I recently had a very unsettling experience, and I'm still not 100% sure if it was a scam or not. But I suspect that it was.
I received a phone call from a 'London Fraud Squad Police Officer' (DC Charles 782215) who informed me that a young man had been arrested in a London store trying to use a copy of my Debit Card. He had used my family name but with a different first name. He also gave my address as being his. The arrested man was described as being black, six foot two, and as having a scar on his face. The Policeman wanted to know if I recognised the description. All very bizarre.
A long phone call continued which made me suspicious, nothing seemed to add-up.
I won't go into boring details about the call, because it's irrelevant.
I was just waiting for him to ask for my card details, so I rang off. He didn't phone back.
I told him in no uncertain terms that I thought he was a scammer, and he did everything possible to assure me that he was genuine. He even made me phone 999 to make enquiries about his name and number. However, knowing that once on line numbers can be transferred, it didn't convince me.
Has anyone experienced something similar. This was a very well organised scam, and was extremely convincing. I pride myself on not being open to scams, but this was on another level. There were at least two people involved; 'bouncing off each other'.
I am now regularly checking my online bank details to make sure nothing is missing. So far, OK.
Without wishing to add to your eldest's work load/responsibilities, in future just tell anyone vaguely iffy sounding that you'll get your son [by law of nature younger than you, therefore most likely a sharper tool] will contact them. Works like a charm.
ReplyDeleteOther than that: Contact your bank, change your details - and don't let the inconsequential ruin your day/s.
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I actually dealt with it quite well, but it left me feeling very vulnerable. They were just so VERY GOOD at what they were doing.
DeleteI haven't heard about this scam but I'm not surprised and I'm not surprised it left you feeling so vulnerable. There are so many clever crooks out there. They're on the news here everyday.
ReplyDeleteI hope id react as you did . Thanks for writing this. It's another warning never to give out any details over the phone or to someone we are not sure about.
It's a bit different here. A small island. We can go down to the bank or the police station to check.
As Ursula says too, I would mention that I'd talk to my husband, brother, son.
It did upset me, simply because it took me so long to realise that it was a scam. It all sounded so plausible until he got closer to the 'crunch point'. It was only then that I realised that I was right, and it WAS a scam.
DeleteIt all sounds very dodgy to me but well done not falling for it. I would add too, that if you phone your bank subsequently, then do it on a different phone to the one that they used to call you on.
ReplyDeleteI did that soon after, but (as things are these days) I couldn't get through to a human!
DeleteWe always have to be on our guard don't we ? I always think that I won't succumb but I was caught Christmas 2023. I was asked to pay one euro import duty and, as I had bought lots of Christmas presents {even though I did think twice about it} obliged !!!. My bank rang 10 seconds later and asked if i'd made a £1.000 payment. They had been quick to intervene and I paid nothing but it's so easy to be taken in especially if you're busy. It makes you realise what a sad world we live in now. XXXX
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to think there are so many people who make a whole career out of conning people.
DeleteIt's frightening how sophisticated these scammers are these days. A far cry from the Nigerian Prince who wants your bank details so that he can deposit millions in your account, to keep it safe!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many different scams around. I'm worried about a widowed friend here, who has been approached to sell her villa. The man keeps pestering her, taking her to see new properties and calling in for coffee several times a week. In spite of her repeatedly saying she doesn't want to sell, he says that he has now put her property on the market for her, with a couple of (un-named and probably untraceable) estate agents. She's not to worry as he will sort out all the paperwork for her and oversee the sale. She just needs to pay him 10% of the sale price of her villa, upfront, to "oil to wheels"! It screams of a scam, but my friend is very sweet and doesn't believe me when I say it's a scam. I know she's being set up. She just keeps saying how nice this man is and how helpful. He's preying on her loneliness and naivity and I've tried to tell her that he's just after her money.
If I was your friend I'd go directly to the police; they'll sort him out. But as long as she doesn't sign anything, she should be OK.
DeleteThey are rife in France... so we are using our Ansaphone as a filter... with an English voice message.
ReplyDeleteAny number we know will come up with a name, or they will leave a message....
Otherwise we just get the bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bip-bips.
It is so bad, especially with auto-number generation being so easy, that the Gendarmerie for Indre-et-Loire published a list of numbers to block [just the first four or five numerals] on their Facebook page... the central office in Paris had prepared it... the Poitou-Charente gendarmerie had the same list.
It is a nasty way of extracting money.... I am now getting some of them on my 'phone, too... that's new!!
We get them a lot on our land-line in France, but they don't seem as sophisticated as they are here. We just tell them to eff-off.
