I was contacted recently by James, who asked me to tell his Grandma’s story to help others avoid being taken in by a cruel scam targeting grandparents all over the World.

James’ Grandma is 75 years old and lives alone. Generous and kind-hearted, she dotes her grandchildren and would do anything for them.

That’s why when she received a phone call purporting to be from James, she was only too glad to help. The conversation went something like this:

“Hi, Grandma? I’m in a bit of trouble…”

“Is that you James? What’s happened?”

“Yeah, it’s James. I’m on holiday in Spain with my mates and, well, things got a bit rowdy last night. I’ve been arrested and need some money to get out of jail. I can’t ring Dad, he’ll kill me!”

To cut a long story short, “James” went on to explain that he needed £1200 so his lawyer could get him out of jail while the British Consulate sorted everything out.

Grandma sent the money by wire transfer just as soon as she could get to the bank and called James’ lawyer to confirm the transaction number.

She only realised that she’d been the latest victim of the “Grandparent Scam” when James popped round for a coffee only two hours after she got back from the bank. By that time, it was too late. The wire transfer had been collected and her money was gone. The police have been informed, but there’s little chance that the fraudster will ever be found. According to the wire transfer service, although Grandma sent the money to a recipient claiming to be in Madrid, the money was actually collected in Lagos, Nigeria.

So how did the scam work?

Scammers target elderly people at random, hoping that they’ll strike it lucky. Without giving a name, they rely upon the victim to provide information which will help them to continue the deception. In this case, Grandma asked “Is that you James?” which confirmed that she had a grandson and gave the scammer a name to work with. Then it was simply a case of spinning a story convincing enough to persuade Grandma to send cash.

How can you avoid being ripped off?

If you receive a phone call from anyone claiming to be a family member, ask them to confirm their name before you get involved in a conversation. The chances are, if they’re not genuine, they’ll terminate the call immediately. Even if they do give a name that means something to you, don’t assume that everything is as it should be. Take a telephone number to call them back on, then get in touch with other family members who can confirm (or otherwise) that the story is for real. You’ll soon find out if your grandchild is in trouble or not, and could save yourself a packet!

Please, if you have elderly relatives or friends, give them a copy of this article and help them to stay safe from scammers.

We received an email this morning warning:

Please pass on…
Royal mail postal scam
This scam has been confirmed by our Royal Mail account manager and is especially relevant as Christmas is fast approaching:

A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number). DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £15 for the phone call. If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 0207 2396655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.uk, or your local trading standards office

This is a rehash of an old scam from 2005 and the telephone line was shut down by ICSTIS (Now PhonePayPlus) and the operator fined £10,000.

PhonePayPlus have issued a statement Here

If you receive this email warning please don’t pass it on, don’t “retweet” it and don’t post it on your Facebook page. All you’re going to do is waste your friend’s time in warning them about a scam that was shut down five years ago!

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.

We’re receiving reports of a number of different “cold calling” telephone scams which are doing the rounds right now.

In one, telephone users have been contacted by a “representative of BT” demanding payment of an outstanding balance to avoid having their service cut off. The caller then offers to prove their “bona fides” by disconnecting the line temporarily, which they appear to do, before calling back and further demanding payment.

“The man was very persistent and convincing” said a victim who wished to remain anonymous. “He said that I owed £100 and if I didn’t pay, then my line would be cut off. He said that he could prove he was from BT by temporarily disconnecting my line. He told me to hang up and then try making a call out. When I did, I couldn’t call out. No dialing tone, nothing. He then called back and took my credit card details to pay the outstanding balance.”

What actually happened was that the caller simply muted the call and let the victim hang up, ensuring that the call would not be disconnected. Only the person initiating the call can actually disconnect it, if they don’t hang up then the call remains live. When the victim then tries to make an outgoing call, they can’t, because the line is engaged.

Stop cold calls for £9 per month

In another scam, telephone users are contacted by scammers claiming to represent either BT or the Telephone Preference Service and told that they can subscribe to a service to stop sales calls for only £9 per month, payable by credit or debit card. In actuality, both BT and the TPS offer this service for free.

Points to remember:

• NEVER give your credit/debit card or bank details over the telephone unless you are making a purchase from a supplier you know and trust AND you have initiated the contact
• NEVER allow a caller to pressure you into giving them money
• ALWAYS ask anyone who calls you claiming to be collecting an outstanding debt to contact you in writing to confirm the existence of the debt before even thinking about paying them

Buy Hustle on Amazon

A 62 year old Nigerian Grandmother was sentenced to 1 year in jail for masterminding a plan to con a banker out of 17.5 million Nigerian Naira (£74,000) in a dodgy land deal.

In a plot worthy of the popular BBC television show Hustle , Grace Iroro approached Zenith Banker Mr Bolorunduro offering to sell him a valuable plot of land on the lucrative Lekki Phase 2 housing development for a knockdown price.

