When you take telephone
calls...
There are a number of telephone based
scams which are aimed at either trying to get you to call a premium
rate number or to pass on personal information such as bank account
or credit card details.
Telephone Holiday
Offer
You are rung out of the blue by a company
stating that you have won the opportunity to buy a holiday in
Florida or some other exotic destination at a cut price rate. They
ask for your bank account or credit card details. If you provide
these details, the money is taken from your account. You are then
sent the details of the holiday only to find out that you still
have to pay for the flights with only the accommodation being free.
In addition the “free” accommodation is often in a timeshare resort
and dependant on you attending a compulsory timeshare
presentation.
Trading Standards advise you not to agree
to holiday contracts via unsolicited phone calls unless you have
already seen in writing and understand the details of what the
holiday includes.
“I have found a buyer for your
car!”
You have recently put up an advert for
your car. Someone rings you out of the blue claiming to have found
a buyer for you. They will put the two of you in touch for a fee.
After you part with the money, no buyer contacts you. Always
consider in such circumstances why the mysterious buyer is not
contacting you directly.
Telephone Share
Sales
You are telephoned by a company that is
very persistent in wanting you to purchase shares which they assure
you will be an amazing investment. This scam is known as “the
boiler room” and involves using high pressure sales tactics to
persuade you to part with large amounts of money for shares of
little or no value. The companies in question are based in another
country. The company often disappears overnight and you won’t see
your money or shares again.
Trading Standards suggest that if you do
wish to purchase shares you do it via a reputable broker who does
not contact you through an unsolicited telephone call.
Salesmen may claim to guarantee sales
verbally and then send through written terms and conditions in
which almost nothing is guaranteed and it is entirely up to the
“buyer” whether they contact you or not.
About Overseas and other Lottery
Phone Scams?
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is
urging people not to respond to telephone calls asking them to send
money to claim ‘winnings’ from overseas lottery programmes.
The scam starts when people respond to
mailings, e-mails or telephone calls telling them they are being
entered in a national lottery or some other prize draw, often from
Canada, Australia or Spain. They then receive a phone call
congratulating them on winning the ‘big prize’. However, before
they can claim the prize, victims are told they must send money to
pay for taxes and processing fees. Often these calls are repeated
and further sums are requested.
UK consumers have lost thousands of
pounds through such schemes. The prize doesn’t exist, and they
never receive any winnings in return for their cash. Anybody can
receive an unsolicited call but some people are more at risk, with
over 80 per cent of those affected aged more than 65 years. In many
cases the caller tries to befriend the victim showing an interest
in their family and friends; they may also pose as a government
official, customs officer or lawyer.
These scams usually ask for personal
details - full name, date of birth, next of kin, bank account - and
once you have given these they will ask for a substantial amount to
“claim” your prize, to “register” and to pay “taxes”. DON’T
REPLY!
If you have lost money and become a
victim of an overseas scam, the oft would like to hear from you.
Contact them by calling
0845 722 4499
Or you can report the matter to Consumer
Direct.
Prize Notifications via
Mobile
Phones - SMS
Messages
You receive a text message which implies
a cash prize has been won, but asks that a premium rate number (09)
is called to claim it.
Calls usually cost £1.50 per minute and
you will have to listen for several minutes.
The likely outcome of your call is a low
value prize or cash amount far inferior to the one expected,
vouchers for which more money must be paid in order to redeem them
or simply nothing at all.
“Phishing”
You may receive a telephone call or an
e-mail from “your bank”, asking you to confirm your account details
either by a return e-mail or by directing you to an official
looking website for you to enter your details.
Real banks do not contact people in this
way.
If you did enter details this would be
used by the scammers to drain money from your account.
This e-mail is sent out to hundreds of
people in the hope that one will think it is their real bank and
bite.
In a recent variation on this some e-Bay
customers have been contacted with similar messages supposedly from
e-Bay. e-Bay has confirmed that they do not send such
e-mails.
General sales and marketing
calls
You can reduce the amount of unwanted
phone calls by registering with the telephone preference service
(TPS). You can do this by ringing them on 0845 0700707 or by using
their website registration form found at www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps
By registering with the TPS it becomes a
legal requirement that companies do not make unsolicited sales and
marketing telephone calls to your number.
The service becomes active after 28 days.
Any company which does not comply with the requirements should be
reported to the Information Commissioners Office on 01625
545745
You can also register your mobile
telephone with the TPS.
Silent Calls
You may receive this type of call from
time to time.
Most silent calls are generated by
automated dialling systems and are used by call centres for
telemarketing, market research, debt collection and other
purposes.
Ofcom is the regulator for UK
telecommunications. It is able to take action in the case of a
network or service being misused and causing unnecessary annoyance,
inconvenience or anxiety to another person.
Ofcom has set out a number of rules for
organisations using automated calling systems, including the need
to carry a recorded information message which identifies the source
of the call and Calling Line Identification which allows people to
dial 1471 and access the telephone number of the caller. By calling
the number provided you should be able to remove your number from
the automated system.
If you continue to receive silent or
abandoned calls and your network or service provider is unable to
assist, you can contact Ofcom’s Contact Centre to register a
complaint on
020 7981 3040
or go to
www.ofcom.org.uk
Say ‘no thank you’ and hang up
if:
• The company phones you out of the
blue.
• You’re asked to part with money in
advance.
• They use high pressure sales tactics to
persuade you to enter into a contract. You can help reduce the
number of telephone calls you receive by registering with the
telephone preference service (TPS).
You can do this by calling them on
0845 0700 707
or filling in the online registration
form at
www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/
