"Virgin Media" Telephone Scam

[spruecutter96]

Hello, Folks.  

 

I just wanted to people a heads-up that that there's a very persistent and aggressive telephone-scam going on right now, involving Virgin Media customers.

 

1. You get a call from a very busy-sounding call-centre in India and the "Technical Support" staff member (or so they claim) tells you within the first ten seconds that your IP address has been hacked and there is "illegal activity" going on via your IP. They then start talking about remotely-accessing your device (big, big "red flag" here).  

 

2. I then asked them to provide me with my VM account number. To my surprise, they were able to give me a number straight away - they have obviously got wise to people asking for this, to confirm the call is genuine. I have no idea what my real VM account number might be, off the top of my head, so this sounds fairly plausible.

 

I have been called four times in two weeks by the same scammers. What really set my alarm-bell ringing was that the first two men who phoned got very angry, very quickly when I told them I was suspicious of their motivations. If they were legitimate, this is hardly professional conduct on their part, is it? I think they are making notes of my reactions and are putting scripted conversations in place to counter-act my suspicions. 

 

I was asked no security questions to confirm that I was who they thought I was (itself, very suspicious). When I phoned the VM technical helpline (ironically, also in India), I was told that they NEVER phone their customers in this situation. Instead, they would work to counter the threat from their end.   

 

On the fourth call, the woman handed me over to her "team leader" who re-assured me that they were who they said they were and that my IP address had a major issue. At that point, I hung up on her.

 

I have had these scamming-scum phone me before, but there was usually months between the calls. The fact that they're "upping their game" and phone the same people over and over shows a real change in their tactics and a much more aggressive attitude.   

 

As I'm sure folks will be aware, no company should EVER phone you up to give you bad news of this kind. Your best bet is to hang-up as soon as you hear who's calling. 

 

Chris. 

 

PS: If you fancy a laugh, go to Youtube and type in "I scammed the scammers". It is a genuine joy to hear how angry these scammers get when they finally realise that their tactics have been turned around and used on them. 

[Des]

Got that Wednesday morning from 'Mary' at Virgin Media Technical Department who sounded remarkably like 'Christine' from Talk Talk Technical Department who had called less than a minute before , let her waffle on for a few minutes while I went a bit OTT . . . . . "WOW , that sounds bad"  , "Oh my goodness what can I do" etc. etc.  . . . . .  before telling her that I wasn't actually a Virgin Media customer then she hung up without even saying goodbye . . . . . a bit rude !!!!

[spruecutter96]

I'm beginning to think that these people might be using false names when they phone you (Duh!). As a result, I want everyone to call me "Ramjeet" from now on...

 

Chris (or even better, Ramjeet). 

[Tzulscha]

 

A police whistle blown into the phone annoys the crap out of them, especially when you have been speaking very softly for a few seconds.

 

Or is that too mean?  

[ckw]

28 minutes ago, Tzulscha said:

A police whistle blown into the phone annoys the crap out of them, especially when you have been speaking very softly for a few seconds.

I have thought about that - but then wondered if that could actually damage hearing (temporarily or permanently). If so could you be done for assault?

 

Cheers

 

Colin

[Tzulscha]

7 minutes ago, ckw said:

I have thought about that - but then wondered if that could actually damage hearing (temporarily or permanently). If so could you be done for assault?

 

Cheers

 

Colin

You know, you're right.

That would be a mean thing to do to some poor schlub just trying to make a living.

 

Ask to talk to his supervisor...

[Bullbasket]

1 hour ago, ckw said:

I have thought about that - but then wondered if that could actually damage hearing (temporarily or permanently). If so could you be done for assault?

 

Cheers

 

Colin

Good luck trying sue someone for assault on another continent, especially when all they were trying to do was scam you.

 

John.

[Des]

On 7/19/2021 at 3:18 PM, ckw said:

I have thought about that - but then wondered if that could actually damage hearing (temporarily or permanently). If so could you be done for assault?

 

Recall hearing or reading about this a while back as a suggestion to dissuade nuisance callers and the reply seemed to be that most modern handsets compensate for the sudden increase in noise and dampen the sound although it maybe makes the whistler feel better.

 

No idea if that is actually the case or not although if it were possible to damage someone's hearing by doing so I am pretty sure that it would be a commonly reported occurrence.

[Mr T]

I had a call from someone about my broadband speed being slower than it should. 

Now at first sight it might seem reasonable as I have not long changed supplier. But two things might have made me a little suspicious. 

1) my broadband speed was faster than what I was expecting (I was monitoring it as change of supplier) 

2) 'Mary' didn't seem to know who she was working for, as she clearly didn't know BT has spun Openreach off as there were competition issues. I didn't enlighten her as the phone went  dead after I asked her what my speed should have been. 

My brother just asks them if their grandparents know they make a living by scamming people. Calls end remarkably quickly. 

 

[Whofan]

18 minutes ago, Mr T said:

I had a call from someone about my broadband speed being slower than it should. 

Now at first sight it might seem reasonable as I have not long changed supplier. But two things might have made me a little suspicious. 

1) my broadband speed was faster than what I was expecting (I was monitoring it as change of supplier) 

2) 'Mary' didn't seem to know who she was working for, as she clearly didn't know BT has spun Openreach off as there were competition issues. I didn't enlighten her as the phone went  dead after I asked her what my speed should have been. 

My brother just asks them if their grandparents know they make a living by scamming people. Calls end remarkably quickly. 

 

You raise two points here;

 

Firstly, I've had scam calls after changes like supplier, or contract terms: my conclusion is it's likely to be current staff of the new people trying to make a bit on the side.

 

Secondly, your brother is a man after my own heart! I often adopt a sad tone, and say do your parents and grandparents know you're a thief?

 

The reactions range from an outraged "I'm not!" to slamming the phone down.

 

I know they just break the connection, but I like to think of an outraged scammer slamming the phone down!!

 

[Graham Boak]

Unfortunately all the ones we get nowadays are recorded messages, or I'd love to try that.

[bentwaters81tfw]

A friend had 2 calls from sc'Amazon' today, about refunds. He already stopped buying from them after setting him up for Prime without permission.

Scammers want your bank details to 'refund' you.

[Ed Russell]

16 hours ago, Whofan said:

I often adopt a sad tone, and say do your parents and grandparents know you're a thief?

If I am in the mood I spin them out as long as possible then offer them a much better remunerated and more worthwhile career cleaning my extensive network of public lavatories. It's a shame they are nearly all male at the moment - the ladies are much more fun.😄

[AliGauld]

I usually drag the conversation on for as long as possible before advising them that I'm using Mac Os/Linux or Windows depending on their tack.

The last one I had on the phone for about 20 minutes trying to explain to this computer illiterate just how to let them in when I mentioned that I didn't have windows but was running a Mac.

At that point she became extremely  angry and repeatedly accused me of Oedipal relations or words to that effect until she cut me off. I did chuckle a bit.

 

Cheers,

Alistair