Scammers by phone

[steve9872]

Lately I have had quite a few scamming phone calls. Most are easy to identify as such:
1) Automated voice call
Never asks for you by name
Says your phone and/or internet is about to be cut off
or Says an internet transaction on your credit card is on hold
Says their from a random ISP which isn't yours or today I had a call that claimed to be from "your ISP" presumably to get around that problem.

2) Actual person calls
Never asks for you by name
Actually much the same as above

Dealing with case 1 is easy. Just hang up. Never ever press button one to talk to a human. They may call a few times but it does stop.

Dealing with a human is more difficult as its likely you are polite and won't want to hang up first. So the first hurdle they have real problems with is your name, they don't know it.
When you insist they tell you who you (NOT THEY, YOU!) are, they cannot answer you and there is a very high probability that they will just hang up.

So, what do you do if they manage to talk you into believing them.
1) Never do whatever they ask you to do on your computer, their intention is to get you to let them remote in and lock you out. Then they blackmail you whilst copying your passwords files and anything else they find interesting. Its likely they will also leave a virus on your system and because they are logged in, tell your antivirus to ignore it. Blackmailers like repeat business.
2) Never give out any passwords, credit card details, ID card details, PIN's, etc. Don't give them information they can use to pretend to be you. Its what they look for.

They can be very friendly, when talking to you, until they have what they need. Then the scumbag blackmailer shows his true colours.

[McG]

Thanks, steve9872 . . . it's always useful to be reminded of tactics used and also what they may try to get access to . . . our information is more precious than we sometimes think.

[ZoeBanfield]

Thank you so much steve9872 for taking the time in sharing such useful and important information. I will share with friends and family too to stop these scammers.

[steve9872]

A genuine caller will ask for you by name which is why you insist on them telling you who they want/you are. Its step one in getting them to hang up and never call you again as you are too savvy to con.

[stuartboy]

I've realised that not speaking when picking up the phone weeds out all the automatic diallers as they simply end the call rather than playing recording. Also a real person on a scam with a name to call you doesn't know whether to ask for Mr or Mrs.

[Hardov]

Thank you for sharing such a useful information, I am sure a lot of people will appreciate it

[youpigirl]

Hello everyone,

Scammers just like nuisance calls come in waves. You know when your details have just been sold because you start getting 10 calls a day.
I am done with either telling them to f... off or putting the phone down. My way of dealing with them, my time permitting, is to waste as much of their time as possible.
They do not drive me mad anymore, I drive them mad until they remove my name and number from the list.

That's for nuisance calls. If it's about that 'car accident' I have just been involved with and they want to help me with I will play along and tell them that I was about to call them but I am still traumatised from the accident. I will then tell them how grateful I am that they called because I didn't know who to speak to about it. I will then start a really detailed monologue about that day, starting with breakfast and how I chose what I was wearing that day etc.....9 times out of 10 they put the phone down on me. Some must realised that I am taking them for a ride some must think that I am clinically insane.
Once I asked the guy to email me the accident report they had received from my insurers.....for that fictional accident. Never heard from him again.

This works with anything. I can talk for 10 minutes about how it's about time I have double glazing etc......describing in minute details my neighbour's windows and how jealous I am of their house etc....

For anything more sinister follow steve9872's advice. Very good advice.

[ahman]

An automatic voice-mail call came three times in as many days last week, claiming to have a message for me and instructing me to touch any number on the phone key-pad to hear the rest of the message! What do they hope to achieve? The number left on my phone 02033153000. Does anyone recognise the number?

[steve9872]

That could be what happens when someone sends a text to your landline.

[steve9872]

https://www.unknownphone.com/search.php?num=02033153000
Chelsea & Westminster Hospital

https://www.chelwest.nhs.uk/contact