THREE calls yesterday wanting to ask questions about my "customer preferences" - next time i'm gonna say "Men with handle-bar moustache"
@Saint posted:THREE calls yesterday wanting to ask questions about my "customer preferences" - next time i'm gonna say "Men with handle-bar moustache"
I never answer questions when I get one of those "survey" phone calls, and don't let the caller get to even ask a question. The reason is that the caller is ringing on behalf of businesses to collect data to pass back to those businesses so that they decide who to contact direct,
So if you start answering their questions you'll get inundated with calls from other businesses.
My phone number is registered with TPS. If you start answering questions, then you've effectively given permission for the other businesses to contact you even though you're registered.
@Baz posted:I just had the lottery scam phonecall!
By the way , Panorama tonight is about scam influencers I think .
re that phone call
There's an article on the BBC site about that Panorama programme:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58223499
@El Loro posted:
There's an article on the BBC site about that Panorama programme:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58223499
@El Loro posted:
There's an article on the BBC site about that Panorama programme:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58223499
Just been reading it. What sort of perverted joy do they get from it?
The Postcode Lottery scammers have rung me again. This time they said I had won a discount card - I ended the call at that point as my suggested response above wouldn't have worked.
Found this on the Trustpilot website:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/revi...w.supercardblack.com
@El Loro posted:The Postcode Lottery scammers have rung me again. This time they said I had won a discount card - I ended the call at that point as my suggested response above wouldn't have worked.
Found this on the Trustpilot website:
https://uk.trustpilot.com/revi...w.supercardblack.com
The alert at the top of that page is very telling...
"Warning! Weâve detected misuse on this page
Weâve detected a number of fake reviews for this company. Donât worry, weâve removed them.
We take the integrity of our platform very seriously, and when we uncover misuse, we put a stop to it."
We take the integrity of our platform very seriously, and when we uncover misuse, we put a stop to it."
I'm not really familiar with Trustpilot, so don't know how common that sort of thing is there, but still...
@Eugene's Lair posted:The alert at the top of that page is very telling...
"Warning! Weâve detected misuse on this page
Weâve detected a number of fake reviews for this company. Donât worry, weâve removed them.
We take the integrity of our platform very seriously, and when we uncover misuse, we put a stop to it."I'm not really familiar with Trustpilot, so don't know how common that sort of thing is there, but still...
It sounds as if Trustpilot had identified suspicious reviews and had removed them. What we don't know is if those reviews were positive or negative,
@El Loro posted:It sounds as if Trustpilot had identified suspicious reviews and had removed them. What we don't know is if those reviews were positive or negative,
Would it matter though? If they were suspicious/incorrect then they would be giving an incorrect impression, good OR bad.
Also had someone supposedly from Amazon ringing me about a phone I had ordered and they were wanting me to check my emails about this. No such emails.
The scammer might have used an old email address I used to have which ceased years ago but they wouldn't know that. They were wanting me to click on a link in that email which would have taken me to a fraudulent site or something.
Also had an email the other day which had gone into the junk folder. Apparently they had put $45 million in a ATM card for me to access and had sent it to me via DHL. But there was a $35 charge to pay. The likelihood of that being genuine is about one in a googolplex
A googolplex is 10 to the power of (10 to the power of 100). To write it out in full would take far longer than the age of the universe.
New hotline number for reporting financial scams as they happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58722201
159 to be automatically connected to your bank's fraud prevention service,
However, not all banks and building societies are signed up.
The following banks are part of it:
Barclays
Lloyds (including Halifax and Bank of Scotland)
NatWest (including Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank)
Santander
Starling Bank
TSB will not join until January.
More info on 159:
https://stopscamsuk.org.uk/159
@El Loro posted:New hotline number for reporting financial scams as they happen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58722201
159 to be automatically connected to yourbank's fraud prevention service,
However, not all banks and building societies are signed up.The following banks are part of it:
Barclays
Lloyds (including Halifax and Bank of Scotland)
NatWest (including Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank)
Santander
Starling Bank
TSB will not join until January.
Thanks El 
I don't usually look at Mr Fluffy Thing's e-mail, but with him in hospital I'm checking for anything that needs attention that can't wait 'til he's home again. It's chock-a-block with scam e-mails!
There's one wanting him to 'just click the link' to reactivate something - which he doesn't actually have.
Another to renew his Macafee subscription - again he doesn't have one.
And regular e-mails reporting on the performance of his Bitcoin account - a third thing he doesn't have!
@Extremely Fluffy Fluffy Thing posted:I don't usually look at Mr Fluffy Thing's e-mail, but with him in hospital I'm checking for anything that needs attention that can't wait 'til he's home again. It's chock-a-block with scam e-mails!
