New sophisticated fraud scam

[Profpointy]

My boss was recounting a clever one. He got a call to his hotel room, asking for him by name. They then asked if his credit cards might have been stolen. He duly checked and sure enough they had gone. "Don't worry sir, we'll put a stop on the card and sent out a new one". After a minute or two he thought "Hang on a minute. How do the bank know I'm at this hotel?". The likely inside job thieves had pinched his wallet then they themselves had phoned him up to give them an extra couple of days before the cards were stopped. He is very clever and canny guy. I'm not sure I'd have twigged, and I'm pretty wary and have some background to (IT )security

 

[gbb]

Maybe it's better they are over cautious than the other way around @Aescott ?

I have a no win etc going with Black Horse, who I'm dealing with directly.
A few weeks ago I got a call from an Indian sounding fella telling me he was calling from blah blah, on behalf of BH. Despite numerous attempts from me to nail down the company (he was reasonably incomprehensible) and asking who directed him to me...he even offered the date I made my claim with BH as some sort of proof it was a genuine call. I said yeah, but i don't know what date it was so you could be telling me anything.
I steadfastly refused to give him any info, just kept to...who are you, how do I know you're legit.
He was polite, so was I and in the end, I said...I might be shooting myself in the foot, you may well be genuine...but I don't divulge stuff over the phone to unsolicited callers.
He ended offering to send an email from his company, I said I will wait for that thanks.
It never came.

 

[classic33]

On a similar theme. Has anyone been asked to produce a scan of a passport or other ID document to confirm identity to book holiday accommodation in the UK? Could this be a scam?

More shops, particularly phone shops(customer services) are "asking" for this to be passed onto them.

 

[Reynard]

I had one such call at lunchtime today.

That call went precisely as follows: This is an automated call. The bank reports unauthorized activity on your account for a sum of X and a sum of Y. To find out more, please press 1.

At that point, I hung up.

The message didn't say which bank or which account. I've made a note of the details in the phone call, and shall be double checking things anyway. I have had no further calls since. In my experience with the bank fraud teams, they call you directly (not an automated call) and will mention the bank name and what the transactions are - as I found out last year when I tried buying something from a Bay of E seller in Latvia.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I lie to fake bank callers that I’ve been a victim of fraud before and my bank has set up a secure pass phrase for me and ask them for the 4th, 7th and 11th characters from it.

Works a treat!

 

[PaulSB]

Mrs P and I find scam protection very simple.

• Never answer the landline. There is an answer phone
• Only answer known mobile numbers. There is voice mail
• Block numbers that don't leave a message
• Block unexpected SMS
• Never click unexpected links.
• When sending money online to a new payee send £1 first. Then check the payee has received it

I realise there are vulnerable people who do get caught but for the vast majority it shouldn't be an issue of any sort. Why bother reacting.

 

[alicat]

• Never click unexpected links.

This is the one I find hardest.

I try to stay vigilant: it is easy to get complacent and thieves stay one step ahead of the game.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I've had 3 text scams in the last couple of weeks. 2 from "DPD" and 1 from "Evri". They all look quite legit with the proper company logos, headers and footers. Saying that they are unable to deliver my parcel and they need to verify the address. I am supposed to click on a link to put my address in. What gives it away is that they don't address you by name, but to some I expect they get a few clicks on the link

 

[DaveReading]

I lie to fake bank callers that I’ve been a victim of fraud before and my bank has set up a secure pass phrase for me and ask them for the 4th, 7th and 11th characters from it.

Works a treat!

Do you mean that it works in the sense that you no longer get those calls ?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having a bit of fun with scammers on the phone.

 

[BoldonLad]

I've had 3 text scams in the last couple of weeks. 2 from "DPD" and 1 from "Evri". They all look quite legit with the proper company logos, headers and footers. Saying that they are unable to deliver my parcel and they need to verify the address. I am supposed to click on a link to put my address in. What gives it away is that they don't address you by name, but to some I expect they get a few clicks on the link

Isn’t the biggest give away that you aren’t expecting a parcel?

 

[markemark]

This is the one I find hardest.

I try to stay vigilant: it is easy to get complacent and thieves stay one step ahead of the game.

All emails, check No1 do they have my name. About 95% can be discounted with dear customer etc. after that there various other things to be sure about but the safest way is to always access everything by known routes and not links.

 

[Fastpedaller]

If anyone calls you saying they are from the bank and they have to move the money to a 'safe account' and need you to set it up there is only one answer to give....... I have entrusted you, my bank, with my money. You must be able to move it to a safe account without my help. Goodbye.

 

[Fastpedaller]

There was a clever one doing the rounds in East Anglia, whether intended to be an outright scam or 'merely' a hard sell is difficult to say, but there were (IIRC) two guys imprisoned eventually. They were phoning businesses (I got a call from them) and it went like this ..... "I'm phoning from Business Telecom" and the Business part was, how shall I say, somewhat mumbled and spoken very rapidly. I replied 'who are you from?' and they said it again, so I said "are you British Telecom or not?" to which they said "we are calling about your telephone line and we can help reduce your costs" I just put the phone down. They signed people up for a 'better tariff' (but better for them, not the consumer) which tied them in for a long time (2 years IIRC). A local pub to us got caught out, and when they stopped paying were told by the courts they had to pay as they'd signed a legal contract. The owners of the telecom company were convicted, and I guess it was by a different court than the one that didn't 'support' the pub.

 

[Fastpedaller]

My Wife nearly fell for one a few years back. Our Daughter was going to be home from Uni during Spring and Wife wanted to arrange a few days away in Lincolnshire. She looked on a known website (I won't say the name as they appear to be still active), and sent an email along the lines of "We'd like to stay at Rose Cottage on April 10th to 13th, can you tell us price and availability?" She received a reply "yes that's available for those dates and the price is £375, just BACS to Sort code 123456, Account number 6789101112." I smelt a rat - Firstly I always want to pay with Credit card, and secondly as this was November, why would they want all the money so soon. I replied to the email "It's normal so early on to just require a deposit, not the full amount" and the response was "Oh yes, just try sending £50 and see if that works". More alarm bells, so I sent my next note "My bank is unable to let me send BACS at the moment, but no problem, just give me your address as I have a friend in Lincoln who will go to your address and give a cash deposit" Needless to say we heard no more. I reported it to action fraud. It seems (from press reports) the website my Wife used was genuine, but had been hacked by fraudsters who intercept the enquiry emails and respond "as the owner of the cottage". Always use credit card.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Isn’t the biggest give away that you aren’t expecting a parcel?

Also that, but I was also expecting a package as well