Scam Alert!

[Boomer54]

I like to do my, ' my name is Bond, James Bond, licensed to thrill'. For some reason they tend to hangup.

[RONNIE W HODGEKINSON]

On 7/23/2023 at 12:39 PM, LenT said:

I’m sure most of us are fairly scam savvy.

If I can waste a scammer’s time and have them hang up on me in fury, then I feel my day has not been in vain.  But this week I was reminded how easily anyone can fall prey.

We have a lovely lady who gardens for us.  I noticed that instead of working she was standing in our hall using our phone.  I was informed by MrsT that she (our gardener) had just been called by HMRC on her mobile to demand payment of the £900 she owed.

Apparently she had had recent correspondence with them over a similar claimed nonpayment, only to point out at that time that she had in fact paid it some weeks earlier - as indeed proved to be the case.  This caller claimed there was no record of that payment, so she would have to settle it now and it would be refunded if she was correct.

So she downloaded some software onto her cellphone so that she could be guided through the process!  The caller suggested that she could use her phone now to check with her Bank (for some reason) and gave her a number she recognised as being her Bank’s.

Having finally completed her call, she then reflected on what had happened and used our phone to call her Bank.  They confirmed that the sum had left her account - and that it was a scam!  They are looking into it to see if they are willing to refund her loss.

I am furious because had I heard what was going on, I would have intervened immediately.  Our lady is not especially gullible, but she was caught at a time when she had had (written) dealings with the HMRC over alleged nonpayment.  It seems that it is not widely enough known that:

a) HMRC will rarely call anyone direct.  They invariably prefer to write.

b) They will NEVER demand immediate settlement of anything over the phone.

c). They will NEVER demand Bank Account details or passwords - or insist on the downloading of software.

d)  These rules also apply to all Banks and financial institutions that most people deal with.

If you know anyone who you think might be vulnerable to this sort of pressured scam, make sure they’re clear about these simple facts.  Because it seems that these kind of scams are on the increase.

Great Advice Len Sadly we live in a Society Where a Minority of Individuals want to scam people out of there hard earned Money for there own Gratification And Greed....The reality is That this Scenario has been going on Since the beginning of Time..  So Sad.!!!!

[Phil xxkr]

2 hours ago, Winston said:

I don’t think that they necessarily knew, it’s a scatter gun approach, if they call enough people, some will have current dealings with HMRC.

pits like if you get an email from the bank and you don’t bank with them you know it’s a scam and ignore it, but if you happen to bank with them and have current dealings you can get drawn in.

the answer is never respond to anything, but call or email on a different device to contact details looked up separately, and still take care

I use duckduckgo.com, have done for ages. They recently offered a beta email tracker cover via a proxy email address. So when you are asked for an email addy you can give them a fully protected one. Great stuff! 

[Boomer54]

26 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

I use duckduckgo.com, have done for ages. They recently offered a beta email tracker cover via a proxy email address. So when you are asked for an email addy you can give them a fully protected one. Great stuff! 

Really good catch. I must have been asleep not to know about this. Anyway, all done now. Thanks a lot.

[Phil xxkr]

21 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

Really good catch. I must have been asleep not to know about this. Anyway, all done now. Thanks a lot.

👍

[Bluemarlin]

4 hours ago, RONNIE W HODGEKINSON said:

Great Advice Len Sadly we live in a Society Where a Minority of Individuals want to scam people out of there hard earned Money for there own Gratification And Greed....The reality is That this Scenario has been going on Since the beginning of Time..  So Sad.!!!!

Indeed. I believe they used call them tithes 🙂

[LenT]

2 hours ago, Bluemarlin said:

Indeed. I believe they used call them tithes 🙂

I think our village has only recently stopped paying Danegeld!

[Boomer54]

33 minutes ago, LenT said:

I think our village has only recently stopped paying Danegeld!

Olaf will be right with you soon as he is finished with pillaging your neighbours.

[dutchie01]