They're a bloody nuisance Fluffy.....Just as well you know what you are looking for 
Sorry to hear Mr Fluffy is in hospital....a speedy recovery I hope
@Extremely Fluffy Fluffy Thing posted:I don't usually look at Mr Fluffy Thing's e-mail, but with him in hospital I'm checking for anything that needs attention that can't wait 'til he's home again. It's chock-a-block with scam e-mails!
There's one wanting him to 'just click the link' to reactivate something - which he doesn't actually have.
Another to renew his Macafee subscription - again he doesn't have one.
And regular e-mails reporting on the performance of his Bitcoin account - a third thing he doesn't have!
Thanks Slim, he has an op. on Friday and he's just told me that HE'S just been told that (all going well) there's a possibility of being discharged the following Wednesday, but I believe the full recuperation can take weeks, or even months!
@Extremely Fluffy Fluffy Thing posted:Thanks Slim, he has an op. on Friday and he's just told me that HE'S just been told that (all going well) there's a possibility of being discharged the following Wednesday, but I believe the full recuperation can take weeks, or even months!
Awww poor man...hospitals are horrid places.
The sooner he can be home for you see he is cared for, the better.
Will you manage okay?
@slimfern posted:
Will you manage okay?
He'll probably drive me round the bend (a bit mote than usual) but we should be ok!
@Extremely Fluffy Fluffy Thing posted:He'll probably drive me round the bend (a bit mote than usual) but we should be ok!
Cool
@Extremely Fluffy Fluffy Thing posted:Thanks Slim, he has an op. on Friday and he's just told me that HE'S just been told that (all going well) there's a possibility of being discharged the following Wednesday, but I believe the full recuperation can take weeks, or even months!
Wow âĶâĶwell at least he might be at home EFFT âĶ.thatâs a bit better than you were thinking in the Scd thread on Saturday
BBC news article about the number of people in this country who have received scam text messages or phone calls during the summer - nearly 45 million:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58982233
It mentions that UK residents who believe they have been targeted, or are the victim of a scam, can report a text message by forwarding it to 7726 - the numbers on the keypad that have the letters for spam on them. However, Ofcom found that 79% of mobile phone users were unaware of that service.
@El Loro posted:BBC news article about the number of people in this country who have received scam text messages or phone calls during the summer - nearly 45 million:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58982233It mentions that UK residents who believe they have been targeted, or are the victim of a scam, can report a text message by forwarding it to 7726 - the numbers on the keypad that have the letters for spam on them. However, Ofcom found that 79% of mobile phone users were unaware of that service.
Don't know if it's coincidence, "clustering" or what, but I've seen a significant increase in email scams recently. At the start of the week I got my first "419" scam in ages (oddly claiming to be from Greece), and yesterday I discovered I'd won a lottery in the US... 
@Eugene's Lair posted:Don't know if it's coincidence, "clustering" or what, but I've seen a significant increase in email scams recently. At the start of the week I got my first "419" scam in ages (oddly claiming to be from Greece), and yesterday I discovered I'd won a lottery in the US...
I haven't had one of those for years. I did get one about a "relative" who had died in a place crash somewhere in China and his "attorney" was in charge of disposing of over a million dollars which had been passed to him but was having to contact me in secret as his life would be in danger from the local authorities. That was a known scam at the time and I knew that there was no way in which this was genuine.
@El Loro posted:I haven't had one of those for years. I did get one about a "relative" who had died in a place crash somewhere in China and his "attorney" was in charge of disposing of over a million dollars which had been passed to him but was having to contact me in secret as his life would be in danger from the local authorities. That was a known scam at the time and I knew that there was no way in which this was genuine.
LOL my friend got this one and called me sobbing, really sobbing - a quick check of his name and the bubble was burst 
Poor soul
Amazon mystery parcel scam: More than a million people may be victims of âbrushingâ
More than a million households in the UK may have fallen victim to a scam known as âbrushingâ, in which people receive parcels they did not order.
Growing numbers of people have reported receiving unsolicited Amazon packages, which arrive with no return address.
The parcels have included items such as magnetic eyelashes, childrenâs toys, Bluetooth accessories, iPhone cases and medical gloves.
Now consumer group Which? has said the mail-outs are part of a ruse in which third-party sellers from overseas are attempting to boost their standing on Amazonâs ultra-competitive search ranking system.
The sellers send out the unwanted product and log the item as a genuine purchase, because the more transactions they appear to make, the higher they rise up the ratings.
But while the scam does not appear to cost recipients anything, it does raise questions about how their personal details were found.
There are also concerns over the fact that sending out hundreds of thousands of unwanted consumer goods will have considerable environmental implications.