Todays scam phone call.

[Dave7]

Had a scam phone call this morning. A message on the land line claming to be from the bank and telling me someone is trying to take £800 so will i phone the bank asap.
Now I knew what it was, you are supposed to phone back on the land line which the scammer has kept open and they then pretend to be my bank etc etc.
I had to check to be certain so used my mobile.
They confirmed that my account is fine and that the 1st call was indeed the scammer.
Apparently its a growing scam now.

 

[numbnuts]

I get them all the time, most tell me that someone used my Amazon account
coincident or not, most of the time is when I have just ordered from them !!!

 

[glasgowcyclist]

If you don't have your bank's direct number handy, you can dial 159 to be put through to your particular bank directly. That's lot easier to remember than various 0800 numbers.

To use it, simply hang up any suspicious call and dial 159. If the call came in on your land-line, call 159 on your mobile. You will then be asked to select your bank and will be connected to their fraud or customer service team.

The service currently covers 99% of the UK banking market, including major providers like Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, Nationwide, and HSBC.

 

[Drago]

I dont even bother calling my bank. If someone has 800 sovs away its the banks money, not mine.

Just hang up, or even better don't answer unrecognised numbers.

 

[Alex321]

Had a scam phone call this morning. A message on the land line claming to be from the bank and telling me someone is trying to take £800 so will i phone the bank asap.
Now I knew what it was, you are supposed to phone back on the land line which the scammer has kept open and they then pretend to be my bank etc etc.

They can't do that any more in the UK. They never could with digital or mobile lines, and on traditional analogue lines BT (and other operators) nowadays cut the call after about 2 seconds if either party hangs up, precisely to stop this kind of fraud.

It used to be more like 2 minutes, which is how those scams operated.

 

[Over the Ord]

coincident or not, most of the time is when I have just ordered from them !!!

Daughter’s account had money removed from it after making an online purchase, she reported it and was refunded, she then received a follow up to the investigation. They suspect a company employee was passing on details to others.

 

[Dave7]

They can't do that any more in the UK. They never could with digital or mobile lines, and on traditional analogue lines BT (and other operators) nowadays cut the call after about 2 seconds if either party hangs up, precisely to stop this kind of fraud.

It used to be more like 2 minutes, which is how those scams operated.

Right, I can follow than. My bank told me they might also be relying on people doing a 1471 (or equivilent) and phoning back.
Failing that I cant see what the scam could be.

 

[Gillstay]

I have a Rebecka ringing me on a regular basis and I carefully answer her questions in a complex manner which doesn't deter her.
Interesting what avenues the machine takes to each answer.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I know it used to be the case that the called party didn't terminate the call. So if they called you, then you hung up (and they didn't) and you then dialled your bank's number the baddies could still be on the other end of the line saying "brr brr, brr brr, click, hello this is your bank here".

But I thought that was a hangover from copper landlines. I do remember when I worked in telco (before 2014) that they changed this somehow. Maybe they made it possible for the called party to end the call or maybe they just made the timeout shorter, I can't remember.

But either way, I don't think that would work with digital calls, which pretty much everything is these days.

Edit. Just noticed that @Alex321 said pretty much the same. That'll teach me to skim read the thread.