Strange phone call

[Dimplenose]

I've just had a very strange phone call. I answered the phone with "Hello?" and the caller then said she was just about to send some information to me and wanted to check that their data was correct before sending. So I said "Who are you?" and she immediately hung up on me. Obviously when I called 1471 the number had been withheld.

It just makes me wonder what sort of scam she was up to. How odd.

Libby

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Well done for hanging up. They were probably after passwords etc. to gain access to bank and building society accounts.

 

[Dimplenose]

It was the caller who hung up on me - and so quickly I knew something odd was going on. I hadn't thought about her trying to get bank details - she wouldn't have had any luck with me anyway as I never give out details like that.
She did sound very nice though so I expect a lot of people get caught out.

Libby

 

[ely3857]

Perhaps you should report it to BT. Even though nothing really happened they can trace any telephone number and the person/people may have been reported to them already and they might be building a case.



Jodie

 

[arieljasmine]

Well done for being so vigilant, Libby, definitely sounds like a scam to me. Nowadays with having caller ID, I tend to only answer the phone if I know the number. Anyone important will always leave a message anyway.

ArielJasmine

 

[natalielongstaff]

i agree it was probably dodgy

 

[Lisash]

I agree probably dodgy. I take a leaf out of my DH's book now. He never gives details to anyone calling us whoever they claim to be. We find even legitimate callers like our bank, BT & Sky etc always ask for us to confirm some kind of personal detail when they are calling us! I know this is just so they can confirm it is us they are speaking to but DH just quite rightly flat refuses now on the basis that if they are who they say they are they have our details so should need no confirmation and that as they are calling us on our ex directory number it is unlikely they are getting anybody else. They always get annoyed then and usually say we can call them to confirm they are genuine but they are the ones always telling you not to confirm any details with strangers and 99.9% of the time they're trying to sell you something you don't want anyway.
I had a new one about a month or so ago when 'Kevin' (clearly not his name his strong Indian accent was bit of a giveaway and there was a time delay indicating he wasn't calling from England) called to say he was returning my call as I had left an ansaphone message for him (mmm.. No Kevin I think I would have remembered) and could I confirm that I had been injured in an accident or fall in the last 3 years (again that would be a no) He was quite shocked when I suggested he was a cold caller and hung up on him. Even stranger about two days after this our phone rang and I picked up on what must have been a crossed line only to hear a man being given exactly the same pitch (funnily enough he hadn't left Kevin a message either) I do hope Kevin has managed to locate his caller ..... if not expect a call from him soon

 

[Cyrano]

Register with TPS then if it is a cold call you can report them. The company are fined for each incidence. Gets them off the phone fast.

I'm with your DH about not giving details over the phone.

 

[UKDEB]

I take a leaf out of my DH's book now. He never gives details to anyone calling us whoever they claim to be. We find even legitimate callers like our bank, BT & Sky etc always ask for us to confirm some kind of personal detail when they are calling us!

This is a huge bugbear of mine and I think we should all lobby our MPs. The golden rule is that the caller provides the answers to the security questions to confirm their identity. It has now become common practice for organisations to ask these questions when they make the call, but it completely defeats the object. I have lost count of the number of times I have gone around in circles with these people: "But you phoned me". "Yes, but I can't talk to you unless we can identify you". "BUT YOU PHONED ME! Do you want to speak to me or not?". There is normally a confused silence at this point, then; "Yes, but I can't talk to you unless I can identify who I am speaking with". "OK, then. BYE!".

It seems funny, but it's actually extremely frustrating. I work for a major UK Bank and I have tried to get our policy changed, but I'm not getting through to anyone. These are the very people who, for years, have reminded me of the 'golden rule' - THE PERSON MAKING THE CALL ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS. If we all refused to answer these questions when we are on the receiving end, maybe we could get these practices changed.

 

[higgy66]

That is such a good point Debbie.

I must admit the bank I deal with the staff don't have access to all the digits/letters and will only ask for a couple at a time so you're not giving the whole thing away. eg. Can we have digits 2 & 5 etc etc. Also they only ever call if I've contacted them to call me back.

I've registered somewhere - sorry can't remember who - but now I never get cold callers and when i do (very rare) I tell them it's illegal to phone my number (which it is becasue I've registered) and they soon hang up! I got the details from BT and it's cut these calls from 6 a week to 2 a year!

