To be appalled at this blatant scam.

Yes Pammie1 it was the same programme.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0016ld3/scam-interceptors-series-1-episode-11

Episode 11 is well worth watching.

Cressida

BBC have been showing a series called Scam Interceptors which is worth watching. All 15 episodes are available on I-player at the moment.

Not sure if it was the same programme but I watched a scam interceptor listening in on a phone call between a scammer and a seemingly vulnerable lady - they seemed to have convinced her that her bank account had been hacked and a large sum of money stolen. The scammer had given her a fake bank phone number so they could arrange to credit the money back to her account. She seemed really taken in until the moment she innocently mentioned that her son was a high ranking police officer in the cyber fraud division. She said she would report the bank theft to him and make sure they investigated.

The scammer panicked and you could hear him talking in another language to someone else - obviously asking what to do. He came back on and hurriedly told her that it was fine and they didn’t need to take any further action as the money was now back in her account. The line then went dead.

The lady turned out to be a retired police officer and her son really was in cyber fraud - and she knew she was being scammed, so strung him along for a bit of fun. It was hilarious listening to him trying to backtrack and get out of the call.

Germanshepherdsmum

I had a call from’John’ from Amazon this morning. Indeterminate accent and called me ‘Ma’am’, not by my name. Someone from Reading had placed an order for £799, was that me? No. Do I know anyone in Ready? No. When did I last access my Amazon account? No idea (actually last week, wonder why ‘John’ didn’t know. Did I last access it on my phone, tablet or laptop? Can’t remember. Let me connect you to our security portal and show you the fraudulent transactions made by someone hacking into your account and then we can arrange to cancel the order. No way am I giving you access to my computer, goodbye.

Amazon always email an acknowledgment of an order very quickly so you would know if someone else had used your account to place an order. I suspect a lot of people would be panicked at the thought of someone having spent that sort of sum on their account and without thinking give ‘John’, their saviour, access to their computer - and their bank account and card details.

I had a similar one a while back. Someone had purchased an iPhone on my Amazon account and the adviser wanted to connect to my system to go through the transaction before cancelling. That’s the point at which I too, ended the conversation.

I visit a lady each Monday and almost every Monday the phone rings, she answers it and then I hear her saying "No I haven't got my bank details." As soon as I hear her saying THAT I mouth put the phone down, which she does and I tell her NEVER EVER give bank details to ANYONE, but she forgets and so the flowing Monday the same happens and so on and so on. Makes me so cross because there will be some unsuspecting person who does reel off their bank details.

My understanding is that the rebate is being applied as a rebate on council tax so the only contact should be from your local council. If you pay by direct debit it will be paid into your bank because the LA already has your bank details. Otherwise they will send you details of how to claim it.

One of my relatives who lives in the same city was sent a cheque. Another had it rebated direct to his council tax. I am still waiting to hear but some councils are taking their time.

Cressida we watched that and it was scary how people were drawn in by these scammers. If you get a call from any of these people make sure you're completely disconnected from them before you make another call. Better still phone your bank from a different phone. Some people don't realise that the scammers might still be connected to you when you try to ring another number. Don't ever send a penny to someone you don't know or have never met.

BBC have been showing a series called Scam Interceptors which is worth watching. All 15 episodes are available on I-player at the moment.

We too have both had the 'someone is running amok with your visa card' call. You really do have to have your wits about you.

It is not enough to delete such emails or tell your friends about a call. You need to report it to the government National Cyber Security Centre.

Google ncsc.gov.uk

This is the perfectly secure government centre which exists to protect us from such scammers. If you don’t report it how can they do their job?

I had a call from’John’ from Amazon this morning. Indeterminate accent and called me ‘Ma’am’, not by my name. Someone from Reading had placed an order for £799, was that me? No. Do I know anyone in Ready? No. When did I last access my Amazon account? No idea (actually last week, wonder why ‘John’ didn’t know. Did I last access it on my phone, tablet or laptop? Can’t remember. Let me connect you to our security portal and show you the fraudulent transactions made by someone hacking into your account and then we can arrange to cancel the order. No way am I giving you access to my computer, goodbye.

Amazon always email an acknowledgment of an order very quickly so you would know if someone else had used your account to place an order. I suspect a lot of people would be panicked at the thought of someone having spent that sort of sum on their account and without thinking give ‘John’, their saviour, access to their computer - and their bank account and card details.

Thanks to Pammie and all who have reported scams. We need to be aware at all times.

If you click on the sender’s email address another address is revealed - usually a jumble of letters that don’t make sense, so that also shows it’s a scam. I had the text message telling me i had been in close contact with omicron but immediately googled it and, of course, it was a scam. We have to be so careful and thank you Pammie1 for reporting the Ofgem example.

My neighbour had an email from HMRC saying she was getting a tax rebate of £450 so she clicked on the link and entered all her bank details and NI number. That was a scam. My late husband had a letter allegedly from some kind of heir hunter company saying a relative had died in Australia and asking for his bank details. He believed it was genuine but my son researched it and said there was only one site on the internet related to that company and it was just a front. Another neighbour years ago had a phone call from an American woman who said she’d won a cruise flying to America and then sailing to the Caribbean. She had two free tickets but could bring another two people at a cost of a ridiculously low figure. My neighbour immediately booked for two other family members and gave all her credit card details.
When she told me I said to her straight away it was a scam and she needed to ring her credit card company but she wouldn’t have it. Of course it was a scam !

Scams never appal me because I know that evil exists. The simple rule is never click on links in unexpected or unsolicited emails.

On Apple machines you can hover over senders' addresses and see very quickly whether it's genuine. Even then it's better to to go directly to a company's website (NOT by clicking on the link but via a browser) to see what's really going on, or more likely not going on.

Then report the scam or simply delete it.

I presume the software of other computing arrangements have similar ways to check.

People who send out these scams are beyond disgusting. I don't know how they sleep at night.
I said to one once, "Does your mother know what you do for a living?". He put the phone down.

Discussing scams with a neighbour yesterday and we both said we are now suspicious of any phone call/email. She had received an email from her bank telling her there was a problem with her account, she immediately thought scam and got her husband to ring the bank from his phone - turns out it was a genuine, but they told her she was right to ring and check.

Google ncsc.gov.uk It tells you how to report different types of scams.

It is very important that you report every single time you encounter these attempts. Reporting it, and warning as many people as possible are the only ways we can fight back.

Let’s all spread the word.

Trouble is, vintagejazz, a lot of them are based abroad. Not easy to find or prosecute and a very expensive process.

Thanks Pammiel,
We had three last week pretending to be the Bank saying someone had with drawn money.That must have been a random number as we are ex-directory but it was the same voice on two of the days.

Thanks Pammiel. Some people really are disgusting, useless predators.

Hopefully the law will catch up with them and these losers will end up where they belong, behind bars.

Thank you, Pamiel.

I received the Ofcom one as well, looks genuine and I think will catch many people out.

Pammiel, may I add a scam please? My mobile went today and someone said that £600 was being sent abroad from my mastercard. It was quite convincing except that I cancelled my mastercard a couple of months ago!

Hardly anyone has my mobile number so it must have been dialled at random.

Thank you Pammiel . I have posted this locally and sent it to my family.

Yes, GSM- they sleep well on very fancy beds in very expensive houses, I fear.