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‘BT’ scam

Hi all,

Just thought I’d make you aware of a scam that’s my father has fallen victim too and lost £20k.

Received a phone call yesterday on the landline, the person on other end pretended to a BT Openreach employee stating that the broadband/telephone line was about to be cut off and the IP address has been compromised.

Cut a long story short, they got my old man to download a remote access app on his laptop, log on to his online banking, get an access code from his card reader, assuming setting themselves up as a payee on his account, and then withdrawing his entire bank balance to a Clydesdale bank account - probably been transferred all over the world by now.

Natwest and police are on the case, unsure what the outcome will be.

Totally shocked that my old man could fall for this trick but he isn’t particularly tech savvy, but if I can save another person falling for this then that’s great. Worrying that having worked all his life he now has £0 to his name - stupid mistake I know.

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Comments

  • I feel for him. Those of us from the older generations who find technology difficult are particularly vulnerable to this sort of exploitation.

    I hope he can recover some or all of his losses given the circumstances. If he reported it promptly then the bank should take some responsibility for not questioning such 'unusual' transactions I would have thought.

    If you're harassed with other things it is all too easy not to be as savvy as normal when confronted with such a situation.
  • edited November 2018
    Echo that, there are too many people trying to rip people off. More needs to be done to catch them and then the punishment has to be severe. Hope something can be done for him - this is very upsetting. Watched GMB this morning to see a carer who knicked up to £89k of a frail old lady, didn't even get prison!
  • Bastards. I hate scumbags like this.
  • Oh mate that's tragic. I suppose we have all been 'scammed' one way or another and as Len says, when they catch these scrotes they very rarely do hard time and of course you never get your money back (although one would hope the bank will be a little more sympathetic in this case). With all the technology we have now, why is it so difficult to catch these people?
  • addick05 said:

    Oh mate that's tragic. I suppose we have all been 'scammed' one way or another and as Len says, when they catch these scrotes they very rarely do hard time and of course you never get your money back (although one would hope the bank will be a little more sympathetic in this case). With all the technology we have now, why is it so difficult to catch these people?

    Technology to stop this stuff can only ever be reactive, sadly the scum will always start one step ahead.
  • Really sorry for your dad. My mum had the old HMRC are going to file a lawsuit against you scam pulled on her. Had she been in and pressed '1' on her keypad it would be charging her one of those super premium rates. There are some absolute scum out there preying on the vulnerable, makes me so angry.
  • Sorry to hear that. So many bastards about. Sounds like a twist on the Microsoft Scam.

    I'd love to have one of these call me.
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  • edited November 2018
    We get lots of scam attempts on our business - they are all pretty obvious, but we recently got a more refined one. We did spot it, but it should be a concern for everybody. I also got a call a year or so ago from 'Microsoft' where I was told I had a virus and they basically wanted me to give them remote access to fix. I thought that one would dupe a few older less tech savvy people.

    I think there has to be a global campaign and their punishment should be multi national too. I'd like a system where all countries pay Thailand or similar to build the prisons and give an international court jurisdiction to send these scammers there. A really strong detterent is the the best way to attack the problem.
  • I once had one of the microsoft scams call me. I was bored at the time, so I played along for a while then dismantled everything the guy was saying, fulling expecting them to hang up once it was clear they'd been rumbled, but they stayed on the line then the bloke had the cheek to offer me a job!
  • I get this BT one quite often. I always ask them what my BT account number is and they always come back that they are not the accounts dept but online technical support.

    We usually have a discussion and then they are told to go away impolitely.

    Get another one from 'BT' where its a recorded message about my internet/router asking me to press 1 to talk about this problem. I have never pressed 1, as mentioned above you probably end up on some premium rate line.
  • The Mother-in-Law was scammed by this too. Really shocking as she's usually completely clued up and would never have thought she'd have fallen victim over something like that. Fortunately, her PC hasn't been upgraded for about 10 years and despite being on the phone for over 2 hours they couldn't get what they needed.

    BT however, were absolutely disgraceful. She called them to let them know someone had called representing them. They told her it was a known scam and that to get peace of mind she should upgrade her broadband package to the more expensive product. The scam had nothing to do with her hub or WIFI. Luckily I found out before the 14 day cool off period so she could cancel, otherwise she'd have been paying £47 per month for WIFI in a flat she only lives in 2 days a week.
  • Thanks all, cracking post @TelMc32 cheers
  • Never give any information to anybody you haven't contacted. As so many companies say, they wont ring you asking for this information. It is very sad but the best advice to the vulnerable is to trust nobody!
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  • Why don;t people use Caller Display.If my phone rings and I dont know the number I let it go to answer phone. if I know the person I will answer it.
  • the sentences handed out to these scumbags are pitifully short - con people out a million get 5 years, out in 3
  • edited November 2018
    Sadly, this type of scammer seeks out the most vulnerable - lonely, old, mental health problems, possibly dementia - and then target the ones where it works once over and over again. Be aware of that. The old snail mail scammers used to have lists of targets they sold to each other internationally.
  • Had another call this morning, this time by an automated BT service. This time dad put the phone down!
  • Derek1952 said:

    Why don;t people use Caller Display.If my phone rings and I dont know the number I let it go to answer phone. if I know the person I will answer it.

    Never trust caller display. Easily got round by these scammers to make you believe the call is coming from a known number.
  • scumbags of the highest order - akin to nonces and burglers - all of them i would see the necks twisted by a noose - fuckers.

    would gladly go back to the days where people were branded so everyday folk knew exactly what type of person they are.

    am sorry to hear about your old man @iamdan
  • One we get is an e-mail sent from our company e-mail address. But it isn't of course. The scammer pretends they have hacked our e-mail and have access to our contacts, but they don't.
  • The issue is, he gave the scammers remote access, in the background they set up a payee and bang the whole lot disappeared before his eyes.

    Incredibly stupid, I gave him both barrels in the heat of the moment.
  • I once had one of the microsoft scams call me. I was bored at the time, so I played along for a while then dismantled everything the guy was saying, fulling expecting them to hang up once it was clear they'd been rumbled, but they stayed on the line then the bloke had the cheek to offer me a job!

    I have had the Microsoft scam call a couple of times. I play along with them for a while until I tell them that I have an Apple laptop.
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