.

 

Yes, I did make a mistake and accidentally sent money to a business that I no longer deal with, but that was entirely my fault, as I hadn't deleted their details. But it made me super careful, exactly as to who I'm paying. Luckily it wasn't much, because they ignored any requests to reimburse from me & my bank. Not worth trying any legal action.

[Re6/6]

A laughable attempt!

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by Re6/6

[Sir TophamHatt]

2 hours ago, Re6/6 said:

A laughable attempt!

Well, it's not that bad.

The thing that really gives it away is the time pressured "you only have 24 hours to react" line.

 

Also FYI your email is displayed at the very bottom.