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More scumbaggery


IanHx

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This stuff really p***** me off. Probably most of us who are able to use this forum are sufficiently IT savvy and aware to be cautious of scams in whatever guise. But many are not - particularly the elderly, who may perhaps be in the early stages of dementia. For them the telephone is a lifeline.

 

In my mind, internet scammers are one thing - yes, they're scum, but the nature of the 'net is that it will always be this way. Any attempts to prevent are likely to have unwanted consequences which we would object to. But the phone system is another matter. The internet is optional (it is possible to live without a computer - or at least so I'm told). But it is not - in general - possible to live safely without a phone. And the phone system is not a borderless wild frontier like the 'net. The landline network is fixed, managed infrastructure - we (in the UK anyway) have to pay just to have a landline whether we use it or not. The owners of these lines should be forced to prevent spam callers by whatever means necessary. 

 

If BT (and others) were fined £1 for every spam call I received, they would be quick enough to eradicate the problem. It is their infrastructure that is being misused, and they are allowing it to happen.

 

Cheers

Colin

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I had my NI number "suspended and Law Enforcement Officers notified" three times in one day a couple of weeks ago!! It was nice of them to phone me to let me know, still waiting to be carted off to jail though.

 

Duncan B

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I don't think the internet and phone systems are quite as distinct from each other as they used to be. Calls from abroad can be made over the internet and only join the phone system for the final stage, making it very difficult for the phone companies to block them.

The solution has to be to catch and punish the scammers hard enough to make the risks outweigh the rewards. This requires international enforcement which needs to include countries that are currently uninterested in or even encouraging such schemes, which won't be at all easy. The recent case where the FBI recovered the Bitcoin ransom payment does show that there are things which can be done, so there is some hope.

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3 hours ago, Chimpion said:

I don't think the internet and phone systems are quite as distinct from each other as they used to be. Calls from abroad can be made over the internet and only join the phone system for the final stage, making it very difficult for the phone companies to block them.

The solution has to be to catch and punish the scammers hard enough to make the risks outweigh the rewards. This requires international enforcement which needs to include countries that are currently uninterested in or even encouraging such schemes, which won't be at all easy. The recent case where the FBI recovered the Bitcoin ransom payment does show that there are things which can be done, so there is some hope.

Here in the UK there was a case recently where a gang were prosecuted for one of these telephone/email scams. If I remember correctly they were passing themselves off as the Royal Mail.

 

Duncan B

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I had a call today from Talk Talk telling me there was a problem with my router.

 

Funny thing is I left Talk Talk 2 years ago!

 

I could have let him carry on a bit before telling him I’d left, but time was at a premium so I told him he was a thief and he should get lost.

 

He took the hint ....... 

 

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I am still waiting for the £399 IPhone that Amazon is supposed to be sending me. I also am waiting to hear from  HMRC about the tax fraud case against me, which given that everything I receive is taxed at source is quite interesting. 

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Got something very similar today, a supposed automated message from the government. The Irish government, apparently was concerned about the misuse of my social security card in 'North Dublin'. Apparently I should press one to avoid prosecution. 

 

I was most amused. First off, the government is and was never that efficient and in any case my card such as it is was broken in two long ago. Hardly anyone has one in this country. Plus of course being a Southside Dubliner. I haven't ventured North very much. In any case I haven't lived in Dublin in fifteen years. Which I find regrettable but does make the scam rather silly. 

Edited by noelh
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3 minutes ago, Eric Mc said:

That one had to be true. I'm a former North Dubliner and the place a den of iniquity. No self respecting South Dubliner would be caught dead north of the Liffey.

Unless you're visiting friends in Howth or heading to the airport. 😂

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Best to do that in disguise and stay quiet. You can always tell a South Dubliner because they'll be wearing poncey clothes and speaking in a weird accent - like Bob Geldof (Blackrock).

Don't be fooled by Howth. It might look posh but it's just as tough as the rest of the North Side.

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6 hours ago, Whofan said:

I had a call today from Talk Talk telling me there was a problem with my router.

 

I could have let him carry on a bit before telling him I’d left, but time was at a premium so I told him he was a thief and he should get lost.

 

I told his colleague who allegedly worked for Microsoft the same thing recently: from his reaction and tone of voice I think he was genuinely offended that I was questioning his integrity.  However when I made a similar observation to the young lady from Amazon she was far more direct and told me to "go away" in fluent and unladylike Anglo Saxon !

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HSBC have kindly notified me by text that a new device has attempted to access my Account. I wonder how much money is in this HSBC Account that I was previously unaware I had? (Being a tight fisted Scotsman I keep all my cash, all £35 of it, under my horse hair mattress).

 

Duncan B

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"Your NI number will be cancelled if you refuse to take this call... ' Good! Me and my NI number have hated each other ever since I caught it having an affair with my Wi-Fi access code! Take it and good riddance!"

 

....😬....

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I've just had an e-mail from Morrisons which had the title

 

'Morrisons S urvey: this is your Morrisons s urvey'

 

Hovering over the 'Morrisons' sender produced something like Frankfurt****.rest

 

(where **** is letters I have forgotten). I think the gaps gave me a hint that things might not quite be genuine, apart from the fact I do not use Morrisons anyway.

 

It got binned.

 

Ray

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7 hours ago, Ray S said:

I've just had an e-mail from Morrisons which had the title

 

'Morrisons S urvey: this is your Morrisons s urvey'

 

Hovering over the 'Morrisons' sender produced something like Frankfurt****.rest

 

(where **** is letters I have forgotten). I think the gaps gave me a hint that things might not quite be genuine, apart from the fact I do not use Morrisons anyway.

 

It got binned.

 

Ray

Just checked my in box and exact same email binned straight away thanks to reading your post.  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

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2 hours ago, beefy66 said:

Just checked my in box and exact same email binned straight away thanks to reading your post.  👍

 

Stay Safe

beefy

 

I am glad I was of some use today @beefy66!

 

Cheers, Ray

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One received just a short time ago, which I think is one of the most serious of late.

Its offering me a NHS Coronavirus Digital Passport

The end of the email address is cycloan.io

This is one a lot of people will fall for

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Here's a different one. I had an email from 'Airbus' the other day saying that "my presentation aircraft was ready for collection, and that they were looking forward to seeing me at the meeting". Even had what looked like a bona fide email address and Airbus directors name.

 

But with regards to phone calls, we tend to get two or three every couple of days over a week (usually beginning in 020), then nothing for two or three weeks until their automated dialler gets round to our number again. The origin of the number would I hazard to guess, not be in London or anywhere in this country. They've got the ability to make it look as though it is. We even once got a call from the same bloke three times in the same day, from three different numbers each with different std codes, and peddling a different scam each time (until I politely told him to **** off). I find the best thing to do is if you've got caller display and you don't recognise the number, don't answer it. The calls we get now are nowhere near what we used to get. Answering tells them that there's a live number at the other end.

 

Don't even get me started on ambulance chasers 🤬......no fault accident a few years back, the calls went on for months afterwards. One rang us 27 times in one day until I reported them.

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