Scam a again

Cheers narrowboatnan, I laughed so much I really did spit out my tea (into the cup, luckily). Talk about clutching at straws!

I had a call today from a foreign sounding man who said he was from Benefits UK. Instead of just hanging up I decided to be nice and let him chatter. He called me by my name and went on to tell me I lived at number * . I said "No, I don't". He said "You're lying" and put the phone down. We've been in our current house for over 4 years! His information was a bit out of date.

I'm with TalkTalk and they now have a new system where you do not need to answer the calls unless you want to. Normal calls (friends etc) will come through but you have a choice whether to accept all the other calls.
If it is anything urgent they can always leave a message on the answerphone but they ring off!

I don’t get many of these calls since we moved aboard as we no longer have a land line, just the odd one on my mobile number. But the best one, some four years ago, was from a female asking if I’d had an accident in the last six months. When I said no, I hadn’t had an accident at all she then asked if I was planning to have one! Honestly! I almost spat my coffee out laughing.

"I do seriously wonder why they bother with these calls as I don't know anyone who would actually buy anything over the phone. How is it worth their while?"

I recently needed to withdraw a large sum of cash from the bank. I was asked various questions, about whether someone else had asked me to withdraw this money etc.
The cashier told me that a surprising number of people do move money on instructions from "their bank" on the phone, or believing they're getting an investment opportunity.

My dgd works in a call centre and gets lots of abuse from some customers, so it works the other way around too. She doesnt actually phone them, they call the company because they have a complaint, and some of the calls she gets are really nasty. Surprisingly some of the vile things that have been said have come from old ladies. The staff have to warn the callers that if they don't stop swearing they will terminate the call. If the abuse continues, then they get cut off. Any of the staff that doesnt comply with the rules of conduct when taking calls, which are recorded, is sacked.

Luzdoh have you been in hibinatin for the last twenty years how can you not have HEARD of scam calls If you haven’t had any that’s great but never heard of them is unbelievable ?

i told one of these "people " .oh i am so glad you called ,now this is what i need from the shop John ,then i proceeded to give him a lengthy shopping list ,! ,well he hung up ,how rude was that ,??and he never brought my shopping ,,mind you i have not had one of these calls for a time now ,so perhaps this is what to do in future

Regarding the risk of someone very old not answering the phone at all because of nuisance callers; we have a rule with our 92 year old mother that friends & family will let the phone ring 3x, then stop & ring again. These are the only calls she answers, as being told her (nonexistent) computer was having problems or that someone was using her (nonexistent) credit card, was really distressing her. All other calls, Dr, dentist etc can be diverted to a family member.

I had an email from my credit card provider, saying that someone in the USA had tried to use my card to buy pornograph games and gave a contact number to call.
I thought I was being clever and phoned the number on the back of my card instead, as I thought it was a scam.
When I spoke to an agent, her first words were, "Are you phoning about the fraud on your card?"
The email was actually genuine.genuine. ?

HootyMcOwlface You had me worried! My credit card bank is very quick on spotting "unusual use of your card" and phoned me about it being used in Topshop. They know we aren't that trendy! The scammers try your card on a lowish purchase before they spend a lot elsewhere.

I always tell them I am the housekeeper. That usually makes them think and then they hang up.

My mother-in-law tells them she is the lodger! It seems to work for her.

Should I feel jealous? I have never received such a call. This is the first time I have heard of them!

Mind you - I have an answerphone that asks people to say who they are and it usually comes on before I get to the phone as I am disabled and slow. People who know me know this and talk to it.

Sorry, I appreciate that my post is somewhat off subject but although I was very firm I did feel quite bullied. Just needed to let off steam.

Anyone else getting irritating calls from their utility company 'currently in your area' and 'ready to install your smart meter'? Caller from EDF did a really hard sell for something that I had previously declined several times, it took ages to get him off the line. Had the same problem when we had a new boiler installed last year (British Gas) when their guy put on the same pressure. I suspect that there is a bonus system going on. We know what we don't want - heard some bad reports - and I am well aware of our usage and quite enjoy reading the meters.

BT is not my provider and I m guessing you have to pay for that service.?
I m not that bothered by nuicence calls they are just that an annoyance but I was a bit surprised by the new mode of abusive language used ( I haven’t encounter that in the past) but I m guessing they are getting a lot of abuse themselves and perhaps not catching so many folks out any more and getting a bit frustrated

I love it felice! Dutch eh? I could try that with Spanish next time if I happen not to be busy.

BTW - if you get a call saying check us out with your bank use a different phone to do so - I expect most people know that, just saying.

We have a BT Guardian phone. You programme it with the numbers you wish to receive calls from, family, friends, doctor, etc. If a different number calls they are asked for their identity and then the phone advises you that you have a call and you can either answer or decline. We haven't had nusience calls for the last three years!

Samie I have been with TPS for years and it makes no difference what so ever
Because of my voluntary work I take calls from strangers or phones whose numbers are not known to me so your idea wouldn’t work for everyone Chinesecrested

I just have Callguard on my phone. I haven't got the time or the patience to talk to unsolicited callers! You can bar any call you don't want, and any other unrecognised phone numbers are displayed on the phone so I can ignore them Haha!

I've had lots of them too. Latest one from my own local std code also telling me that my broadband was compromised in several countries and would be switched of in 24hours.
As it happened I was having my router changed that day as internet connection is dire and mentioned it to engineer. He confirmed they're all scams as of course I knew. Just damned annoying.

I got a call which said they were my credit card company and was I trying to buy £1000 worth of goods in Victoria Plum? No I wasn't but I didn't trust them - I didn't give them any personal information. But it was them and someone had got my card details and were trying to buy themselves a new bathroom! They also spent nearly £500 at a posh chocolate shop!

I had a call a few weeks ago from India... I said no thanks and put the phone down. They then rang me back and said why did you put the f...ing phone down you mother f....er you are a c... Charming. I was speechless for once.

My guess is that the caller's least favourite people are the deaf and the foreign au pairs who speak hardly any English. If you want to thwart the callers I suggest you try impersonating the deaf, making sure that you shout loudly enough at them to speak up because you've lost your hearing aid. If you fancy your acting ability and want a challenge try the foreign au pair act. Remember to limit your vocabulary to less than 10 words which you re- use and rearrange in many variations. On a more serious note, I knew of a housebound old lady who had such bad experiences from coldcallers that she completely stopped answering her phone. She had no family locally and only had a basic phone and it meant that the family could never get through to her to check if she was ok. She lay dead for days before her handyman got concerned at her not answering the door and called the police. Those callers don't think about the misery they can cause .

I’ve always given them the benefit of the doubt, thinking what a thankless job it was (DS worked in a call centre while he was at uni) and been polite. I’d have been horrified if I’d been spoken to like some of you have - I’m such a delicate flower! Well done Grans, for giving as good as you get!