Latest on line Scam!

[Buckman]

This morning just after 7am the phones rings and it is the Amazon scam about renewing our subscription. The issue is if you have relatives who are quite ill a phone call at the time sends alarm bells ringing!
I have blocked the number on my mobile phone, but unsure if I can block it on my home phone. We are unlisted and have the TPS.

 

[Raywood]

You can get a number blocker for the home phone if the phone shows the number calling. There are plenty on the market if you just google them.

 

[otherclive]

This morning just after 7am the phones rings and it is the Amazon scam about renewing our subscription. The issue is if you have relatives who are quite ill a phone call at the time sends alarm bells ringing!
I have blocked the number on my mobile phone, but unsure if I can block it on my home phone. We are unlisted and have the TPS.

Our home phones which are “ mobiles” allow us to block numbers. Have a look in the instruction manual it might show that your phone(s) have that facility.

 

[ProfJohnL]

This morning just after 7am the phones rings and it is the Amazon scam about renewing our subscription. The issue is if you have relatives who are quite ill a phone call at the time sends alarm bells ringing!
I have blocked the number on my mobile phone, but unsure if I can block it on my home phone. We are unlisted and have the TPS.

Neither being ex directory or TPS listed prevents your number being called.
All the TPS does is to add your number to a register of do not call numbers that honest businesses will not call, but the scammers and foreign callers do not check the TPS list .

And as others have said, the scammers use automatic block calling techniques, They will blanket call a block of phone numbers, and they hope that someone gullible will pick up.

 

[otherclive]

On thing Ive found through experience is that blocking calls or junk emails just using the phone or email blocking feature only work with the single originators number or email address. However the scammers continually change numbers and email addresses. You get callers from India and the number displayed will be a UK mobile or landline. Next week a different number will come through. So if they really are bothersome you need your providers blocking system where only recognised callers are allowed through. Unrecognised have to announce themselves for you to decide how to respond.

 

[Beachball]

Our BT home phone it designed to block nuisance calls so far we have been very happy . When the block number list gets full i take oldest number and delete it then add a new one .

 

[Hutch]

I have just recieved a text message from +44 7818 017738
Stating Royal Mail , your parcel has an unpaid shipping fee of £2.99 , pay at( External Link removed and should never have been posted at all !) otherwise parcel will be sent back.
This is a total SCAM. I Googled about it and it came back with information. So beware folks.


Moderator Note: The link removed from the above post should never have been included in the post as it was obviously a scam. NEVER post external links to unknown addresses.

 

[Buckman]

Not quite Online, but this today we have had 4 calls all from different numbers where a recording states that our Internet provider is about to cut us off. We pay by DD so no issue there. In addition, our provider Plusnet will never phone, they send you an email.

The annoying part is that today was daughter's funeral so the last thing we needed was unsolicited phone calls as one would assume it was relatives or friends phoning.

 

[Beehpee]

A near neighbour had a different scam I’d never heard of a couple of days ago, a printed leaflet with various details to enter such as date and time and a name supposedly from the water company Anglian saying they are going to be cut off for none payment and to phone a given telephone number, the number was a mobile number so easy to spot as a scam but some vulnerable people I’ve no doubt will call it and I can guarantee it will immediately cost loads as soon as you call, it would be easy to belittle people for being taken in but there’s lots of people with mental health issues who get taken in, the scum who do these scams should get locked up for a long time when they get caught.

BP

 

[Dustydog]

Not quite Online, but this today we have had 4 calls all from different numbers where a recording states that our Internet provider is about to cut us off. We pay by DD so no issue there. In addition, our provider Plusnet will never phone, they send you an email.

The annoying part is that today was daughter's funeral so the last thing we needed was unsolicited phone calls as one would assume it was relatives or friends phoning.

Sorry to hear that Buckman. Especially on a very special sacred day. Sorry to say I have no qualms telling them to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine , and the Foreign Office.
Seriously hope you and the family are coping ok.

 

[Woodentop]

A near neighbour had a different scam I’d never heard of a couple of days ago, a printed leaflet with various details to enter such as date and time and a name supposedly from the water company Anglian saying they are going to be cut off for none payment and to phone a given telephone number, the number was a mobile number so easy to spot as a scam but some vulnerable people I’ve no doubt will call it and I can guarantee it will immediately cost loads as soon as you call, it would be easy to belittle people for being taken in but there’s lots of people with mental health issues who get taken in, the scum who do these scams should get locked up for a long time when they get caught.

BP

Legally you have a right to a wholesome water supply and IMSMC the company cannot turn it off without a Court Order, so definitely a scam!

 

[audiorob]

A very convincing message purporting to be from Hermes re undelivered parcel. Two clues were from a mobile number and the link was to myHermes-parcel-fee which I closed down. Having made a note of the fake tracking number I opened Hermes own site. but the number was insufficient digits so was absolutely a scam. I suspect that like others noted there would have been a request for a smallish sum to get redilvery, but clearly someone somewhere is getting rich quick on multiples of small amounts. All very annoying when we were expecting a couple of parcels....
Amazon prime/purchase and appliance warranty scams still keep trying - VERY trying!

 

[Thingy]

Therse scams are getting more and more elaborate. I long for the days when we got messages like

"My pastors son really needs to buy your secondhand Nokia"

 

[Raywood]

Got a couple of scam calls this week. The first was from Kirsty who said she was from HM Revenue and Customs. One big mistake, she asked if I was having a nice day! They have not the slightest interest in that, so she got no further.
The second was from Jason who spoke with an Indian accent and said he was from BT. On the basis that any call from them would be specific to me, I asked him to tell me who I was and he rang off.

