Beware scam telephone calls

May 21, 2010 by admin    3 Comments    Posted under: Offline Scams

We’ve warned readers before about dodgy telephone calls, where scammers call you trying to obtain personal details over the phone.

This afternoon I received a telephone call from “Jade” who claimed to be calling from TalkTalk, asking to speak with my wife, who is the account holder.

I challenged “Jade”, telling him (yes, it was a man) that I had full authorisation to discuss the account. I asked him the nature of his call and he reiterated that he needed to speak with my wife and needed to know when she would be home. I asked for a telephone number so she could call him back, which he refused to give, so I terminated the call.

Caller ID showed “0191 4237400″ as the incoming number. Calling the number back resulted in a recorded message that said “This number is no longer in service”. Evidently, the caller ID was faked.

I then called my telephone service provider on the official customer service number. They were able to confirm that there was no problem on the account and no reason why anyone should be calling. The customer service representative had this to say:

“We would only ever call from an 0845 or 0871 number, and if the account holder was unavailable, one of our representatives would leave a full name, telephone number and extension for them to call back.”

This is likely to be a “phone slamming” exercise, where rogue resellers call up users to offer them a great deal, masquerading as an upgrade to their existing service. When the customer agrees, they are transferred to a new provider on the strength of a recording authorising the take up of the deal.

Be aware of this and do not agree to anything over the telephone. If you receive such a call, or any call claiming to come from an organisation with which you have a relationship, politely decline to carry on the conversation, hang up and call the customer service number on your bill or statement.

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