Scams

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

I had an el cheapo phone line and BB contract with Shell giving a crap d/l speed (around 10 or 11mbps?), way below the National average of around 70 megs and dodgy calls and being charged the bulk of £20 monthly for the 'privilege' of having a l/l. Now I only have a BB contract with Onestream, so no more scam calls and at first, the d/l speed was up to scratch with 70+megs and cheaper than Shell. Then they thought that they could sting me for an overall 24.6% mid-contract increase. Contract renewal imminent and Onestream can go to hell for their arrogance.This year, a new supplier, 'Grain' has dug up the pavements and is now offering fibre calls and BB @ a d/l speed of hundreds of megs for a reasonable price. I'll give 'em a try Constant supplier and phone number changes seems to leave the scammers behind, very much like a change of 'puter' password which also happens frequently. 

Had a series of silly emails sometime ago, from a name who was a stranger to me so that rang alarm bells immediately. Emails asking for a quick favour. Alarm bells jangling much louder! Asking if I buy goods on Amazon? If I replied, you can bet that he would be wanting to use my account on some excuse and gain bank details. Nah! Banana boats come to mind! Reported and not had any more dopey messages. I have had some very cunning ones over time but my philosophy of, "if in doubt, chuck it out," still works best. If I want something,  I go to that business' website rather than react to messages just in case…..

John

Edited By DMB on 12/07/2023 09:14:02

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Weekly visit to local hostelry left bad taste. Two pints of beer, (one lager and one pale) £8.10, same drinks but two halves £4.75 ????? When questioned, barperson then proceeded to waffle that full pints were charged on a 'Special offer' basis but halves were charged at the "Correct" prices.

Regards Ian.

PS. MY Shell service which is supposed to give 11mogies is closer to 2 to 4.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I trust you told the bar-person that theirs is the one of the best ways to lose customers…

Once, I had a cold call from India trying to sell me a portable telephone contract that would cost more than my PAYG costs. When the chap realised he was going nowhere he transferred me to a young lady.

"Oh aye," thinks I, "The charm offensive."

I succeeded in diverting the conversation from telephones and fees, and we had a very pleasant social chat for about twenty minutes or so.

Tow or three weeks later, Angel (as she had introduced herself) called me again. It seems the secret was that I had not been rude to her, nor to her male colleague. Another purely social conversation, but I warned her to be careful as she was not paid to have friendly conversations with blokes in far-away countries, but to sell them telephone contracts.

It happened once more, then I never heard from her again. I hope her employers had not twigged what Angel had been doing, and dismissed her.

====

This was the era of cold-calling conservatory companies – many people say they used little white lies like "I live in a third-floor flat", and "You'd need talk to my landlord".

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Yes John, a bit like you, ignore them, refuse to play, go ex-directory, don't give out mobile phone number etc etc etc. Choose out of the ordinary email addresses, eg a string of words without punctuation, think of a word and change as much as possible to strange characters – there's quite lot of them – but be prepared for awkwardness when it comes to genuine people.

Must admit that still with BT and probably paying exhorbitant prices, but this new fangled idea of landlines via the internet together with loss of 3G might force a change.

Speedwise I'm supposed to be on FTTC with a minimum of 54GB – is that correct? – I think. But really not too bothered, it's plenty fast enough for me.

Ian,

Gradually, over the years have reduced alcoholic input to about zero, or maybe a half bitter shandy but probably not, but only if am out for a meal, but even that is dropping to about nil. Frankly, these days I just can't be bothered going out for expensive overpriced meals.

Sorry folks, I'm, not overwell at the moment and am spending inordinate amounts of time traipsing back & forth to various people, eg, hairdresser, podiatrist (I can't reach my toe nails), CT scans, chemotherapy clinic, oncologist, GP surgery, dentist, oncologist. Frankly, I'm bloomin' fed up! So thankfully, at least the scams appear to be muted.

Tootle pip,

Peter G. Shaw

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Nigel Graham 2 on 12/07/2023 10:57:12:

…

When the chap realised he was going nowhere he transferred me to a young lady.

"Oh aye," thinks I, "The charm offensive."

I succeeded in diverting the conversation from telephones and fees, and we had a very pleasant social chat for about twenty minutes or so.

Tow or three weeks later, Angel (as she had introduced herself) called me again. It seems the secret was that I had not been rude to her, nor to her male colleague. Another purely social conversation, but I warned her to be careful as she was not paid to have friendly conversations with blokes in far-away countries, but to sell them telephone contracts.

