Scam Call

JohnC6

JohnC6

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We had a telephone call at 8.10am today and my wife answered. It was a female with an Indian accent and she said she was calling from BT and that there was a problem with our router and was it flashing. It was. Like many or even most people we have problems now and then with the router and we lose the wi-fi. We've spoken to BT a few times about it. She wanted my wife to get onto the computer to 'test' it. My wife was,quite rightly, suspicious and told her that she'd contact BT later to which the caller asked why she couldn't do it there and then. My wife ,being a very polite person,thanked the lady and ended the call. She then contacted BT who said it was a scam and that BT customers were being targetted at this time. However, having done some googling these type of scams re BT are logged back to July last year. Here's one explanation as to why we may have been targetted re our previous router problems. Post number 8 page 2 by Sandakan ..his/her's second post (red logo) https://community.bt.com/t5/The-Lou...ing-quot-compromised-quot/td-p/1840071/page/2

The number is 01268 (that's the area code for Basildon,London)... 115282. My undersdtanding is that callers can be abroad but use a UK regional code.

Can anyone suggest what the caller's ultimate goal was ? To control our computer ? To put a virus into it and demand money to put it right ? To access financial details ? or something I haven't thought of ?

I just wondered if it might be worth having a sticky heading/subject on here maybe called 'Scamwatch' and we could share the information about what the latest scams are because these people find new ways and ploys, evermore convincing, in an attempt to scam us. I don't doubt some people will respond to our caller and allow access to their computer.
 
They would probably end up asking for remote access to your pc or for you to visit a website to download a fix for the problem....planting a program to at the very least record your keystrokes and perhaps allow them a back door to read emails, browsing history, to gain banking info or card payments
 
I keep getting these BT - we are disconnecting your Internet etc calls

Really boring after the first - all are international numbers
 
That's very crafty, especially as routers have flashing lights. Most people wouldn't be savvy enough to know what the LEDs indicate.
 
Unfortunately the unwary are or can be caught out by these "type" of scammers!

The received wisdom with these ones either ignore them or simply say 'thanks for the call......I will contact you (the company BT, 'bank' etc) on the official number I have in phone book.

But the british in general can be too polite & trusting for our own good sometimes. On the odd one I have inadvertantly answered the phone to, I say 'sorry not today, goodbye....' and hang up.
 
supergeeman said:
They would probably end up asking for remote access to your pc or for you to visit a website to download a fix for the problem....planting a program to at the very least record your keystrokes and perhaps allow them a back door to read emails, browsing history, to gain banking info or card payments
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Frightening.:eek:..and this one :sneaky: (sneaky)
 
I tend to string them along for as long as possible...
 
have a search on YouTube for Tech Support Scammers, there is a guy called Jim Browning who explains it all very well, plus some US guys who also try to beat them at their own game. these people are very clever and persuasive and use a variety of tricks to get money out of unsuspecting users. the simple answer is, never trust anyone who calls you out of the blue, or any pop-up windows that appear whilst using the internet. Their usual MO is to get you to download some software that gives them remote acess to your computer, they then use a number of tricks to either look for your bank details or get you to log onto your bank, then they change what your account looks like (it's a simple thing to do if you know how).

It is well worth watching some of Jim Browning's videos.
 
Graham W said:
Just had a "BT" one my self, saying my internet connection was going to end tonight (We're not with BT.)
The recorded voice put me in mind of the Cadbury's Smash advert. (If you can remember that.)
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Just Youtubed that ad..Lol.

Box Brownie said:
Unfortunately the unwary are or can be caught out by these "type" of scammers!

The received wisdom with these ones either ignore them or simply say 'thanks for the call......I will contact you (the company BT, 'bank' etc) on the official number I have in phone book.

But the british in general can be too polite & trusting for our own good sometimes. On the odd one I have inadvertantly answered the phone to, I say 'sorry not today, goodbye....' and hang up.
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Agree.We are polite,in general. The advice from the scam-beware people is just that though, say "No thank you" and hang up. I do enjoy listening to recordings of those who play them along when the calller contacts an IT expert.

