Forum Topic

A new online/telephone scam

Yesterday I had a text from my bank saying that three transactions needed to be checked; two were fine and had been authorised but the other one, for an organisation I'd never heard of, had been declined. I rang the bank straight away and they cancelled the card, so no harm was done. But then this morning I received a phone call from a man saying he was from the Metropolitan Police City of London, he said that my card had been cloned and I should check my other cards; he wanted me to do it whilst he waited (he said the call was being recorded). I said I wasn't entirely happy (meaning I would never do it) with giving details over the phone to someone who had phoned me, but he assured me that he was DC Albert Morgan, Metropolitan Police City of London badge number RS250 and the crime reference was YG6967056871. I said I still wasn't happy giving details over the phone, whereupon he simply hung up. So it was an obvious scam that simply reinforces the message that you should never give security details over the phone to someone who has contacted you: I'm glad I was sufficiently alert not to give any compromising details. So be warned!

Richard Carter ● 2457d20 Comments

This Action Fraud/Met publication might've helpful but I'm not sure how recent it is:https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/fraud/met/the-little-book-of-big-scams.pdf

Michael Ixer ● 2457d

Thank you Michael.  Very useful booklet. 

Ivonne Holliday ● 2457d

My goodness, that is frightening!   So many people would have fallen for the chap's name and rank, the badge number and crime reference number!  What springs to mind is how could "they" have a crime reference number if you had not reported the crime?   Will the scams ever stop?

Ivonne Holliday ● 2457d

I keep getting Amazon ringing.

Barbara Stevens ● 2457d

...which won't be Amazon.

Freddie Francis ● 2457d

Freddie it's always a recording wanting you to press 1. So I just put the phone down.

Barbara Stevens ● 2456d

What I meant was the calls aren’t from Amazon. Very unwise to press 1. It’s possible you’ll be put on a premium call rate but it’s most likely another means by which they (criminals) steal your account details.

Freddie Francis ● 2456d

I thought the Met and City of London police were separate entities, so the guy with the complicated job title was likely to be a scamA couple of times I've had the phone call telling me I'm enrolled with Amazon Prime. I hang up, then waste time emailing Action Fraud, Amazon, and phoning my bank and my credit card company. The response from those two is yes, we know about this scam.There was a chatty piece in the Times this week from one of their journalists saying she had received the Amazon Prime phone call - and her husband nearly fell for it.Before the election I was phoned by some polling agency wanting to know how I would vote. I asked how they got my number as it's XD. The woman said they know the codes for Putney, and then the computer dials randomly. I presume the scammers adopt the same technique.I asked who was paying for the polling research. She said she couldn't tell me, so I said, then I can't tell you how I'm going to vote and hung up.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 2456d

How could they have a crime reference number? No problem: they just made one up; the man's explanation was that they had arrested two youths, though he didn't/wouldn't explain how they were caught in the first place. What made me immediately suspicious was that the man claimed to be from the Metropolitan Police City of London; as Elizabeth Balsom points out lower down the thread, they are two separate entities so I was immediately reticent to give him anything.  As to when these scams will ever stop, the answer is, not as long as there are people who are taken in; as with the Nigerian 419 scam, they'll just keep trying until they get someone who believes it, and they keep getting more sophisticated. 

Richard Carter ● 2456d

A day or two ago I had 3 similar scam attempts in a day. Supposedly BT (about to cut off my internet. Well go ahead!) and Amazon Prime (about to charge me some money, unless I stop them. Well, I don't use Prime). I assume that, if there is any major danger to me the police won't just phone, and that, if there is some danger to my account, the bank are quite capable of freezing the activity. So I don't press any buttons.And if your name is Donald Trump, and Vlad your friend phones you up, please don't press any buttons either.

David Ainsworth ● 2456d

Helo Richard,What I meant was, should you (in the general sense) not have made the report in the first place to have a crime reference number?  The fact that the chap mentioned a crime reference number would have made me suspicious! :-) :-) :-)I must admit, I read your message rather quickly and did not click on the Metropolitan Police City of London.  Do you remember the scam years ago about the Lottery?  You received an email saying that you had won the jackpot and please to contact them immediately for the funds to be credited to your account? I wonder how many people fell for it, particularly those who did not play the Lottery!

Ivonne Holliday ● 2456d

Glad I read this news article before trying to investigate whether this was a security breach, I expect someone at Samsung had a big "oh, no" moment after hitting the return key :-)https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51572775

Michael Ixer ● 2456d

Oh, dear!!!  How embarrassing!

Ivonne Holliday ● 2456d

We had this call two days ago. They hung up as soon as my wife said to them "Oh, Re-eally?"

Roy Robart ● 2456d

I like to use my landline as mobile reception is a bit rubbish in the block where I live.  But I have call recognition and ignore or suspect any calls that come through who are not friends I've programmed in.I recommend anyone who hasn't got it to have caller ID on their phone and then pretty much ignore the rest.  If you have an answerphone, they'll leave a message.  I probably sound so old fashioned to everyone who only uses mobiles, but I personally hate it if anyone unknown calls my mobile.

Bunny Payne ● 2455d

Just a mild warning about relying on caller ID: quite often, hospitals and other public services with large switchboards appear as "Unknown"...

Richard Carter ● 2455d

And Caller Id can be "spoofed" so be cautious even if the number is one you recognise. 

Michael Ixer ● 2455d

Amazon are very aware of these scam calls and have a warning message about them on their customer service number 0800 279 7234.

Sue Hammond ● 2455d

But how do we know that you are really Sue Hammond?

David Ainsworth ● 2455d

Shouldn't be too difficult.

Alexander MacLeod ● 2455d