BT Unpaid Bill Phone Scam

[JandJC]

PLEASE PASS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS & FAMILY.

The new telephone 'scam' has arrived.

I received a call from a 'representative' of BT, informing me that he was disconnecting me because of an unpaid bill. He demanded payment immediately of £31.00, or it would be £118.00 to re-connect at a later date.

The guy wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media, allegedly VM have to pay BT a percentage for line rental!

I asked the guy's name - the very 'English' John Peacock with a very 'African' accent - & phone number - 0800 0800 152.

Obviously the fella realized I wasn't believing his story, so offered to demonstrate that he was from BT. I asked how & he told me to hang up & try phoning someone - he would disconnect my phone to prevent this.

AND HE DID!!
My phone was dead - no engaged tone, nothing - until he phoned me again.

Very pleased with himself, he asked if that was enough proof that he was with BT. I asked how the payment was to be made & he said credit card, there & then.

I said that I didn't know how he'd done it, but I had absolutely no intention of paying him, I didn't believe his name or that he worked for BT.

He hung up.
Did 1471 & phoned his fictitious 0800 number – not recognised.

I phoned the police to let them know, I wasn't the first! It's only just started apparently but it is escalating.

Their advice was to let as many people know by word of mouth of this scam. The fact that the phone does go off would probably convince some people it's real, so please let as many friends & family aware of this.

This is good but not that clever. He gave the wrong number - it should have been 0800 800152 which takes you through to BT Business. The cutting off of the line is very simple , he stays on the line with the mute button on and you can't dial out - but he can hear you trying. (This is because the person who initiates a call is the one to terminate it). When you stop trying he cuts off and immediately calls back. You could almost be convinced! The sad thing is that it is so simple that it will certainly fool the elderly and vulnerable. Obviously, if this scam is real, once they have your credit/debit card details, there is nothing to stop them cleaning out your account.

 

[David Griffiths]

It's not new - been around for a few years.

Hoax Slayer has a warning from 2009. Exactly the same numbers as your warning. Exactly the same words too, come to that.

 

[JandJC]

David,

I had a friend of my wife mention it to her on facebook, yes I looked it up on google just to make people aware that it is doing the rounds again.

Best to be forewarned as they say!!!!

 

[David Griffiths]

Stating the obvious really, but when you said "I received" "I phoned" "I asked", you didn't?

 

[vvaannmmaann]

As for him "disconnecting" the telephone........

The scammer then uses a simple trick to make the victim think that the phone has really been cut off before calling back to demand an immediate payment. The scammer ask the victim to hang up and try calling someone else but simply stays on the line which restricts outgoing calls. Because the outgoing call cannot be made, some users may then assume that their phone has really been disconnected and pay up as requested to avoid a hefty reconnection fee.

 

[HGSecurity]

Wouldn't work here - we've got 4 lines
You have to admire their tenacity for keep thinking these scams up, but you can usually spot them a mile off.

 

[mit74]

I love these posts, I still get these emails from my mother every so often.

 

[Moneyman]

Old one. I had it a year or so ago.
the latest one doing the rounds is the spoofed email with "have lost my bag at a conference in....please send cash. Ymail address instead of gmail. I have had two so far this year and one last year from three completely unconnected people.

 

[avantime]

Do they just put you on mute?

You put the phone down and pick up to ring and there's no tone.

You put the phone down - they hang up and ring you back.