I had one around 12 months ago, rambling on about security to our internet. I let him go on for a while them told him to go away. I gets another call immediately and he told me to go away, repeatedly. It took me by surprise, I was actually speechless, I just put the phone down.
I just put the phone down now, no words if I think it’s a scam.
Yep! Get a regular flow:-
Amazon Prime charge
Accident claim
“Domestic & General” - your washing machine warranty is expiring - my machine is 20 years old!
Windows support
Etc., etc…
Depending on my mood I play them along/laugh hysterically/just hang up.
Remember, don’t press any key they suggest, don’t phone back and don’t volunteer any information including confirming your phone number or who you are, if they ask “is that Mr, …” ask them who they are.
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If the same scammer number comes up on the caller history a couple of times I tell the phone to block it.
This is less effective when they are ghosting the number.
It is also worth checking this website to see what happens with other people, or even if it is genuine
https://who-called.co.uk/
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I had the washing machine one last week. Thought it was legit😳
Thankfully sent him packing anyway
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My elderly neighbour is all clued up, she replies to the callers by saying “could you put it in writing to my address”. She says the phone normally goes silent then.
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I had a particularly nasty one on my mobile this morning. Apparently I have been undertaking tax avoidance (I wish) and a warrant has been issued for my arrest!! I can laugh it off but it’s just not fair on the vulnerable. Probably not much help as they change numbers but avoid 020 8375 8467 if they ring.
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I had two calls claiming a warrant had been issued for my arrest on tax issues in one day recently. It sounds similar. Yes, I guess it could worry the vulnerable. It was a different number on each occasion so clearly the numbers are spoofed. It was an identical recorded message for both. Pity. If it’s a real person I normally interupt and ask - ‘can I interest you in something that involves sex and travel?’ I’m sure you can work out the correct answer…
JS
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Had a caller yesterday.Srarted off asking how I was,so I asked him how he was. He thanked me for asking as I was the only person that day who had done so. I then asked him if he was going to ask me to partake in a survey and hung up on him
Yeah, I got two of those, a couple of weeks apart and from different numbers in different towns (which would be faked of course). First said a warrant would be issued unless I followed their instructions and the follow up said it had been issued and etc etc. Nasty scam. I can’t help but feel for anyone who falls for it, both for their initial distress but also for the humiliation when they realise they’ve been robbed by con artists.
I made the mistake of putting my phone number on an online application form for insurance with a company in London. But I did say for them not to ring me. 5 minutes later the phone rang, showing my own dialling code that is only valid within a 10 mile radius of me. I answered it, thinking it must be someone I know. It was the insurance company. I told them I would not do business with someone who would effectively lie about where they were calling from.
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Perfect!
Sign up for the telephone prefrences service - it should work though I started getting the calls again after getting quotes for insurance!
The “accident” one I’ve used two replies:
- yes but it wasn’t my fault, ok so I was drunk but they shouldn’t have been walking on the road. I’m on the run/in hiding how did you know how to contact me? - Then just go with the flow with them - I like wasting their time, if I’ve time to waste.
- yes I didn’t know how to take it at first, but he’s 3 years old now and we refer to him, privately, as our wonderful accident, so glad it happened now.
AFAIK, TPS only applies to legitimate UK companies cold calling. These scam operations are offshore and have no respect for the law either.
JS
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I’ve just had a new one on the phone - The Postcode Dining Company. Apparently my postcode has come up in the draw and I’ve won. I suggested that since he had my postcode he could post my prize to me. We seemed to get cut off at that stage…
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That was a very old scam, and relied on cards having mag stripes which allowed them to be easily cloned. It wouldn’t work today with the chips embedded in our cards.
Here’s a description of how it worked back in 2008: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/delivery-courier-scam/
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Right, thanks. I had no experience of it first hand but saw it on FB and thought it might have been worth posting? 
Barrie
I had a case with HMRC very similar to those described above, where I was about to have a warrant issued for my arrest. The issue I had was that the number ID was the HMRC number (yes I speak to them alot!) so at the start of the call I was initially taken in.
It was only when the caller said I was about to be arrested, in order to wind up the pressure on me to pay, that I had a strong doubt and I asked them where I was, they must know if I’m about to be arrested.
It all started to unravel at their end and the script went to pot. When I spoke to the police and my Banks fraud dept., they both said do not trust caller ID as the scum can now replicate the correct number.
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