Hope this helps

Janet

 

[Minniespal]

Nowadays with having caller ID, I tend to only answer the phone if I know the number

Me too

 

[Strommie]

I don't answer the phone if it says 'Withheld' or 'International' as these tend to be calls I wouldn't want to answer

 

[angel659]

Hi

I think a couple of years back there was a dody scheme going on just after xmas. I received an alert email. PEople were phoning up asking for thier address and telephone number. I think they were saying they had won something. I cant remember the exact details. When they were out they found there house had been burgled.

You do need to be careful. Telewest phone me alot and without thinking I always give out information to them. They are always trying to get me to upgrade. I have to confirm I am who I am. I never thought about saying you phoned me so you know who I am. Strange. I thought I was always vigilant, but never thought of this.

 

[motheroftink]

I also got sick of cold callers so registered with the TPS and had caller ID set up. It has drastically reduced the amount of these calls - result.

I too work for one of the big banks in a payment processing centre and we process payments to other banks within this country and around the world. We are seeing increased incidents of fraudulent payment requests, and part of the security we have to do depends on how the instruction was received into the Bank's hands, (i.e. post, fax or by person in branch)the amount being sent, and what security may have already been done at branch level. We frequently have to call customers to verify that the instruction is a legitimate one, and this involves ringing them on a number already in the Bank's records, and then asking a series of security questions (not just DOB etc, but more obscure ones) that they should know the answer to if they are the genuine customer. If the customer's telephone number and/or address has been amended in the Bank's records recently then there is even more security done. We do constantly get challenged, and you can't blame the customer for being wary. They say "How can I tell that you are phoning from my Bank?" and we then say "Well you ask me a question that only someone working in your Bank would know the answer to." It is a difficult situation for everyone, if the Bank didn't ask these questions and we paid out on a fraudulent instruction everyone would ask what is wrong with our security and validation system, and why didn't we do more, the Bank would lose out financially and it's reputation would suffer.

These fraudsters are just getting more clever by the day and it's hard to keep up with them.

 

[jen_uk]

I don't answer the phone if it says 'Withheld' or 'International' as these tend to be calls I wouldn't want to answer

My mum does the same and this was a bit of a problem last year when dh had an accident and I tried to call her from the hospital payphone and it automatically witheld the number!

 

[Queenie]

I have a similar problem as Scott works in a hospital so if he calls from the office the number shows as withheld. He always uses his mobile now as he knows I won't pick up otherwise!

 

[UKDEB]

if the Bank didn't ask these questions and we paid out on a fraudulent instruction everyone would ask what is wrong with our security and validation system, and why didn't we do more, the Bank would lose out financially and it's reputation would suffer.

I think the answer is for the banks to adopt the practice higgy66 mentions, i.e. asking you for a couple of letters of your password. This is what we do internally in the bank for which I work (although, also observing the golden rule of 'the one who makes the call answers the questions"). That way, you're not risking divulging information to bogus callers.

 

[sadeeyore]

I've just had a very strange phone call. I answered the phone with "Hello?" and the caller then said she was just about to send some information to me and wanted to check that their data was correct before sending. So I said "Who are you?" and she immediately hung up on me. Obviously when I called 1471 the number had been withheld.

It just makes me wonder what sort of scam she was up to. How odd.

Libby

I had a call the other night, I answered the phone with "Hello", the caller asked "Is that Mrs ..............?". I answered "Yes"
Don't know why I answered her question, as I would usually ask who was calling.
Anyway she hung up straight away - number withheld as well.

 

[Pookles]

When did we all become so distrusting of strangers? If experience has taught me anything it's that they usually have the best candy!

We have run across several scams recently in dealing with DH's mom and grandmother. As we were having dinner with grandma the other night, she received a phone call from her "grandson" (he was sitting next to her) who was in jail and needed bail money. Grandma schooled him.

We've run into several other scams with roofing, siding, garage doors and other maintenance types in DH's mom's neighborhood, some come to the house. Lots of little lonely grandmas sitting around just waiting for someone to talk to. We've called the cops with a few of them, some they're aware of. In most cases they probably can't do anything but we hope karma works her magic.

Edit: Sorry, didn't realize it was a UK board when I posted. Strangers in Europe have way better candy than those here in the US. I'd get into a van for a TimeOut bar.

 

[Dimplenose]

This thread is over 8 years old!

But it does go to show that back then I thought a phone call like this was strange. Now, sadly, they are quite common and I would just put down the phone and think nothing more of it.