SCAM - Telephone call, just press 1

By : Administrator
Published 15th February 2021 |
Read latest comment - 12th March 2021

These type of scams seemed to have rocketed during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The phone rings, and it's either Amazon confirming that they are about to take £xyz out of your account and if you want to speak to an adviser, press 1, or a variant of it alledging to be BT, the taxman, your bank and pressing 1 to get a refund/be transferred to the fraud team.

The transfer to 1 is to cut you over to a premium rate number and keep you talking, or it may be to entice you to give away personal information. The frustrating thing is they have gone from very unconvincing and humorous, to actually starting to sound plausible 

My worry is how many older folk or more vulnerable people fallen prey to this. The scam itself has been around for a few years, but it seems to have increased in the last 12 months, particularly as more people sign up or increase their online services, or maybe struggling financially and worry when they receive a call.

Make sure you educate older friends and family to be wary of these calls and if in any doubt, just hang up. If your bank or Amazon is genuinely trying to get I touch with you, they will email/write to you.

If you are concerned or have a relative who may be at risk from this type of call, then think about investing in a call blocker device. 

Chartered Trading Standards Institute points to CRP Call Blocker as the best-selling and most trusted call blocker brand worldwide and is available from Amazon or www.cprcallblocker.com.

Or there is also a good article from Which explaining different call blocking options - How to block nuisance calls

Stay safe and don't let the scammers win 

 

Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn
Comments

I had one just yesterday with an automated voice telling me my National insurance number had been compromised...I fear for vulnerable people. 


never give personal or financial information to scammers ever

 

pk123

We used to get this problem so frequently that we decided to take action. We bought a trueCall telephone screening device which lets through without interruption all our approved callers, but forces all unknown callers, with either an unrecognised number or a withheld number, to record a name before allowing the telephone to ring, when we have the option of rejecting the call, flagging the caller as blocked permanently, flagging the caller as permanently accepted, or accepting just the current call.

We have found that scammers are very reluctant to record anything, probably fearing that modern voice analysis could identify the individual. Since installing the device several years ago we have been interrupted by only a handful of nuisance calls. The online call log shows that more than a third of callers hang up without us being disturbed in any way. The majority connect without interception, having been added to the approved list.

The device also records calls, which can be picked up remotely, making a separate device redundant. The level of screening can be tuned according to personal circumstances. I have no connection with the manufacturer or any vendor, except as a very satisfied customer, enjoying freedom from unwanted interruptions.


We used to get this problem so frequently that we decided to take action. We bought a trueCall telephone screening device which lets through without interruption all our approved callers, but forces all unknown callers, with either an unrecognised number or a withheld number, to record a name before allowing the telephone to ring, when we have the option of rejecting the call, flagging the caller as blocked permanently, flagging the caller as permanently accepted, or accepting just the current call.”
 

Thats really interesting feedback. I imagine that being a hindrance to commercial business customers but for a charity or home use that sounds pretty good. Just looked on their website and can see its registered with Trading Standards Buy With Confidence and has some good feedback online.

For anyone that is interested, their website is: www.truecall.co.uk


Steve Richardson
Gaffer of My Local Services
My Local Services | Me on LinkedIn

This Thread is now closed for comments