Telephone Scam

[erica graham]

I'm sure no-one else will get caught out by this one but I've just had a telephone call asking me to fax our restaurant menu. I offered email, but no good. When asked for the number the reply came 070....I stopped them there as I know that this is a premium rate number. I simply said, my fax wont let me dial out to that number, and the phone went dead.

Thought I'd say something as you get the most requests this time of year for info, and someone just plugging numbers in to the fax might get cought out.

[ravelda]

Thanks for that Erica - will make sure our secretary know to look out for any scams like that!

[Infrasonic]

Anyone that does get this should report it to BT. They have people who deal with this sort of thing. So get the premium number off the caller and then hang up...

Likewise it's also illegal to send unsolicited faxes (junk) to sole traders or individuals (but not companies).

Registering with TPS/FPS etc will help get rid of a lot of Junk.

TPS click here

[SaladFingers]

Unrelated to menu requests, we've been warned not to respond to notes left by P.D.S (Parcel Delivery Service), saying 'Unable to deliver a parcel' and then requesting you to dial their number.

Apparantly you automatically get charged £21.

[Duncan]

Unrelated to menu requests, we've been warned not to respond to notes left by P.D.S (Parcel Delivery Service), saying 'Unable to deliver a parcel' and then requesting you to dial their number.

Apparantly you automatically get charged £21.

←

That one resurfaces every Christmas: it was true (although it was only £9, and even that only if you stayed on the line for the full 6 minutes of the recorded message), but the premium line involved was shut down on 29th December 2005.

The official statement from the regulator PhonepayPlus in 2007 says

A STATEMENT FROM PHONEPAYPLUS ABOUT THE CURRENT ‘POSTAL SCAM’ CHAIN EMAIL

PhonepayPlus, the phone-paid services regulator, is aware that a chain e-mail about an alleged postal scam is being circulated on the internet. The email refers to the Royal Mail, Trading Standards and ICSTIS (PhonepayPlus’ former name).

PhonepayPlus appreciates that recipients of the email may want to find out more information about the alleged scam and has therefore issued the following statement:

• The chain email refers to a service that was shut down by us in December 2005.

• We subsequently fined the company that was operating the service, Studio Telecom (based in Belize), £10,000.

• The service is NO LONGER running and has NOT been running since December 2005.

• The email refers to a £15 charge for simply being connected to a recorded message. This is NOT TRUE – a £15 connection charge does NOT exist. The service in question actually cost £1.50 per minute and lasted six minutes, making a total cost of £9 if callers stayed on the line for the full six minutes.

• You do NOT need to contact us, or the Royal Mail, about this service as it was stopped almost two years ago.

• If you receive a copy of the email warning you about the alleged scam, please do NOT forward it to others. Instead, please forward this statement from PhonepayPlus.

• Please go to www.phonepayplus.org.uk/pdfs_news/ConsumerGuide.pdf for useful information about how to recognise phone-paid services and understand what they cost, and some simple tips to help you enjoy using services with confidence.

• For more detailed information about our work, please visit www.phonepayplus.org.uk.

19 October 2007

Edit: and the pdf referenced above says:

We will, however, accept complaints about premium rate style services found to be operating on incorrect numbers. For example, some companies try to run revenue-sharing services on 070 numbers, which is not permitted.

so I think Erica should definitely contact them.

Edited October 31, 2008 by Duncan (log)