I received a call from a 'representative' of BT

I received a call from a 'representative' of BT, informing me that he was disconnecting me because of an unpaid bill.

He demanded payment immediately of £31.00 or it would be £118.00 to
re-connect at a later date.
The guy wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media,
allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for line rental!
I asked the guy's name - he gave me the very 'English' John Peacock
with a very 'African' accent - & phone number - 0800 0800 152.

Obviously the fellow realized I didn't believe his story, so offered
to demonstrate that he was from BT. I asked how & he told me to hang up &
try phoning someone - he would disconnect my phone to prevent this.
AND HE DID!!

My phone was dead - no engaged tone, nothing - until he phoned me
again.

Very pleased with himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he
was with BT.
I asked how the payment was to be made & he said credit card,
there & then.
I said that I didn't know how he'd done it, but I had absolutely no
intention of paying him, I didn't believe his name or that he worked
for BT.

He hung up.
I dialed 1471 - number withheld
I phoned his fictitious 0800 number - not recognized.

So I phoned the police to let them know. I wasn't the first! It's only
just started apparently, but it is escalating.

Their advice was to let as many people as possible know of this scam.
The fact that the phone does go off would probably convince some
people it's real, so please make as many friends & family aware of this.
How is it done?
This is good but not that clever. He gave the wrong number - it should
have been 0800 800 152 which takes you through to BT Business.
The cutting off of the line is very simple, he stays on the line with
the mute button on and you can't dial out - but he can hear you
trying. (This is because the person who initiates a call is the one to
terminate it).

When you stop trying he cuts off and immediately calls back.
You could almost be convinced!
The sad thing is that it is so simple that it will certainly fool
many.
By the way this is not about getting the cash as this would not get
past merchant services - it is all about getting the credit card details
which include the security number, so that it can be used for far
larger purchases.
Andy ORPIN
Police Community Support Officer




William J. House
28 Grand Mansions
Queens Gardens
Broadstairs
KENT CT10 1QF
UK
Tel:44-(0)1843-867736
:44-(0)7817362435
----- End forwarded message -----

the lengths they are now going to ........

thanks for the insight... any idea where theyre calling from?

It angers me that they can get away with it evil:

When receiving calls i think there's one golden rule, never give any details out. There is always a possibilty that it's a scam.

I received a call back about 6 month's ago, someone pretending they were from Satander password sucurity team, didn't give out any details and tried calling back but no record of person who called working for them.

But there's always someone that is going to get caught hence why they try these bloody scams.

cheers for that will watch out for it

number was witheld it was

Thanks Matt. Sad thing is, lots of people will fall for this....and those will normally be the elderley and frail

Interesting as it is indeed a scam, has been for years - what's interesting also is that the original post is identical to other such emails warning of the scam.

Even down to the costings of BT/VM. The Snopes version is from 2009...

This scam is old and I doubt any of us will get a call. Special as most of us have a mobile and can call BT/VM from that to clarify it all.

Matt, thankyou very much for posting that, I will definitely keep an eye out for this, very good of you to dedicate your time to warn us all of this scam.

We have had one of those calls two days ago.

We have had one of those calls two days ago.

So Al Qaeda are going for a different approach I see.

I know someone who had a similar thing with there computer, these "people" phoned and said they had a virus and to click this and that to see if it had taken over the computer, they then took control of the computer and threatened to break it unless a fee was paid. They didnt pay and just took it to PC world for a check and all was ok but still scary for an older person.

That's f*cking brilliant, fair play to the feckers.

I'm sure if this "scam" is still going on, it was hushed up on a major scale for obvious reasons, no doubt most will know someone whose been caught, involves the card readers used by most garages, bars, etc, the hand held ones.

A lot of these were supplied by a major bank, I don't the name, but they had a slight fault! The units either didn't encrypt the data or used a very simple, easy to crack encryption alogorithim. These units send the data to a central unit in the premises which then encrypts the data and sends down the phone line to the bank using a system so like bluetooth that an ordinary mobile phone can pick the data up. It didn't take the criminal element too long to work this out so they wouldjust hang around outside or inside premises equiped with the particular hand unit/system, do the bluetooth search thing then simple wait for the data to come through. Said data would then be sent to their "bosess" who would make purchases using the data. The "vicitim" wouldn't have a clue they'd been hit until they checked their credit card system. Luckily the other banks picked this up more or less straightaway and the bank responsible set about replacing the units.

About 18 months ago I had a call from my bank asking where I was and had I just made a purchase in Thailand (I think), I'd filled the car with petrol in south London about half an hour or so before the call which I told the guy. He said yes he could see that and though it strange that I could make a purchase in London and another country in a different part of the world within a few minutes!! The banks security software obviously flagged this up so I got the call to find out which was me and which was the fake.

I did managed to prove this to a colleague a few weeks later in a bar in London when he paid for the round with his card where I picked up the data from the card reader on the mobile although it did take a while to figure the order of the numbers plus it wasn't easy to pick his data out of what appeared to be a more or less continuous stream of numbers, probaly lots of other peoples details.

If you know people who've had similar problems chances are it was when they bought something from a garage using the card.

thanks for the insight... any idea where theyre calling from?

Another telephone apparently!!


In all seriousness this is becoming a big issue, as companies look to close down branches and move their 'call centres' abroad to places where English is read from a 'prompt' card

Therefore, we are not surprised when a 'person of foreign sound' (is that PC enough?? ) calls us about business we may have with any particular company

How many of us have frequent e-mails from 'Lloyds Bank plc' or Halifax Bank plc' (samples only) telling us our accounts have been compromised and we need to re-enter our personal details/passwords etc in order to 're-set' sais accounts??

If you actually do bank with these people then it COULD be an issue IF you are not 'on the ball'

Personally, I REFUSE to discuss ANY business with 'cold callers' unless they can provide me with a genuine name and call-back number. If they are genuine it shouldn't be a problem and I often check the appropriate telephone directory to confirm the number is legitimate for that company

It may cost me to do so (i.e. call them back) BUT that is a pittance compared to what COULD be lost IF one of these bastards gets hold of your details, eh??