uk con telephone calls

[luvvbuzz]

this week i have had 2 telephone calls to my home phone number that were con/fake calls. basically the phone rings, you pick it up and its a recorded message on the other end. i had heard about them and as such i was prepared for when i would get one. if you get one, you cannot cut it off just by replacing the reciever, i did that and picked it up again 5 secs after i replaced the reiever and the message was still playing. so i disconnected the phone from its socket on the wall, waited 5 seconds then tried it, and it seemded to have worked. the people that operate this stuff are based abroad, usually inm european countries, and if you dont disconnect it you can be charged £50 a minute.
i rang british telecom today to ask if they can block the calls. basically they said i could have a piece of software over my telephone line which can enable me to block number, which is free for the first month and then £8 a month thereafter. i told bt that that was no good as i had dialled 1471 to find out the callers number but it was witheld and as such, the software for £8 would be useless for me. bt was not able to trace the number of the call, so they say and said that i would have to get the police to do a trace on my phone line if i wanted to get it stopped. i find it very difficult to believe that bt cant do anything other than that, call me cynical but maybe bt dont want to try and stop this because obviously they are making alot of money out of the people that get hit by it. what these people running this scam do is very illegal and since they are based in other coutries i really dont think our police would have an awful lot of time or success in finding them and brining them to justice, as such i have now told all my friends ( all 2 of them lol) and my family that if they wish to call me on my home phone, they will eithetr have to call me on my mobile first or txt me to let me know as my home phone now remains disconnected and am only using my phone line for my broadband connection. but i am utterly disgusted with british telecom. anybody else had any of these phone calls?

[Craig Tucker]

Whats on the recorded message ?

[bugster]

the people that operate this stuff are based abroad, usually inm european countries, and if you dont disconnect it you can be charged £50 a minute.

Whoever told you that was very mistaken. There is absolutley no way you can be charged anything for receiving a call. The UK telephone system is not set up to allow this. If you are stupid enough to dial a premium rate number advertised on one of these calls then thats your problem.

[VCDHunter]

You should have asked BT that if they couldn't do it can NTL ? I don't understand how BT claim they can nothing about it and expect you to pick up the tab ?

[Will Hay]

If you are stupid enough to dial a premium rate number advertised on one of these calls then thats your problem.

Jeesh, for a moderator, tact is not your strong point, is it?
Will

[luvvbuzz]

the people that operate this stuff are based abroad, usually inm european countries, and if you dont disconnect it you can be charged £50 a minute.

Whoever told you that was very mistaken. There is absolutley no way you can be charged anything for receiving a call. The UK telephone system is not set up to allow this. If you are stupid enough to dial a premium rate number advertised on one of these calls then thats your problem.

i think you will find it is possible as it has been in the news this year quite a bit and i do not use premium rate numbers, there is technology availible that allows these people to reroute the call (kind of like reversing the charges) so that you end up paying it, so i was told. i did not listen to the message in full, just the first five seconds. it said something like we are so and so and we are calling to let you know our special offer blah blah. you can tell instantly that it is a recorded message, plus yopu cannot cut it off simply by replacing the handset, hence, you get charged for it as if it is a call you made. its a scam from europe similar to the idea of phishing websites like ebay and paypal. i have not dialled any premium rate numbers on these calls, thanks very much!

[Cobra]

I would consider that theft, and since you have alread complained to BT about these calls it is their responsibility to get it sorted. I would refuse to pay the bill if there were shenanigans like these going on.

BT are providing a service. This means that it must be secure against abuse like this. You can't be charged money for something beyond your control.

It's a bit like a handbag snatcher saying "That old lady shouldn't have been carrying it".

It's about time BT got their arses in gear and sorted out these people once and for all.

Cobra

[bugster]

i think you will find it is possible as it has been in the news this year quite a bit and i do not use premium rate numbers, there is technology availible that allows these people to reroute the call (kind of like reversing the charges) so that you end up paying it, so i was told. i did not listen to the message in full, just the first five seconds. it said something like we are so and so and we are calling to let you know our special offer blah blah. you can tell instantly that it is a recorded message, plus yopu cannot cut it off simply by replacing the handset, hence, you get charged for it as if it is a call you made. its a scam from europe similar to the idea of phishing websites like ebay and paypal. i have not dialled any premium rate numbers on these calls, thanks very much!

1st, the line about premium rate numbers was not directed at anyone in particular, it was a throwaway comment, sorry if any one took offence.

2nd, unless you can point me at an authorative source of information that says otherwise I still maintain that it is not possible to be charged for an incoming call on the UK telephone system. Unless they have hacked your local exchange no amout of re-routing is going to allow them to charge you for this. I am not denying it is a recorded message.

You can not cut it off simply by replacing the handset, thats normal telephone operation. Its called 'caller disconnect'. Try this with a friend. Call from A to B. Have B hang up and then pick up the receiver again within a few seconds. The call should still be live. There is a time limit on this, it used to be something like 3 minutes but could be shorter these days. Automatic calling equipment can detect that you have hung up and determine what to do, such as wait 30 seconds to see if you pick up again or hang up or whatever the operators want to program in to it.

