Another Scam

[Scorpion]

Not heard this one b4 so here goes:

> Below are details of a scam currently going the rounds. The police

have

> requested that as many people are alerted as possible. Unfortunately

it

> is

> a genuine scam.

>

> Police Report.

>

> The reason this is working so well is it plays on your good will!

>

> Picture the scene:-

>

> You are sitting at home and there is a knock at the door. On

answering it

> you are confronted by a respectable looking woman in a suit, who is

> slightly

> distressed. She explains that her car has broken down further

> down the road and she needs to contact her husband to come to her

aid.

> Is it at all possible to use your phone to call him?

>

> You allow her to use the phone, but being the suspicious type you

stand

> with her as she makes the call. She dials the number, and asks to be

put

> through to Mr Smith / Brown / Stevens (Whatever). She holds the line

for

> about thirty seconds. She continues, "In that case can you ask him

to

> leave the meeting for a minute I need to speak to him quite

urgently."

> She apologies again and explains they are getting him out of a

meeting.

>

> A couple of minutes goes by and she starts to speak to her husband.

She

> explains the situation to him, tells him what has happened to the

car,

> is annoyed because she now can't get to her meeting, and asks what

she

> should do now. She listens for a few seconds and then says, "Well as

> soon as the meeting finishes can you come to Cardiff Road /

Leicester

> Road / Surrey Street (Whatever), where the car has broken down.

Another

> few seconds go by, "OK, I'll see you in about twenty minutes then."

>

> She put the phone down, and thanks you ever so much for your kind

> assistance, even offering you a pound for your trouble, but of

course

> you decline, it's no trouble.

>

> She leaves and everything is fine.

>

> Or is it?

> The day or week before knocking on your door she set up her own

premium

> rate line with a telephone company at the cost of about £150, and

she

> has dictated that calls to that number should be charged at £50 per

> minute. She has dialled that number. The conversation she has had

with

> her "husband" is entirely fictitious, there is a pre-recorded voice

> message on the other end to give you the impression she is talking

to

> someone. She has been on the phone for about five minutes, that call

> just cost you £250, the majority of which goes into her

> pocket, and the first you know about it is when you get your bill a

month

> later.

>

> To rub a bit of salt into the wound,she hasn't even committed a

criminal

> offence. You've given her permission to use your phone. 5 occasions

in

> Luton where this has been reported in the last couple of weeks .

>

> Would anyone reading this please pass it on to friends and

colleagues

> etc.

> otherwise it could cost someone a lot of money.

>

> PC Paul Toseland

> Corby Business Anti-Crime Network Administrator

[Steve]

Must be a spanish number becasue you cannot get a premium rate number higher than £1.50 per minute.. all telecommunications is governed by ICTISS (or however you spell it)

[woggledog]

>  you are confronted by a respectable looking woman in a suit, who is

> slightly

>  distressed.

>  You've given her permission to use your phone. 5 occasions in

>  Luton where this has been reported in the last couple of weeks .

>

Yawn.... respectable woman? In Luton? You've got to be kidding right?

As Steve said, the max you can be charged for premuim rate is £1.50 and the max for any number is if you call an immarsat number

Rgds,

Paul

[MrADeveci]

This scam has been going on for almost a year now

In fact, it first started off where the woman would run into a PUB and say her car had broken down, and that she needed a phone to ring her husband, so everyone would volunteer .... and she would rack up a very big phone bil !

[danielbroad]

This scam has been going on for almost a year now 

In fact, it first started off where the woman would run into a PUB and say her car had broken down, and that she needed a phone to ring her husband, so everyone would volunteer .... and she would rack up a very big phone bil !

←

Like most of these this is an urban legend.

see snopes.com