BT Hoax callers

[jezza]

Just read this on the G40 forum and thought i would post it on here so everyone can make it aware!

Dear All

Our Nigerian friends are at it again! This scam has been confirmed by BT who have issued warning notices. You may wish to pass it on to your friends.

Kind regards,




I received a call from a ' representative ' of BT. informing me that
he was dis-connecting me because of an unpaid bill & demanded
immediate payment of £31.00 , or it would be £ 118.00 to re-connect
at a later date..
The guy wasn't 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 his name and he gave 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. & 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 & I Dialled 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 but it is escalating.
The Police 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..
This is good but not that clever. He gave the wrong number - it
should have been 0800 800152 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
the elderly and vulnerable.

This is a real scam visit this site for proof.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/bt-unpaid-bi ... scam.shtml

The information in the warning email is factual. Such scams have indeed been occurring in the UK and a number of UK residents have already lost money to these fraudsters. BT has published the following notice on its website warning customers about the scam:
Please be aware of the following:

Fraudsters, pretending to be from various phone companies, have been calling people on the pretence that there is an outstanding bill and threatening to disconnect their line immediately if they do not pay the bill straight away.

The fraudsters have been pretending to "cut off" the customer. Worried about having their line cut off, some people have been persuaded into giving the fraudsters their bank account details.

The police are investigating and BT Security is looking into incidents where the fraudsters have claimed to be from BT.

Whilst BT does have debt handling procedures which may involve calling customers, BT never carries out disconnections during the call by way of proof.

We advise customers never to give out any banking details over the phone unless they are absolutely certain who they are dealing with.

If there is any doubt at all, a BT employee will be able to give the customer their employee ID number and an 0800 number to call, where the customer can check that they are who they say they are. The customer can also check their identity by calling 0800 800 150.

Beware of similar phone numbers. Fraudsters may for example offer a number which has an extra zero - 0800 0800 xxx has been used by fraudsters - it is not the same as 0800 800 xxx.
UK communications regulator OfCom has also posted a warning to consumers about the scam:
Fraudsters are currently phoning consumers claiming to be from BT or Ofcom. They claim that the consumer’s telephone line needs digital upgrade work. This, they say, will cost £6 and if it isn’t paid within 10 days the consumer’s phone line will be cut off.

In some cases, the fraudster will claim that the line needs testing and they will temporarily disconnect it. When the consumer tries to make an outgoing call they are unable to do so. This is simply because the fraudster is still on the line meaning no outbound calls can be made.

This is a scam. Ofcom and BT have alerted the relevant authorities for investigation.
Phone scammers often pose as staff of companies, government departments or financial institutions as a means of fooling people into handing over their personal details. While this particular instance of the scam targets UK residents, criminals may use similar tactics to steal information from phone consumers in other parts of the world. While telecommunications companies may well call their customers to query an unpaid account, they are unlikely to attempt to prove the legitimacy of the call by disconnecting the line. If you do receive a suspect call, do not provide the caller with any personal or financial details. If you are unsure about a call, the safest course of action is to:
1. Ask for the caller's name and department details and then terminate the call.
2. Find a legitimate contact number for the company either in a bill or other official documentation or a telephone directory. (Don't use a contact number provided by the caller).
3. Call the company and ask to speak to the original caller by name.
This strategy should effectively derail any scam attempts and also allow you to deal with the issue in the event that the call was actually legitimate.

[Tim_GTi]

Yeh heard this scam the other day, nice one for bringing it up

It's a lot to read though, so if anyone wants it in bitesize:

They call saying they're from BT and request outstanding payments.

After being asked to prove their authenticity they'll ask you to hang up the phone and try and make a call to another number (any number). And with their BT powers, they'll be able to cut you off and prevent you from doing so.

This will work, but don't be fooled as all that is happening is they are staying on the line with their reciever muted. Thus preventing you from making any other phone calls, and you hearing no tone. When they hear you hang up, they call you back.

If this happens report it, there's probably info in the above post on where to do so.