Phone Scam...

[LordoftheTeapot]

A new telephone 'scam' has arrived.

Not sure on how true this is, but thought better to post has a warning.

(Copied from e mail received this AM)

I received a call from a 'representative' of BT, informing me that he was dis-connecting 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 Virgin Media have to pay BT a percentage for line rental!
I asked the guy's name - the very 'English' John Peacock with a very 'African' accent - & phone number - 0800 0800 152.
Obviously the fella realized I wasn't believing 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 dis-connect 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..
Did 1471 & phoned his fictitious 0800 number - not recognised.
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 know by word of mouth of this scam. The fact that the phone does go off would probably convince some people it's real, so please let as many friends & family aware of this.
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 the elderly and vulnerable.

Please pass this own to friends and family and be on your guard.

 

[zimzum42]

Cheers, sounds like something that might well be going on....

 

[cisamcgu]

Sadly this is true, I had a relative who fell for this exact scam. She lost about £25 I think when her credit card number was used in Spain to buy something. At the time I thought it odd that they would go to the trouble of commiting fraud to simply take £25, but I guess the smaller amount doesn't register on the credit-card security software.

Andrew

 

[gaz]

This is because the person who initiates a call is the one to terminate it

if you hang up the phone, the connection is gone.. you can then dial out.. so that certainly doesn't make sense.

 

[redjedi]

if you hang up the phone, the connection is gone.. you can then dial out.. so that certainly doesn't make sense.

The OP is correct, especially if you try straight away. It might cut off after a certain amout of time, but not striaght away.

I suppose it also depends on the type of phone/line you have, but I've definately had a problem in the past, trying to make a call after the last person to call me didn't hang up properly.

Definately worth telling people about the scam, especially older people.

BT would never demand payment over the phone, they will always send you a bill in the post.

 

[siadwell]

At first glance, this had the whiff of bullshit to me - especially the police advice "to let as many people know by word of mouth of this scam" and the "Please pass this own to friends and family and be on your guard" at the end. Hoax email warnings always contain these elements.

However, according to respected hoax-busters Snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/btscam.asp), it would appear to be real.

This http://www.antiscam.net/index.php?o...nt-warning-phone-scam--&catid=25:scam-reports purports to have a response from BT at the end.

This is also interesting http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?p=1049917, as it explains how the caller muting their phone can make it seem you are unable to dial out.

 

[wafflycat]

Indeed according to Snopes the email contains information which is very similar to true scams in that vein.

 

[Joe24]

if you hang up the phone, the connection is gone.. you can then dial out.. so that certainly doesn't make sense.

Not really, my grandma sometimes doesnt put the phone back on the hook properly, and tootles off.
She has done this a few times, we have to call up next door and get her to go around to put the phone down properly

 

[4F]

if you hang up the phone, the connection is gone.. you can then dial out.. so that certainly doesn't make sense.

No that is not correct. The line will only disconnect when both parties have hung up.

As Joe has described if the other party does not hang up correctly then you cannot use the phone until they have done so. You can get around this by disconnecting your phone line from the wall socket and leaving it 10 minutes and this will then complete the disconnection.

 

[gaz]

AAAh well, IP based phone systems don't have that issue. catch up with technology

 

[Theseus]

Going slightly OT, this non disconnection if you don't both hang up is particularly satisfying to use on cold callers. So long as you don't need to use the phone again soon.

 

[Archie_tect]

Many thanks LOTT- worth knowing about.... have a cuppa in reward!

 

[Mr Pig]

Thank you, one to watch out for.

The blocked line thing is true. A couple of weeks ago our phone rang and after a minute I realised that it was my father-in-law's mobile, which was in his pocket! They were out for dinner with friends, I could hear them talking about what they were going to order. Our phone would not disconnect. I was yelling down the line, blowing a whistle down the phone and was just about to phone their friends when he must've found it and hung up.

 

[Joe24]

Mobiles, one can hang up and the other cant and it doesn't matter.
Not sure about landline to mobile though.

 

[jefmcg]

ALERT: Bringing a thread back from the dead 6 years later!
I just had an attempted BT scam, though with a different approach.

A got a call from "BT" yesterday, asked for me by name (I'm in the phone book.. Yeah, I know...) and told me he was with BT and was going to ask some questions to verify my identity. I had no doubt he was calling from BT, but said no on principle, as I never prove my identity to someone who called me. This morning a had a message on my machine. It was from an automated system with a very convincing robot message, "urgently need to speak to the account holder .... press 1 if you are the account holder...."

So I logged onto my BT account. No sign of any issues. So I called BT, and pressed a lot of buttons before I was finally switched to a human. BT had not tried to call me. It was a scam. Paranoia paid off.

Though now I am disappointed they didn't get to the point of the scam, if it's like the one above. I'd have known when they threatened to disconnect me, as we have cancelled the land line and just waiting for the end of the month for it to be disconnected. As it's only called by shysters and phishers, the reinforces the decision to live without it.