DeleteWe have a lot here too, so I never answer a number I don't recognise. I just go to Google, type in the relevant number and most of the time it will tell me where it originates. 9/10 times they identify as a scam or a mobile network trying to persuade me to change providers. I've had the occasional very dubious number originating in Thailand too!
ReplyDeleteOne has to be so careful these days; scamming is a whole new industry. Mostly one can tell at once that they are scammers, but just occasionally they're very good at what they do.
DeleteWise to be skeptical.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is. Nigerian Princes are long gone, they're much more sophisticated these days.
DeleteI do miss the Nigerian Princes.
DeleteSadly, these scammers are making a good living. My landline answering system announces "spam" and the caller id shows a name/location/number. I do not pick-up the phone and scammers never leave a message. Odd messages are now coming through on my iPhone too. Those get deleted too.
ReplyDeleteMost of mine come as Email, I delete about 10 every morning.
DeleteMany years ago I bought a BT8500 Advanced Call Blocker digital cordless phone with answering machine. It was (and is) the best thing since sliced bread (so to speak 'cos I make my own bread). So for many years I never answered a spam call. About 5 years ago they stopped. The computers they use presumably recognised that they were wasting their time. Touch would I've never had one on my cellphone. Hopefully if I eventually do, I will recognise it for what it is.
ReplyDeleteI think we'll have to invest in something similar. It would save a lot of time.
DeleteWell done for hanging up on them.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they make a lot of money as there are so many people who will fall for all sorts of rubbish.
I believed him for about 5 mins. Then the questions became a bit odd and I realised what was happening.
DeleteScammers are definitely getting smarter (perhaps even more so with AI). We get them on our iPhones all the time (both email and text). I never answer a number I don't recognize. If they are legit, they will leave a message. Even the ones that come from places we are affiliated with are sometimes scams... never click on anything! If you think it might be real, call the place on your own and check (not the number they give you ). It's sad that the world has come to this.
ReplyDeleteOne has to be on one's guard at all times. How sad that it has come to this!
DeleteIt sounds like you have dodged a bullet there Crozier! Well done for being bright and wary. Personally, I think that public floggings should be reinstated for scammers and certain other criminals including tax evaders, drug barons and those who transport vulnerable asylum seekers across The English Channel aboard crude inflatable rafts.
ReplyDeleteDodged; but only just. Actually, I prefer to bring back The Stocks. Placed outside the criminals home, it would be up to his own family to look after him (if they could be bothered).
DeleteI put a message on our landline to please leave a message as we are not answering unrecognised numbers due to scams. Genuine callers leave a message scammers do not.
ReplyDeleteI think we need a different phone; something with a few extras!
DeleteSomething that no one has mentioned is contacting your bank re: the call. If your card had been compromised, the bank would have the details. If the police had investigated, they would have been asking questions about previous transactions, where, when, etc. I would have told the "Officer" to contact your bank and that you would be doing the same.
ReplyDeleteI tried to contact them, but all I got was a robotic voice asking me to choose a request. The robot didn't understand me, and we went around in circles. Totally useless.
DeleteOur bank has a specific number older people (I think over 65) to get priority in answering. I phoned them yesterday about something and they answered straight away.
DeleteI'm trying to work out if the stream of emails and calls I get trying to get me to a smart meter for utilities are all genuine are not, the calls veer more to your description.
ReplyDeleteWe get some of those too.
DeleteI no longer have a landline and find I don't need one. I've recently been the victim of another type of scam. I was attempting to book accommodation in Lisbon. Unknown to me, their site had been hijacked and I was communicating with scammers. I gave them my credit card details when requested, thinking I was only being charged a deposit of the first night's stay. Later that day I checked my bank account and found they had taken $800 ($500 for accommodation and $300 "for extra charges and taxes"). I contacted my bank by phone and was advised that the amount was pending for 3 days. I should ask for the booking to be cancelled and expect a full refund within the 3 day period. This I did, and added that the bank would refer the matter to their fraud investigators if the refund was not forthcoming. This story has a happy ending, and I did receive the refund!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds frightening. You do everything correctly (you think), then it turns out to be otherwise. These wretched people are everywhere.
DeleteI now answer a phone call with good day whom am I speaking to. Daughter says do not confirm your name, she is in cyber security If I don’t like the answer I just say good bye. My husband never gives out details and that goes back as long as I have known him. If the bank phones and they say I have a few questions to ask to confirm who I am talking to his reply how do I confirm you are from the bank. He then asks is the phone call urgent which they usually reply we cannot answer that until we confirm who you are, he then says good bye hands the phone to me and says check the bank, we now know to phone a friend first to make sure line is clear, though our daughter says they cannot stay on a cell phone we would rather be safe than sorry.
ReplyDeleteThis 'policeman' got me to call 999 to confirm who he was, which I did, but of course it was all part of the scam.
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