Grace and her syndicate, including Ayo Disu and Udoh Nnaji (who are still at large) invited Mr Bolorunduro to a bogus office on Lagos Island, where they posed as the land owner, his wife and a land broker.

They used forged certificates of ownership to further convince Mr Bolorunduro of the legitimacy of the deal, which bore the name of the real owner of the land, which Mr Bolorunduro confirmed with the relevant authorities.

Bankers talk

Convinced that the deal was legitimate, Mr Bolorunduro arranged an appointment with the scammers to pick up the cheque at his office. Unable to contain his excitement, he confided in a colleague and friend, a manager at another Nigerian bank. Fortunately for the victim, his friend had fallen for the same scam relating to the very same plot of land, and was able to warn him that he was about to be swindled.

At the appointed time, Iroro and her cohorts arrived at Mr Bolorunduro’s office to collect their cheque, only to be met by agents from the EFCC who arrested Iroro. Ayo Disu and Udoh Nnaji escaped and are currently at large, being actively pursued by law enforcement officials.

I just had a (witheld number of course) telephone call that I thought I’d share with you.

Caller: Hello, is that Mr xxxxxx?

Me: Yes it is

Caller: I’m calling from the upgrade department on behalf of 3. Your contract’s coming up for renewal shortly and we can offer you a free handset upgrade and give you a better deal on your tariff.

Me: Really? That’s great. Remind me, what tariff am I on again? When’s my contract up?

Caller: Erm.. Erm… we can offer you 200 minutes to any network, unlimited text and internet and free calls to other 3 mobiles for only £20 per month, with a free Nokia E71

Me: And you’re calling from the upgrade department at 3?

Caller: That’s right. Would you like to go ahead with the upgrade?

Me: Could I take your name and number and I’ll get back to you?

Caller: This offer’s only available today. All I need to do is take some details and I can get your phone despatched right away.

Me: So give me your name and number and I’ll call you back later today if I want to go ahead

At this point the caller hung up.

What’s clear here is that the caller was NOT calling from 3. If they had been, they would have known:

• When my contract expires (not for another year)
• What tariff & handset I have (exactly the same as they offered me)

If I’d given them the go-ahead I would have landed myself with a completely separate contract to my current deal with 3 along with the associated line rental for 18 months, so I’d have been paying 2 lots of line rental and been stuck with it.

Never agree to a mobile phone upgrade unless you have contacted your mobile service provider directly through a telephone number that you know to be genuine. You may well end up with a shiny new phone, but you’ll also probably be stuck with higher bills.

Communications regulator Ofcom said “Of all mobile phone related complaints in 2008 (51,400), we estimate that around 10,600 complaints may include mobile mis-selling issues (up from 9,000 in 2007). On the basis of market research and information from independent retailers, we estimate the current ongoing value of financial harm to consumers from general mis-selling at £21million a year, from cashback mis-selling at £8million a year and from the cost of time spent dealing with mis-selling and cashback problems £3million per year.”

Ofcom implemented a new General Condition on Sales and Marketing practices that applies to all Mobile Service Providers (MSPs) which came into effect on 16th September 2009, which includes a requirement that MSPs do not engage in “Dishonest, misleading or deceptive conduct and to ensure that those selling their products and services do not mis-sell”

It seems that not all retailers have gotten the message yet.

We now have a great range of PC and Home Security products available in the Scam Detectives Security Supplies online store (powered by Amazon).

I know this isn’t an online scam, but hey, we’re here to keep you safe from all kinds of fraudster, we’re not biased!

We’re receiving reports of bogus telephone callers, specifically in the Swindon area at the moment, but the scam is likely to spread, claiming to represent the local Council Tax office and trying to obtain bank details to either credit the account with refunds, or to check that payments are up to date.

There have even been cases of callers going to people’s houses to try and get the same information.

Swindon Borough Council have told us that they will never try and contact their council taxpayers in this way and advise residents to take the name of the caller, end the conversation and contact Swindon Borough Council on 0845 8500 962 to check if the caller is genuine.

For readers outside Swindon, we recommend a similar course of action, calling your local council to check if the caller is genuine. Do not let these people into your home, and if you feel at all threatened, call the police immediately.

Other bogus officials may include electricity & gas meter readers, water company officials and social workers. They often target elderly people and will work in pairs, so one can distract the householder whilst the other searches for valuables.

Do not let anyone into your home without ID, and verify the identity of the caller with the authority they claim to represent. Do not ring the number on their ID card, keep a list of your supplier’s telephone numbers by the phone for this purpose.

If you have elderly relatives and you are concerned for their safety, ask your local community police officer to pay them a visit and give them crime prevention advice.

We now have a great range of PC and Home Security products available in the Scam Detectives Security Supplies online store (powered by Amazon).