Having read of so many reports of these calls I'm amazed at the few we get..maybe because we have an ex-directory number.
 
Jim..Just Googled Jim Browning ..lots to see. I think I've seen one before and he kept going off to the loo or there was a 'caller' at the door,then his twin brother came on..himself,of course..lol

I'll look at them later.
 
i (if bored) will just agree to do all that they ask without actually doing anything, they don't have get cranky when they say they don't/can't see it at their end, or at times ask them to hold whilst log on, put down the phone and leave it for a while before going back to se if they're still hanging on, or course with our guardian phone most of these no longer get through now.
 
Been going round for years in various forms. At least you got an actual human, the last 3 or 4 we have were automated voices.
 
At least your scam had a modicum of sophistication. This morning I had an email allegedly from PayPal.

This was the text -"Notice Information your recent transaction was update, because your account has been limited until we here from you."!

Dave
 
omens said:
That's very crafty, especially as routers have flashing lights. Most people wouldn't be savvy enough to know what the LEDs indicate.
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BT routers don't unless they have changed the design
 
Can get two or three of these a day even though we are ex-directory- No longer polite and just tell them to p**s off!
Really bugs me that they can continue to do this and vulnerable people can get taken in by it. Scum
 
I find with most scam calls there's a pause after I say hello (I never give my name or number when answering). There may or may not then be a very poor attempt to pronounce my name (it seems to be a bit tricky even for some native English speakers). Most don't get that far before I hang up. If it's a genuine call they'll call back. If their number gets logged I often block it in case they try to use it again. If anyone does manage to get me to speak to them they'll find out the hard way I'm really not a nice person..................
 
BT routers flash when they lose connection, well mine does.
I guess it is BT's fault, if only they weren't so reliably unreliable, scammers would have to think up something else.

You can imagine the phone call..

Is your router flashing?

welll, not at the moment

ah, but it has been flashing recently?

well, of course it has its ******* BT !


On a semi related note
We stopped answering our phone (landline) 6 or so months ago due to nuisance calls, and now it doesn't ring at all........ever :banana:
 
Our landline handset has call blocking enabled, unrecognised callers automatically get routed to a voice message & answerphone. Unfortunately we have had a spate of nuisance calls on our mobiles recently, mostly offering 'assistance' with accidents we are supposed to have had. They normally hang up when we ask which accident had they in mind. I automatically add the number to the 'blocked' list on my phone. Curiously they all seem to originate from Sheffield.
 
We don't have a landline and I don't answer my cellphone if the caller isn't identified. They can leave a message if they want to.
 
I usually come up with something along the lines of , I’m police inspector John brown , can you tell me how well you knew the deceased murder victim .. .... funnily enough they always hang up right away ..
 
the black fox said:
I usually come up with something along the lines of , I’m police inspector John brown , can you tell me how well you knew the deceased murder victim .. .... funnily enough they always hang up right away ..
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You've been watching Tom Mabe haven't you? :D
(Worth a watch if anyone hasn't seen it)

MartynK said:
We don't have a landline and I don't answer my cellphone if the caller isn't identified. They can leave a message if they want to.
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Exactly (y)
 
I guess scam SMS go here too.

I’ve had 2 in quick succession tonight (from different numbers. One NHS the other TAX:

NHS:We have identified that you are eligible for a PCR test to apply now please visit: https:/ etcetera for more information.

We are glad to inform you that you are eligible for your tax return, claim now: https://gov etcetera.
 
sphexx said:
I guess scam SMS go here too.

I’ve had 2 in quick succession tonight (from different numbers. One NHS the other TAX:

NHS:We have identified that you are eligible for a PCR test to apply now please visit: https:/ etcetera for more information.

We are glad to inform you that you are eligible for your tax return, claim now: https://gov etcetera.
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Sadly these are coming out of the woodwork.

I had one about a "COVID pass" the give away was that the link in the text was not a .gov website.

I showed it to the OH to alert her to such trash.

Scam? It could be like the sites that say they 'are' the DVLA and can expedite a licence application for a fee. A legit company offering a spurious service.......

But having said that, random scattergun texts do shout SCAM very loudly.....scroats all of them!
 
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