New BT Phone scam!!!

[tony sayer]

Had two of them already today purporting to be from BT usual spiel "have you a PC are you in front of it?" etc.

Just told him to do something physically impossible with himself!.

[philipuk]

I do wonder why they bother when I can see it's a scam from the obviously f ake number on the callerid. What I do depends on when they call and if I ca n be bothered. Sometimes I like to pretend to be really stupid and string t hem along for as long as I can. It's better than them calling someone else, plus it's really amusing when they finally cotton on and call you every na me under the sun ;)

Philip

[Muddymike]

I'm convinced from the last "I'm calling from Microsoft" scam PC call I answered that the well spoken, very Indian sounding lady really believed she did work for Microsoft. She was convincingly upset when after stringing he along for a while I told her she didn't and was in fact working for someone trying to steal from me.

Mike

[Tim+]

Just get yourself one of these and you'll never hear from them again.

(Just an extremely satisfied customer).

Tim

[Andy Cap]

+1

[whisky-dave]

Do you also have to subscribe to the BT blocking option hat cost about a fiver a month was the last I heard about 4 years ago. Or this is just for BT lines ?

[Tim+]

No, all you just need CLI. It really is fantastic the way it works like an invisible "bouncer" and I feel like my phone line is "mine" again, not just a potential marketing/scamming tool for others to abuse.

Much easier to set up than the old free-standing truecall unit and very good sound quality.

Tim

[Michael Chare]

I just don't have the patience to do that, as I am usually annoyed at being disturbed.

Listening to You & Your on Radio 4 they again mentioned Vodafone allowing Sims to be changed without going through proper security, which helps bank fraudsters.

So I was a bit surprised to get a call on my mobile supposedly from Vodafone, saying that they could tell me about some special offer if I answered some security questions.

Vodafone do claim to own the number that was displayed.

[Jonathan]

I do get a number of calls from withheld numbers that I do want to receive, so how does it handle them?

Jonathan

[spuorgelgoog]

"Hello, the person you are calling uses BT call guardian technology. Please state your name and press hash."

This defeats automated diallers and deters most real scan calls.

If the caller complies the handset rings and announces the call. You can then choose to accept it or reject it.

Owain

[Tim+]

Which could have been spoofed on voip.

Tim

[Tim+]

I am no more inclined to answer withheld numbers than I am to answer the doorbell to masked men but I know a few folk have to accept these for the moment. ;-)

By default, they have to announce their name and press the # key before the house phone will ring. Then you can decide whether to speak to the caller after you've heard their name. There *may* be a "bypass" number they can dial to get through but I haven't found it in the manual yet.

Personally, I think we have a public duty to not respond to numberless calls. If it's from an internal line in a business say most switchboards can present a switchboard number and not reveal an extension number if they want to.

Tim

[Tim+]

So far my experience has been that scammers NEVER give their name or proceed further. Got too many other "marks" to try and scam to waste their time on anyone with a truecall.

We have a "sentinel" wired phone in the cupboard under the stairs that is unfiltered. It lets us hear all the failed calls. Very satisfying. ;-)

Tim

[ARW]

There is probably a video on the internet of someone doing what you told them to do.

[Tim+]

Dunno about video but I've seen a picture! You do need a longer than average todger. ;-)

Tim

[Fredxxx]

You would think so, but I know of one company after some deliberation decided to go numberless. The alternative was a switchboard jammed with people phoning up to see who called them.

That then forces the company to reply automatically before any operator is involved.

[John Akers]

Pity about those who have no choice in how their work has chosen to setup their phone system.

And that can be the hospital calling to tell you about someone you know well who is dying, or the cops who are trying to tell you something that matters or even just someone who has no choice on where they are calling from when the shit has hit the fan for them etc etc etc.

[Tim+]

An the quickest way to get companies to change is to say "I can't/won't accept calls from withheld numbers". Any organisation or company that insists on withholding their number is effectively saying "We support phishing scams". In this day and age, that is unacceptable.

Hospitals can change. Our local one did. They now present a switchboard number. They were forced to by their inability to contact a large of patient who only have mobiles and wouldn't accept withheld numbers.

The police frankly are just being stupid. As I've said, inexcusable these days.

Police cell? Well, as I've said, my call blocker *does* allow withheld number callers to get through if they do as instructed. My point is that ALL businesses and organisations should be presenting a number.

Tim

[John Akers]

Doesn?t work that way with the cops, hospitals, the judicial system, etc etc etc.

Try telling that to the cops, hospitals, the judicial system, etc etc etc. Don?t be too surprised when they just make an obscene gesture in your general direction.

But it is much more difficult to get operations like that to change the way they do things.

And those who refused to answer any call which did not present their number, got to wear the fact that their relative died without them being able to have any contact with them, or they couldn?t even show up and assist the relative who needed some assistance with basic stuff like feeding the cat while they were in hospital etc.

Irrelevant when you end up with a worse result when you refused to answer the call that did not present a phone number.

It can be hard enough making the cops follow up on a problem you have reported without you not bothering to answer the call when they do try to call you and had to wear the fact that some bureaucrat had decided that their system should not present the phone number etc.

Nope, stuff as basic as someone being robbed, having no mobile anymore, having to borrow a phone to call you to assist them and having no say what so ever on how that operation has setup their phone system etc.

I was commenting only on your later silly line that no one should answer any phone call that does not present a caller ID.

Real life is more complicated than that that and how people operate has to allow for that.

[David Lang]

Our local council withhold their number.