Classic British Flight Sim

Phone rang and my wife answered, then she put the phone down and told me that a recorded message (female voice) said, to the effect, that we were using fraud on our Sky account and that they would be ceasing our service, if we wanted to continue with Sky then press one. Babs pressed the end- call button instead, it rang again and I answered and listened to the recording, the females voice seemed to hesitate between a word, only very very briefly but when it came to press one I pressed the end call button. Tried to block the number but as no number shown we could not so just leave the answer machine on.

I can only assume that if any-one presses one, then they get to speak to a human who would then ask for their bank details to recover money that is owed or something similar.

I know that this is a con as we used to be with Sky but left them last year and now with another provider which will not be named however, if you received a similar call just put the phone down. I know that when Sky have rung me in the past there has always been some-one on the end of the phone and never a machine, also Sky do not withhold their number, it is always listed.

Regards
Nigel.

Nigel, I wonder if pressing 1 would connect you to a premium rate line Either way you both pressed the right button
Dale

You could well be right Dale, even Babs had mentioned that which I did not due to scatty brain getting older but not scattier enough to be had by this con thankfully, so far no more calls so will wait until tomorrow to see if they try again or wait until next week!

Regards
Nigel.

There is another scam running at the moment. Telephone call alleged to be from Amazon regarding your Prime account. Funds are about to be taken from your bank, press 1 etc. The main giveaway is the female voice is robotic - probably computer generated - and in itself cannot be taken seriously. Seems to be widespread. The usual advice is to put the phone down and get on with your life.

Anyone had the HMRCS call yet - the one that tells you that a warrant has been issued against you for non payment of tax?

Call blocking only works in certain areas, our exchange does not support it and anyway most of these calls come from a variety of numbers.

Good ere innit?


ATB



Allan

Hi - yes, I've had the pleasure of being threatened with jail time from 'HMRC' if I don't press '1' etc. Still waiting to be carried away.
I've also been warned that my B.T. internet connection has been compromised - yes but - I'm on cable from 'Virgin' so (loud rasberry sound)
My wife took a call claiming that her windows were infected by a virus - she told the that was unlikely because they were only fitted new last year (btw she was serious not realising it was a con !)
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

I keep my old Police Whistle by the phone. Rattled a few eardrums in the last year.

Buggyman wrote: ↑

14 Feb 2020, 20:33

Anyone had the HMRCS call yet - the one that tells you that a warrant has been issued against you for non payment of tax?

ATB

Allan

I've had that one too, about 18 months ago.
These days, I record the number calling (either by dialing 1471 or from the LCD display on my telephone). Go to the Who Called Me website -

https://who-called.co.uk/

Type in the phone number and check the comments.

If they leave a message on answerphone, requesting that you call back to a different number - DON'T!. It will be a premium rate number.

Kevin

Best one for me so far was the call telling me that my broadband accounts had been cancelled and that I could only get back on line...……

Best? Because I was on line at the time

Strange isn't it that there are always people who fall for these very obvious scams.

ATB


Allan

Not when you're in you're 80s or so Allan. The scumbags must think they've hit the jackpot when connecting to someone obviously elderly.
Mum was living alone with progressive dementia, and was targeted several times with Sky box insurance etc. I had to check her bank account weekly, phoning up to get standing orders stopped Eventually having to take her bankcard from her. It makes my pi** boil that they can get away with mis representation, scamming, fraud call it what you like, while connected to a legitimate phone line. Christ, it used to take a letter from the Pope to get a phone line in, and woe betide you if you did anything wrong
Dale

Very interesting experiences you chaps have written about, goes to show how widespread these scams are. Pity there is not a way to ban withheld numbers, should not be allowed in this day and age and sure that the telecom giants such as BT, Virgin and what have you could spend a little of their profits to make their customers safer. I also believe that some charge for the privilege of being able to block (nuisance calls/numbers) which is a tad unfair although I could be wrong.

Regards
Nigel.