Telephone scam
Discussion
Hi guys and gals,
Just thought I would pass this on to you all, (my daughter who works in the Herriott Watt University in Edinburgh was given it by her boss), its from the Lothian and Borders Police, already had two calls myself, seem to be in an Amecian accent:-
Subject: Fw: Telephone scam warning from L&B Police Telephone Scam The Specialist Fraud Unit has been advised of a telephone scam currently in operation - this scam applies to home and work telephones, landlines and mobiles.
If you receive one of these calls, upon answering the telephones you will hear a recorded message congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to an exotic location. You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that costs approximately £20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes costing around £100.
The final part of the call involves you being asked to key in your postcode and house number, which has obvious serious consequences. After a further 2 minutes you will receive a message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners. The total bill by then will be £100.
Since the calls are originating from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to HANG UP before the message prompts you to dial 9, even safer HANG UP on any unsolicited 'free offer calls'.
There is another scam operating on mobile phones as well. A missed call comes up, the number is 0709 020 3840, the last four numbers may vary, but certainly the first four will remain the same. If you call this
number back you will be charged £50 per minute.
People have complained about their phone bills, once they have realised the cost of the call, but unfortunately as the law currently stands this practice is completely legal. So beware, do not call back numbers beginning with '0709'.
Take care you guys
Just thought I would pass this on to you all, (my daughter who works in the Herriott Watt University in Edinburgh was given it by her boss), its from the Lothian and Borders Police, already had two calls myself, seem to be in an Amecian accent:-
Subject: Fw: Telephone scam warning from L&B Police Telephone Scam The Specialist Fraud Unit has been advised of a telephone scam currently in operation - this scam applies to home and work telephones, landlines and mobiles.
If you receive one of these calls, upon answering the telephones you will hear a recorded message congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to an exotic location. You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that costs approximately £20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes costing around £100.
The final part of the call involves you being asked to key in your postcode and house number, which has obvious serious consequences. After a further 2 minutes you will receive a message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners. The total bill by then will be £100.
Since the calls are originating from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to HANG UP before the message prompts you to dial 9, even safer HANG UP on any unsolicited 'free offer calls'.
There is another scam operating on mobile phones as well. A missed call comes up, the number is 0709 020 3840, the last four numbers may vary, but certainly the first four will remain the same. If you call this
number back you will be charged £50 per minute.
People have complained about their phone bills, once they have realised the cost of the call, but unfortunately as the law currently stands this practice is completely legal. So beware, do not call back numbers beginning with '0709'.
Take care you guys
a) You can't be charged for an incoming call (reverse charges excepted)
b) Even if you could, maximum charge is £1.50/minute
There are however genuine (well, if you can call them that) marketing calls that play you a message and then 'press 9 to talk to a consultant'. These are illegal in the UK but the calls generally originate from the States so there's not a lot you can do about them. They won't - can't - charge you anything for the call but the advice to hang up immediately can't be faulted nonetheless.
Load of old pony...
Can't be bothered typing all the necessary, but the link is here... www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/mobile.asp
Key thing to remember is that there are similar scams around, but because of legislation premium rate numbers are limited to £1.50 max.
Can't be bothered typing all the necessary, but the link is here... www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/mobile.asp
Key thing to remember is that there are similar scams around, but because of legislation premium rate numbers are limited to £1.50 max.
Had a number of calls from Marks and Spencers (so it said) which consisted of a recorded voice telling me I'd won a holiday or something and to press 9 to talk to someone. No idea what would have happend as I hung up, but they tried about 10 times leaving messages on the answerphone...
We get calls all the time from one phone company or another asking us if we want a mobile phone,had as many as five in one day
i have one of those personal attack alarms that let off a very high pitch screeching noise,you'll know the rest,its also good for dirty phone calls cos i got sick of saying "is that the best you can do?"
i have one of those personal attack alarms that let off a very high pitch screeching noise,you'll know the rest,its also good for dirty phone calls cos i got sick of saying "is that the best you can do?"Lots of interesting points, all I can say is that the original message I posted came from the Borders and Lothian Police, and as it says, it originates outwith the UK so BT have little control over it.......
Take care, good to see one of you had the mobile call as well, so they do exist....
Take care, good to see one of you had the mobile call as well, so they do exist....
esselte said:
Out of interest Alex,why did you do the Mensa thing?
Thats a short question that I am going to give a longish answer to!
I was a member from an early age (as well as heavily involved in the NAGC). I later kept it going for business mostly. I also used to be a member of the Triple 9 society and some others, and I am eliible for the Mega Society et al.
Mensa is also comprised of Special Interest Groups on an incredibly wide range of subjects from Nuclear Physics to Cars to StarTrek, and from Investing to Writing to Dating. They are generally nice people and I used to be quite active in the excellent Young Mensa (up to about age 30) when living in Manchester.
I was first IQ tested when I was 4yrs old - and monitored as part of a study programme until I was 18. So have long had an association with this field of interest.
But if your question is really did I do it to prove to myself I could do it - the answer is no - although I took the test I didn't have to as I already had my IQ certified by a number of professional child psychologists. Equally, did I do it to show off - also no, as few of my friends or family are aware I am a member.
I am, however, extremely interested personally and professionally in the nature of intelligence.
alexkp - Interesting to hear about your involvement in MENSA. Don't really know much about them. When I was in my early teens it was suggested that I could look at contacting then as I'd done a few tests and came out at over 169 every time.
Would be interested to know how many members are dyslexic though?
Would be interested to know how many members are dyslexic though?
rude-boy said:
alexkp - Interesting to hear about your involvement in MENSA. Don't really know much about them. When I was in my early teens it was suggested that I could look at contacting then as I'd done a few tests and came out at over 169 every time.
Would be interested to know how many members are dyslexic though?
I am pretty sure they have a dyslexic SIG also.
My involvement right now is minimal - I get the excellent free magazine each month and the related SIG newsletters I am interested in.
The AGM's are usually good fun.
What kind of tests did you do? Where they self administered? On-line?
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Thanks for that Alex.I wasn't suggesting anything by asking.I've done a few unofficial tests and always get a reasonably high score but didn't feel comfortable with formally doing anything.Horses for courses I suppose.
>> Edited by esselte on Wednesday 8th June 16:14
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