It happened once more, then I never heard from her again. I hope her employers had not twigged what Angel had been doing, and dismissed her.

…

No fear of 'Angel' being fired, Nigel – it was part of the con. You were being schmoozed, the idea being that you would make friends and put in a pity order.

Ten out of ten for wasting their time though! Ranting and abuse has no effect on criminals. What really hurts is stopping them from making money. If I have the time, I do my best to sound as if I'm innocently interested but not quite convinced. My record is keeping them going for well over an hour, during which time they lost money and where prevented from finding a real victim. Life's too short for marathon delays, but I often keep them dangling in anticipation for 5 to 10 minutes. Having been led up the garden path, they're often audibly frustrated when I finally say no.

No evidence it works, but I hope they might be clever enough to register me as a "time-waster". Unlikely, because they use an auto-dialler, which just ploughs through telephone numbers.

Dave

[Anonymous]

Posted by Circlip on 12/07/2023 09:28:37:

Weekly visit to local hostelry left bad taste. Two pints of beer, (one lager and one pale) £8.10, same drinks but two halves £4.75 ?????

At risk of getting myself a few rockets in difficult places, I'm not sure I see the problem. There are any number of things I buy that are relatively cheaper when purchased in quantity.

The simplest explanation in this case (for pricing purposes) is that the total price is the beer cost plus service charge. The beer is charged pro-rata but the service charge is constant no matter what the size of the beer.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

It doesn't have to be a scam to be a rip-off, BT are past masters at this sort of thing. Up to a couple of years ago I was paying around £60 for approx. 55meg BB, landline and weekend call package, but over the years they insisted I paid for 'extras' like Call Minder, call diversion and voicemail that went out with Noah's Ark. Whatever the facilities were I never used them but they were added to my account as 'compulsory extras'. (I can't recall what the actual 'products' were because they have gone now, all I recall is that they were compulsory). BT then tried to raise the price, for no extra service or any change whatsoever to around £72 per month. Yes, there have obviously been prices rises but never to this extent. When I threatened to leave, a very pleasant man told me I didn't have to have the 'compulsory extras' at all. Dear Me, whoever told you that? Errr….BT did and in writing too! Anyway, the 'compulsory extras' could be removed which would take the cost down to £50 and if I wanted to keep the landline as PAYG it would be an additional £2 per month. I never use the landline these days but because I am listed in the last printed version of the mid-Lincolnshire phone book, for a couple of quid I agreed to pay. This year BT has again put up the price to over £60, which I am am obliged to pay until next April as I am now locked into a contract but in the meantime a fibre optic company has cabled the village and offered a higher speed, plus the facility to keep the landline number, for about £40 per month, plus installation. After 46 years as a loyal Post Office Telephones, British Telecom and BT customer I can't wait to escape these bandits. Surely I cannot be alone? They will either wake up and start using fair marketing and business practices or they will lose their loyal customer base, and deservedly so.

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Nigel, I told him not to be surprised if a trading standards officer visited.

Peter G, on that reasoning If I purchased four pints the charge should be £12?

After being in the trade on two occasions, there was NEVER any justification to apply a "Service" charge.

With the Broadband suppliers, the company that is named after an unsullied young lady were told to go and procreate years ago as they kept increasing the monthly charges "To maintain the existing service" and when questioned on the validity of a so called 'Contract', was informed of the "Ts & Cs". Changing to 'Yakety Yak' originally was a fixed price for the length of the contract but they have now added the increase at a given point (Usually March) cos everyone else gets away with it. A new fibre supplier has just strung the neighbourhood with new poles and overhead 'Wires' with the promise of 'One gigglie for less than a pound a day' down to £25 for 100 moggies. Problem is, if it's more than a FIXED £20 it's too much. I don't want t'internet at the speed of the Starship Enterprise but being bludgeoned into ever advancing teknowleggy. I'm not a technophobe but 11moggies would be good IF they could guarantee that speed.

Regards Ian.

Gipsies tramps and thieves, car and double glazing salesmen AND ISPs.

Edited By Circlip on 13/07/2023 11:43:13

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Many of us no doubt have had one of these but what i find interesting this was sent to an email address I own but never been used

H

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Harry

I too received the email you show. to an email account I own, but do not use for purchases!!

Put in my trash bin,

K

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Posted by KWIL on 13/07/2023 19:21:23:

Harry

I too received the email you show. to an email account I own, but do not use for purchases!!

Put in my trash bin,

K

KWIL thanks for reply "but do not use for purchases!!" my point is that i have never used this one period, so I wondering how the scammers got it

H

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

Harry – check your PC for trojans and viruses, they may have got it direct from your machine's address book.

