New phone scam? - "You have a call waiting, press any key to connect"

Hmmm. I would put the phone down.

You have to sign up for the 'call waiting' thing don't you?

Think you're right. Premium number on the other end.

I sat silently and listened until it clicked out at that end - and I did NOT press any key. I don't have call waiting, and I was sitting beside the phone, so I was not calling anyone else when it rang. Yes, premium number is my bet. They'll try anything to get your money.

It's British Gas calling about a non-urgent matter.

I googled the number.

But on their "Did we call you?" site, British Gas could not trace the number.

I Googled the number too, and found that others had had the same experience. If it was British Gas, why did they not just complete the call when I lifted the receiver, instead of telling me that I had a call waiting? I was there, they could have spoken to me. Whoever it was clearly wanted me to phone them. Why try to get me to do that unless there was some advantage to them - like a premium number?

I don't believe that it was British Gas (or in this case, Scottish Gas) If it was, then they will ring again.

whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/01189040797

Isn't it the caller that has the 'Call waiting' facility, not the recipient? Anyone can receive a 'Call waiting' call only a subscriber can make the call

Thank you, anya but as I said above I followed the link to the British Gas "Did we call you?" site and was told that they could not trace it.

If it was indeed them, it is their job to call me again if they really want to speak to me. It is not mine to ring them back. Not a very good way of doing business.

Flickety Yes, call waiting is a service which the receiver has chosen (and paid for) so that they don't miss an incoming call while they are on another. It is not a way for a business to get its potential customers to do the work of cold calling for it. (and I don't even have call waiting and was sitting a foot from the phone when this call arrived! They could have spoken to me direct! That is part of my annoyance)

I've warned DH, just in case.
He got caught with a call that cost him £57 for about 5 minutes by doing as requested, and although this one appears innocuous I don't think you can be too cautious.

I confess I got the names of two services confused. I was confusing 'call waiting' with, I think, something called 'Ring back'.

We actually have 'Call waiting' on our phone but not 'Ring back' With Call Waiting all we get is beeps on the phone during one call to say someone else is also ringing us at the same time. With that you either ring off to take the waiting call or dial 1471 when you end the first call and the number of the second call is read to you or you are told 'number withheld'. You are free, when you get a number to work out whether you recognise it and want to ring back or not. So no sneaky premium numbers. You cannot respond to 'number withheld' calls.

I have just asked someone who works for British Gas business arm and he said they would not call anyone without saying who they were.

It's apparently against the industry rules and regulations. Hope this helps. x

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