a warning........this is not a joke

S

slick

Senior member
Received a phone call from 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 i

f 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, to be used for larger purchases - PLEASE COPY & PASTE
 
I read about this somewhere before. However that trick won't work on US phone systems as either party can disconnect.
 
This is old, bottom line he did not hang up, just muted hs phone so blocking it. Never actually found anybody who has had this happen in real life. Unlike the Microsoft one where I know a number of people who have had calls.
 
srhutch said:
This is old, bottom line he did not hang up, just muted hs phone so blocking it. Never actually found anybody who has had this happen in real life. Unlike the Microsoft one where I know a number of people who have had calls.
Click to expand...

I've had the Microsoft one twice

I can normally keep the guru going for 30minutes until I say it's strange because you keep saying windows but I have a mac


Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Seems it's been going on for a while:

http://www.btlife.bt.com/btcustomers/be-aware-of-phone-scams-and-find-out-how-to-avoid-them/
 
i've had the microsoft one many times.

i just love seeing how long i can string them along before i finally lose patience and hang up.
 
Well done on giving everyone a heads up - I work in this industry (though not the residential side), and I didn't know about this. A few things I have a little knowledge of though -

AFAIK most of BT's 0800 numbers are the 'old' 0800 plus 6 digits numbers - they kept them because they are easy to remember and they could.

As the article cj quotes says, a credit control employee would not disconnect your line on a call - in fact for this to happen an order would need placed and processed. Even if they could raise that order (and I am not sure they can directly) it is not an instant process by any means.

If you are a BT customer then you will receive at least 2 red bills and a final reminder before the line is disconnected. You will also have received quite a few calls.

If you are another operator's customer BT will never call you direct. It is not their job, it is the other operator's job as you have a contract with them. BT will chase them for the money. You will not have any contact at all with a BT employee - except perhaps telemarketing - even your PSTN lines are delivered and maintained by Openreach on behalf of the other operator, not BT.

As I understand it, ANY company you have a 'contract' with runs through security questions to ensure your identity if they are taking a payment over the phone. Could be wrong, and obviously doesn't apply if you are making a purchase over the phone with a company you don't have a contract or account with.

If you are with BT, make sure you report it to them - they cannot 'trace' calls instantly, but it is serious fraud and of course damaging to the brand, which the company takes very seriously - the more information collected from customers the more chance there is that it can be detected and investigated. I guess you could tell BT if you are on with another operator, but you should really tell your operator themselves.

You can register with something called the Telephone Preference Service (google it) - this will not eliminate direct marketing calls completely, especially from overseas, and can look quite limited when you read the blurb What it does do is limit the exposure of your number to being on telemarketing lists bought by marketing companies etc, and potentially criminals posing as legitimate businesses. It is free, so why not register ?

Right, it is Friday night and I am now not working :D
 
This is why I don't have a landline phone. Don't see the point in it, you either get phoned by scammers or by people trying to sell me something. Just use our mobiles.
 
dan yeates said:
This is why I don't have a landline phone. Don't see the point in it, you either get phoned by scammers or by people trying to sell me something. Just use our mobiles.
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Where you still get junk calls and junk SMS also! Do you not have ADSL?
 
Stuart Truman said:
dan yeates said:
This is why I don't have a landline phone. Don't see the point in it, you either get phoned by scammers or by people trying to sell me something. Just use our mobiles.
Click to expand...

Where you still get junk calls and junk SMS also! Do you not have ADSL?
Click to expand...

I'm with Giffgaff with my mobile and I've never had a junk marketing call or SMS since signing up :thumbsup:

I have Sky broadband, just have no phone connected. Just another wire and device to clutter up the hall or lounge!
 
I'm the same, have a line just for broadband and no phone plugged in. I got fed up with people ringing up to sell me something.
 
I pay my phone bill by DD so I'm hardly gonna fall for that one. I just know my wife would though :roll:
 
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