Basically I think you are worried over nothing. If you are not convinced then get BT to change your number and make it ex-directory.

[Capmaster]

You should have asked BT that if they couldn't do it can NTL ? I don't understand how BT claim they can nothing about it and expect you to pick up the tab ?

Exactly. They are providing a service but if these thiefs can use the system like that it's really a shortcoming of the system and BT's responsibility to correct.

In my dial-up days I got something similar (not really). Somehow some code got loaded onto my hard disk and this "trojan" enabled my modem, dialed a number in Vanuatu (S. pacific) and actually connected for a few seconds before I got suspicious why my PC was dialing out. I disconnected immediately figuring I had caught it. When the phone bill came there was a $5 charge for that call ..even though it was no more than 1 or 2 seconds long. The phone co. was aware of the scam and they immediately reversed the charge. I guess this was like a "900" toll number and the scammers set up shop in places like Vanuatu where there are no laws. A slimy bunch they are

[bugster]

If you are stupid enough to dial a premium rate number advertised on one of these calls then thats your problem.

Jeesh, for a moderator, tact is not your strong point, is it?
Will

and your positive contribution to this thread is....

[Will Hay]

If you are stupid enough to dial a premium rate number advertised on one of these calls then thats your problem.

Jeesh, for a moderator, tact is not your strong point, is it?
Will

and your positive contribution to this thread is....

I've given it.
As a moderator you should know better.
At least your second post contributed to the topic; I'm glad I instigated it, that was my intent.

1st, the line about premium rate numbers was not directed at anyone in particular, it was a throwaway comment, sorry if any one took offence.

If you don't wish to cause offence (not that you did) or wish to direct a comment at anyone in particular then don't quote someones message and respond to it.
Tell me, as a moderator are you 'above' recourse?
Will Hay

[bugster]

As a moderator you should know better.

Why? I am only human after all.

Tell me, as a moderator are you 'above' recourse?

most definatley not, and I have never claimed to be.

[luvvbuzz]

Basically I think you are worried over nothing. If you are not convinced then get BT to change your number and make it ex-directory.

maybe your right, i might just change my number and make it ex directory just for my own piece of mind, shouldnt cost very much to do that. thanks for that.

[Will Hay]

As a moderator you should know better.

Why? I am only human after all.

Tell me, as a moderator are you 'above' recourse?

most definatley not, and I have never claimed to be.

I have a lot of time for both you and your posts, I simply thought your comment was not only unlike you but also unhelpful, and worthy of comment.
You apologised for causing any offence, so I can't have been wrong with my well-intended comment, surely?

Will Hay

[dave_beer_uk]

maybe your right, i might just change my number and make it ex directory just for my own piece of mind, shouldnt cost very much to do that. thanks for that.

It's free of charge for a renumber.

If you wanted to use the system to block calls (Chose To Refuse) it can still block calls that are withheld (but not if the number is n't given over the network).

ie if somebody simply withholds their number and calls you you can still block that caller from calling again as BT still know what the number is but for privacy reasons have to block that number if the caller requests it.

I'm also almost entirely sure that there is no way you could possibly be charged for these calls. You say it has been in the news but I have only ever seen it reported as a known hoax and such a thing seems contrary to everything I know about the UK phone system (not much granted).


Dave Beer

Eat More Brains

[gmatov]

What would be the advantage of unlisted, as here, and "ex-directory", as you put it?

They are not calling "Ralph" at 123-456-7890, they are calling 123-456-7890, they don't care who picks up the phone. They'll talk at you, try to sell you something.

Auto dialers don't say, I think I'll call John Smith, they simply dial every number possible, and if they get a pickup, go into their spiel..

Cheers,

George

[energy80s]

There has been a "holiday" scam floating about for some time in the UK. We have a notice warning of it pinned to our memo board here. Basically the call starts with a recorded message advising the caller that he/she has won an all-expenses paid trip and to press button 9 to hear further details. By pressing teh 9 button the caller is connected to a premium rate line charging £20 a minute and the message takes 13 minutes before telling the caller that they are not one of the lucky ones. However once the 9 button is pressed, the minimum charge will be 100 as the line is automatically connected for 5 minutes! As the calls originate from outside of the UK, BT cannot act on them.

I have already had two of these calls in the last month. Be warned.

[bugster]

There has been a "holiday" scam floating about for some time in the UK.

....

I have already had two of these calls in the last month. Be warned.

Its a Hoax!! Read Here

[energy80s]

There has been a "holiday" scam floating about for some time in the UK.

....

I have already had two of these calls in the last month. Be warned.

Its a Hoax!! Read Here

Seems very odd as the letter I have here is from the NI Government offices.. Also, I wouldn't trust anything that a BT official has said! And I have had two of these calls in the last 4 weeks.

[bugster]

Seems very odd as the letter I have here is from the NI Government offices.. Also, I wouldn't trust anything that a BT official has said! And I have had two of these calls in the last 4 weeks.

Goverment officers fall for hoaxes too.

The 2 calls you have had, have you listened to them all the way through, followed their directions and then seen the resulting charge on your bill?


I think the important phrase in this report

technically impossible

You are free to believe what you want, but it is a hoax.