 

[Parksy]

We've often had the scam HMRC recorded message threatening immediate imprisonment if we don't ring their number back straight away.
The voice is sometimes male, and more often female with a slight American accent.
I block the number every time but the calls still somehow get through now and then, we had one on Monday in fact.
I've also had the Hermes fake email, and emails purporting to be from Amazon.
I've found that by clicking on 'Legitimate Interest' every time the privacy cookie pop up appears on any visited website, and then clicking on 'Object All' then 'Save' my email address isn't being passed on to third parties as often.
It can be a pain because it takes longer than simply clicking on 'Accept' but the scam emails and phone calls are becoming less frequent now.

 

[Jcloughie]

We've often had the scam HMRC recorded message threatening immediate imprisonment if we don't ring their number back straight away.
The voice is sometimes male, and more often female with a slight American accent.
I block the number every time but the calls still somehow get through now and then, we had one on Monday in fact.
I've also had the Hermes fake email, and emails purporting to be from Amazon.
I've found that by clicking on 'Legitimate Interest' every time the privacy cookie pop up appears on any visited website, and then clicking on 'Object All' then 'Save' my email address isn't being passed on to third parties as often.
It can be a pain because it takes longer than simply clicking on 'Accept' but the scam emails and phone calls are becoming less frequent now.

I used to get loads of scam emails, and, at one time my contacts were exploited.

A couple of years ago I took out a new email address. I have had zero problems with it.

I put this down to my now knowing how to deal with it so the new address has not leaked.

But, changing your address is a very big job, bigger than I expected.


When I was at work I was one of a few thousand staff and students, who had an email address. Hardly ever a problem. That was simply because we had a great IT dept looking after us. Occasionally our system would block an internet link. I would have to get the link put on the “good” list by IT.

John

 

[Woodentop]

A point of interest. If you use BT Privacy you can go on-line and amend your personal blacklist to make it block partial numbers or even dialling codes alone. You will often find that scam numbers from the same source are very similar but with just the last two digits changed, so partial number blocking will work.

Equally if you have a phone with nuisance call blocking you can usually look at the list and do partial number blocking as well, as you can with your mobile if they start on that!

 

[GeorgeandAde]

RoyalMail:Your item has a £2 unpaid shipping fee, to pay this now please visit (External link removed) Your item will return to sender if unpaid.

Yep....ok

Will do that straight away🤣🤣


The external link to the above has been removed.
If one suspects a scam and untrustworthy link do NOT include it in a posting.
Damian-Moderator.

 

[Mel]

A New Scam. Son just got a text purporting to be from the Census and saying there was missing information and he should follow a link to avoid a fine.
Didnt follow it, but checked it out via a Google search. It is a scam. Which and other organisations are warning that there are various versions including email, letters and phone calls.
Be warned.
mel

 

[Damian]

This scam has been around from the time of the Census.

 

[Ukeman]

If it's an actual person on the line there is fun to be had. I had the usual call about my Amazon prime account, which I don't have, and after a long discussion about what I had to do to put things right I politely suggested that he should get a proper job and stop trying to con people. He was very rude. Clearly Amazon need to train their staff better. Another suggestion I was given was a blast of a referee's whistle done the line.

 

[Darren.H]

Had an email yesterday supposedly from TV licensing, direct debit unable to be collected click this very handy link to set it back up!
Senders address .cat

Will have my eldest send them a virus!

 

[Beachball]

Had an email yesterday supposedly from TV licensing, direct debit unable to be collected click this very handy link to set it back up!
Senders address .cat

Will have my eldest send them a virus!

Had that a lot of times saying your direct debit not gone through but we know the dates when it collected from TV L icensing

 

[Woodentop]

I had some fun a while back. I got a call from 'Microsoft' saying my Windows machine was causing all sorts of problems on the Internet but they would help me to resolve it. I had just sat down at the computer so though I'd play along.
'Kevin' (with a heavy Asian accent!) asked me to press the function button. 'What's that' I asked. He said in the bottom left corner of my keyboard is a button marked Ctrl. 'Yes.' What button is to the right of it? 'Alt' I said, and to the right of that? 'The space bar.' OK, if you go left from the space bar what button is next? 'Alt.' And to the left of that? 'Ctrl' I said.
OK he says, lets try another way. Can you open up the Google? 'Sorry, I don't understand.' Do you know what Google is? 'Yes, its a browser.' OK, so can you open it? 'No.' Why not? (I'm getting bored now) ' Because I use Safari on an Apple Mac (lying through my teeth.)
Click - gone.
Curiously I have never had ANY call from 'Microsoft' since, and that was getting on for two years ago.

 

[Beachball]

I had some fun a while back. I got a call from 'Microsoft' saying my Windows machine was causing all sorts of problems on the Internet but they would help me to resolve it. I had just sat down at the computer so though I'd play along.
'Kevin' (with a heavy Asian accent!) asked me to press the function button. 'What's that' I asked. He said in the bottom left corner of my keyboard is a button marked Ctrl. 'Yes.' What button is to the right of it? 'Alt' I said, and to the right of that? 'The space bar.' OK, if you go left from the space bar what button is next? 'Alt.' And to the left of that? 'Ctrl' I said.
OK he says, lets try another way. Can you open up the Google? 'Sorry, I don't understand.' Do you know what Google is? 'Yes, its a browser.' OK, so can you open it? 'No.' Why not? (I'm getting bored now) ' Because I use Safari on an Apple Mac (lying through my teeth.)
Click - gone.
Curiously I have never had ANY call from 'Microsoft' since, and that was getting on for two years ago.

if i get a call from Microsoft i have l made a note of this for future reference thanks