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Scams and fraud

Trust pilot scam, at least so I presume

(15 Posts)
AuntieE Fri 13-Feb-26 14:28:52

Yesterday a text messsage appeared on my phone, generated at 4 a.m.

I deleted it so I may not have remembered the wording exactly, but the gist was as follows:

Someone has posted a ciritical review of you on trust pilot, to view it click on this link.

As I do not run a business, and have not unfavourably or favourably reviewed anything on trust pilot or anywhere else for ages, I blocked the sender without following the link, as I assumed it was either an attempt to scam me, or to download a virus to my phone.

Anyone else had this or similar messages?

Maremia Fri 13-Feb-26 15:32:33

Sounds dodgy

SORES Fri 13-Feb-26 19:03:13

Auntie E, that these messages are so common, it hardly seems worth mentioning this one, obviously dodgy as Maremia says.
As this appeared in the middle of the night it seems obvious to have been generated in a far away scam caller hangar, possibly SE Asia, Phillipines. This will be a premium rate number to call.

I have a facility on my Apple Smartphone which does not allow calls or messges from unknown sources. This might be worth investigating if you already have a directory of regular contacts, for your peace of mind at least.
The only time this failed was when a gp phoned me from a. ‘caller withheld’ number which was rather frustrating,for both of is, but in 4 years this is the only time. Anyone else harassing me I am blissfully unaware of, so would not know if I had a similar message.

I have vented on Trustpilot, but have protective spyware on
my phone.
Perhaps you need your phone upgrading ?

AuntieE Sun 15-Feb-26 14:06:09

Sores I am sorry if you felt I was wasting your time. The message I referred to is not common where I live. This was the first time any of us had seen it!

And no, my phone does not need to be updated,

Please, do not be so patronising another time.

Belardo Mon 16-Feb-26 18:21:21

Another scam, that some may be unaware of

www.theguardian.com/money/2026/feb/15/brushing-fraud-britons-mystery-parcels-scam-review

Fallingstar Mon 16-Feb-26 18:29:13

I am grateful for all scams mentioned on here, some may be savvy but others might not be aware of certain scams, and scammers are getting ever better at appearing to be the real McCoy.

Maremia Mon 16-Feb-26 18:31:04

No harm in asking AuntieE. There may be GNs who are also not familiar with this version.

Astitchintime Mon 16-Feb-26 18:42:29

Here’s another scam for GNetters…….my landline phone rang recently, a mobile number appeared on caller ID and I knew my BIL very recently changed his number so I answered the call by just saying a polite ‘hello’.
A voice on the line said ‘is that Rebecca’………I asked ‘who wants to know’? Again, the caller asked if I was Rebecca……several times I asked who wanted to know.
Then the caller shouted “for gods sake woman just say yes or no” to which I asked her to not take the Lords name in vane! She then replied by screaming at me and calling me a f***ing b***h!.
The caller simply wanted me to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because apparently that opens ‘doors’ in their scam because people would be unwittingly agreeing to something!

Ziplok Thu 19-Feb-26 12:42:41

I think it is always useful to flag up to others anything you view as suspicious. Yes, to some, it might be a well known scam, but to others it might not be.

In my opinion, it is never a waste of time to bring these things to our attention. If we are already aware of them, then all well and good, but not everyone will be, and such a post will prove useful.

It also serves as a reminder to be vigilant.

Even savvy individuals can be caught out, so thank you for posting AuntieE.

ameliaharris45 Thu 26-Mar-26 17:49:34

Any one can manipulate the reviews about any business. It is very easy to blackmail.

pably15 Thu 26-Mar-26 18:23:49

Astitchintime

Here’s another scam for GNetters…….my landline phone rang recently, a mobile number appeared on caller ID and I knew my BIL very recently changed his number so I answered the call by just saying a polite ‘hello’.
A voice on the line said ‘is that Rebecca’………I asked ‘who wants to know’? Again, the caller asked if I was Rebecca……several times I asked who wanted to know.
Then the caller shouted “for gods sake woman just say yes or no” to which I asked her to not take the Lords name in vane! She then replied by screaming at me and calling me a f***ing b***h!.
The caller simply wanted me to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because apparently that opens ‘doors’ in their scam because people would be unwittingly agreeing to something!

yes, I've heard about this scam...they want you to answer yes or no, then they can use your voice for whichever scam it is, I don't know just how it works. I now always ask whose calling..
It's good to be alerted to these scams.

Lovetopaint037 Thu 26-Mar-26 19:10:24

pably15

Astitchintime

Here’s another scam for GNetters…….my landline phone rang recently, a mobile number appeared on caller ID and I knew my BIL very recently changed his number so I answered the call by just saying a polite ‘hello’.
A voice on the line said ‘is that Rebecca’………I asked ‘who wants to know’? Again, the caller asked if I was Rebecca……several times I asked who wanted to know.
Then the caller shouted “for gods sake woman just say yes or no” to which I asked her to not take the Lords name in vane! She then replied by screaming at me and calling me a f***ing b***h!.
The caller simply wanted me to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because apparently that opens ‘doors’ in their scam because people would be unwittingly agreeing to something!

yes, I've heard about this scam...they want you to answer yes or no, then they can use your voice for whichever scam it is, I don't know just how it works. I now always ask whose calling..
It's good to be alerted to these scams.

That happened to me. The voice simply asked if it was me and as I was awaiting a communication from the hospital. I answered yes and the phone went silent. I panicked and rang the bank. Apparently this was just an untruth going the rounds. I then put it on the internet and up came the same information. It was said that nothing can be instigated with a single word “yes”.

M0nica Thu 26-Mar-26 19:31:06

AuntieE

Sores I am sorry if you felt I was wasting your time. The message I referred to is not common where I live. This was the first time any of us had seen it!

And no, my phone does not need to be updated,

Please, do not be so patronising another time.

I am all with you. Some people may be up to every trick in the box, but not everybody is. You have only to read the papaers or listen to anyother media to realise even the most sophisticated and aware people can be conned in some circcumstances.

JenniferEccles Tue 07-Apr-26 16:42:58

My view is we should all be grateful to those posters who are willing to spend time coming on here to explain how they could have been caught out by a scam.
No matter how well informed we think we are about these despicable scammers’ tricks, nobody should thinks they would never be caught.

There have also been posters willing to admit that they were caught out and lost money, in some cases, substantial amounts.

Another thing to remember is that banks don’t always reimburse those who have lost money in this way.
I believe things have improved over the years, but from banks point of view, if they repeatedly warn the customer that the transaction looks suspicious, but the customer insists that the payment should go ahead, well I guess the bank thinks there’s nothing else they can .

Wheniwasyourage Tue 07-Apr-26 16:46:08

Quite agree, JenniferEccles. We need all the warnings that we can get and share with each other, as scams are getting so sophisticated.