[Anonymous]

… or it may be more prosaic. They computer-generate combinations/permutations of names they pick up anywhere on the internet (here for instance).

So for example if they see "Harry Wilkes" here they might generate HWilkes@gmail.com (and hotmail.com and …); Wilkes@ … ; HarryW@…. etc. Most of these will go nowhere but some may hit someone.

I wouldn't over-think it.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Here’s a tricky one … I’ve received an eMail from Renishaw, asking me to confirm that I wish to continue receiving occasional eMails

Everything about it looks entirely legitimate … except that the URLs have a .net extension

So I tried typing renishaw.net into Safari and it immediately opened renishaw.com

Bewildered, I am !!

Is this something they just do for their own convenience [because they can] ?

or is there an elaborate scam lurking therein ?

Renishaw equipment is ‘desireable’ but I wouldn’t really consider it pornographic

MichaelG.

 

 

 

 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 19/07/2023 19:16:25

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

There's no reason why they can't have multiple domain name extensions and redirect them all to one website. You'd have to look them up and see if owned by the same owners.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for that pgk … but in the present scam-ridden environment, I just thought it strange for them to do so.

“ just press this button, and we will take you anywhere we choose “

MichaelG.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

9a.m.today Phone rings. Oh aye? Suspiciously early.

Long silence then I said "Hello!"

More hush then as I was about to hang up an Englishman (from the accent) started waffling something about "in your area" and some survey and something about my roof insulation….. "is that correct?"

Me; "No. Anyway, how do they know? What survey? Who are they?" (He had given some company name or other.)

This seemed to flummox him. After an awkward pause, I said,

"You don't know, do you? Good-bye!"

Then hung up immediately.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Posted by Peter Greene on 16/07/2023 17:27:30:

… or it may be more prosaic. They computer-generate combinations/permutations of names they pick up anywhere on the internet (here for instance).

So for example if they see "Harry Wilkes" here they might generate HWilkes@gmail.com (and hotmail.com and …); Wilkes@ … ; HarryW@…. etc. Most of these will go nowhere but some may hit someone.

I wouldn't over-think it.

Bob/Peter The machine which is related to the email address in question is not connected to the Internet neither is it anyway related to my name. So as you say I try not to over think it but it does intrigue me as how how they got hold of it

H

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

Latest scam.

Email supposedly from BT with pdf attached. Request to acknowledge BT address or account will be closed, or words to that effect. Knew it was scam, confirmed as it appeared on both of my BT email addresses.

[Martin King 2Participant @martinking2]

Hi All,

We often put heavier or too delicate to ship items on FaceBook MarketPlace with overall minimal fuss.

Lately we have been getting a few of these:

Szabina UlicskaJoined Facebook in 2010Szabina

Is this still available?

You sent; Yes

Szabina

Ok I'm buying On the other hand, I will make your payment via UPS EXPRESS delivery

Nearly always eastern European names offering the relevant courier to bring me cash and take the item away, sometimes offering a £20 extra to reserve the item.

Cannot quite work out their angle?

Obviously we decline their kind offer……

Cheers, Martin

 

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

If you get a spam call from one of those foreign-sounding phone-farms, try just asking them "Does your mother know what you do for a living ?" – elicits some wonderfully apoplectic responses

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Posted by Martin King 2 on 31/08/2023 11:38:04:

Szabina

Ok I'm buying On the other hand, I will make your payment via UPS EXPRESS delivery

Nearly always eastern European names offering the relevant courier to bring me cash and take the item away, sometimes offering a £20 extra to reserve the item.

Cannot quite work out their angle?

Obviously we decline their kind offer……

Cheers, Martin

 

Typically the payment method allows the money to be withdrawn after you have parted with the item. To add even more they sometimes send more funds for you to pay the courier. So you loose the item and the cash you paid the courier. Variations been going on for years even before the internet.

Robert.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

This is a first for me a +93 prefix (Afghanistan) looks like the Taliban are getting desperate

H

[Anonymous]

Posted by Bob Unitt 1 on 31/08/2023 14:00:32:

If you get a spam call from one of those foreign-sounding phone-farms, try just asking them "Does your mother know what you do for a living ?" – elicits some wonderfully apoplectic responses

 

My version is "Why don't you get a real job – instead of being a boil on the backside of humanity?".

These days though I mostly just hang up (minimum hassle path) – that's if I actually answer the phone in the first place.

Edited By Peter Greene on 31/08/2023 19:09:56

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