Scams ?

[Observer II]

It's with a great deal of embarrassment that I have admit being caught in a scam.    It starts with the arrival of a letter to your address, which contains a word search grid competition, with offers of cash prizes for winners, if you phone through the answers to 09 answer phone service.  It wasn't until I received my phone bill, that I realised I'd been stung. Needless to say, such letters now get directed to the bin.   But as the beneficery appears to be the phone company via higher dialling charges,  how does the scammer make on it and are the telephone companies implicated in the scam ?      😡

[Bill]

Anything with an 09 number is going to cost you and that’s been the case for many years, I thought you would have known that. I think any competition thing you get through the post is supposed to tell you how much your call is likely to cost and in most cases it’s just a few quid so I hope it didn’t cost you that much more.

 

Bill 😊

[asperity]

Anything unsolicited offering you money for very little or nothing is going to be a scam. There's no such thing as a free lunch (unless you're a scammer).

[Confused52]

see Call costs guide - Ofcom

open the 09 part . The phone company gets the Access charge part and the scammer gets the Service charge part. If the service charge wasn't actually in the letter contact the PSA and if they do not act report the fact to Ofcom along with the 09 number involved so they can rebuke the operator who lets the scammer operate. Scammers usually get the money straight away and then scarper without paying the bill for carrying the call to them.

 

[Observer II]

Thanks Con, not that I fully grasp it; but I won't be doing it again.   Apparently scams are now on the increase and little effort seems to being applied to bring the scammers to justice.   I now leave my answer phone on all the time, to eliminate cold calls; my IT advisor fixed me up with a BT app that puts scam numbers into an IT dustbin; but even that isn't working.     😠

[Confused52]

3 minutes ago, Observer II said:

Thanks Con, not that I fully grasp it; but I won't be doing it again.   Apparently scams are now on the increase and little effort seems to being applied to bring the scammers to justice.   I now leave my answer phone on all the time, to eliminate cold calls; my IT advisor fixed me up with a BT app that puts scam numbers into an IT dustbin; but even that isn't working.     😠

BT were told 5 years ago that wouldn't work and how to get a solution that would. They refused to upgrade the current network because it would cost money and instead are waiting to change the network to broadband first which carries digital voice. They are currently running late on that programme and everyone, including Ofcom, is sick to death of nuisance calls. 

[Evil Sid]

still getting the odd email from the moneygram office wondering why i have not collected my £25 million. all they need is a few bob to set up the account for me. I have hinted that if they wanted to do that take the cost from the £25 million and send me the card with the correct pin number......still waiting for a reply other than the standard "i must be a fool not to apply now." and other exhortations.

Even sending them an email telling them i died three years ago doesn't seem to phase them......🤣

[Bill]

Since Virgin lost my cherished 30 year old number and issued me with an alternative that absolutely nobody knows, the phone has only rang three times in eighteen months so it’s obvious that the bulk of the unwanted calls come from a database rather than a random selection. If you’re getting so many dodgy calls and your IT advisor is no help then it might be worthwhile changing your number as once you’ve been scammed, you’re automatically included on another database (the mugs database) that will inevitably be sold on to other scammers.

You’ll probably tell me to mind my own business but how much did they manage to rip you off for?  

 

Bill 😊

[Confused52]

1 minute ago, Evil Sid said:

still getting the odd email from the moneygram office wondering why i have not collected my £25 million. all they need is a few bob to set up the account for me. I have hinted that if they wanted to do that take the cost from the £25 million and send me the card with the correct pin number......still waiting for a reply other than the standard "i must be a fool not to apply now." and other exhortations.

Even sending them an email telling them i died three years ago doesn't seem to phase them......🤣

Sid, its too late now but the golden rule is not to reply ever. The scammers never lose a working address. One of mine go found when the IETF in their naivety published my address after attending a meeting. None of my other addresses get spam other than gmail and that is because of a technical fault at google which they can no longer fix because lots of folks rely on it.

[Evil Sid]

it don't really mind as it goes to one of my emails that was set up when email first started  (almost) i only ever use it to verify a one time login to a site. anything else i either use my home email or the other email account i have that again is only used for logins to sites.

 

[Latchford Locks]

6 minutes ago, Bill said:

Since Virgin lost my cherished 30 year old number and issued me with an alternative that absolutely nobody knows, the phone has only rang three times in eighteen months so it’s obvious that the bulk of the unwanted calls come from a database rather than a random selection. If you’re getting so many dodgy calls and your IT advisor is no help then it might be worthwhile changing your number as once you’ve been scammed, you’re automatically included on another database (the mugs database) that will inevitably be sold on to other scammers.

You’ll probably tell me to mind my own business but how much did they manage to rip you off for?  

 

Bill 😊

Virgin insist on me having a landline as part of my package I took it as it's a backup in an emergency if my mobile fails for whatever reason.'

So Nobody I know would ring me on that line as even I don't know the number let alone them.

But I must get about 4 calls a day from gawd knows where; I never ever answer just let it ring till they get fed up or the automated caller times out.

[Bill]

Well dead numbers can be reissued after so long so maybe that one has already been used by someone who was a bit slack about security. If like me you’re not using it then I’d ask them to change the number as they’ve given you a dodgy one. I’ve completely disconnected mine now as I didn’t see the point in it using power especially since both the wife and myself have mobiles.

You certainly don't need the phone connected to get your broadband.

 

Bill 😊

[Latchford Locks]

Cheers Bill. You learn something every day ☎️👍

But as I now live alone I feel a certain comfort that I'm not 100% reliant on my mobile in a dire emergency🚑

Although it's weird thinking that that the number once was owned by someone else never entered my head.

[Bill]

Yep, completely understand. I suppose you could just turn the ring volume to zero but then there’d probably be a bloody annoying flashing light saying you’ve missed a call. A quick dab of matt black paint or a little paper sticker could hide that though.

 

Bill 😊

[asperity]

Just disconnect your phone if you don't want any incoming calls. Anyone phoning you will hear a "ringing" tone but you won't be disturbed. It will probably save a couple of quid a year of electricity.

[Confused52]

4 hours ago, Bill said:

Yep, completely understand. I suppose you could just turn the ring volume to zero but then there’d probably be a bloody annoying flashing light saying you’ve missed a call. A quick dab of matt black paint or a little paper sticker could hide that though.

 

Bill 😊

Using a real analogue phone instead of a DECT wireless phone will use no power at all and has no memory of incoming calls but the ringer can usually be turned off. If you use a really old one you can snip the bell wire and it cannot ring.

[Bill]

The newer Virgin systems like the one I have has done away with the separate line so now it's a case of the phone plugging directly into the router. 

I don't want or need the phone anyway as nobody every rings me.

 

Bill

[asperity]

When my phone line packed in a couple of months ago (water ingress probably) Virgin fitted the adapter and set the line up to use the router for me too Bill. The only calls I get are (fake)Amazon and (fake)HMRC 😂.

[Bill]

I had a couple but just stopped answering them because I'm sure the automated system they use will record numbers that pick up and that way they build up a picture of when your likely to be around. Keep answering and telling them to sod off and they'll keep on ringing.

 

Bill

[asperity]

I don't mind swearing down the phone, it makes a change from swearing at football commentators on the TV 😂.