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Joined: May 2011
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I bet the nigerian had a knife in his hand while he made that call also. maybe even a bomb vest.
Last edited by TheComputerLab; 22nd Dec 2011 3:30pm.
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Probably just george agadagadwengo doing hisnusual rounds
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Should this actually be real, there is no way someone on the BT helpdesk can connect / disconnect your phone at will.
Connections / disconnections are sent in update batches and are not done on an individual basis by their telephone support staff.
The only way that could have been done was by someone near to the house, fiddling round with one of those green boxes you see on street corners, or "concentrators" as they are known, and physically disconnecting the line from the PSTN.
What If There Were No Hypothetical Questions?
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BE AWARE OF THIS SCAM received a phone call from 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 to re-connect at a later date. The guy wasn't even fazed when I told him I was with Virgin Media, allegedly Virgin have to pay BT a percentage for line rental! I asked the guy's name - he gave me the very 'English' John Peacock with a very 'African' accent & phone number 0800 0800 152. Obviously the fellow realized I didn't believe 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 dis-connect 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. I dialed 1471 -number withheld! I phoned his fictitious 0800 number - not recognized! So 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 as possible know of this scam. The fact that the phone does go off would probably convince some people it's real, so please make as many friends & family aware of this. HOW IS IT DONE???? This is good but not that clever. He gave the wrong number - it should have been 0800 800 152 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. So you could almost be convinced! The sad thing is that it is so simple that it will certainly fool many. BY THE WAY this is not about getting the cash as this would not get past merchant services - it is all about getting the credit card details which will include the security number, to be used for larger purchases.
I have done this with your quote again as the point in question may well get lost along the line. This happened to me approx 18 months ago. Exactly as you have posted it. The only difference was that they didn't call back a second time. Fortunately I knew it was a scam immediately as I had paid my bill the week before. So I was not very polite. They were asking for £120 ! Once the line was cleared (about 10 mins)I immediately phoned BT and they responded by saying, that they would never make a call of such nature,it is not their policy. They continued to enquire and returned saying that no such call had been made from BT. For future reference: In certain situations if you should get a call to a LANDLINE which you are unsure about in anyway. Do NOT replace the receiver. Leave it off the hook and call either BT or Police from another phone. The call could then possibly be traced. I am not sure how it would work with mobile phones.
Last edited by granny; 10th Jan 2012 5:30pm.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
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only works on analogue lines Edited for more info. If you phone a small business, for example, then the same is true. The connection is only closed when the caller hangs up the phone. I have an ISDN2 (digital) here at home, you wouldn't be able to do it to me as I have 2 channels. i.e. when someone calls me and I'm on the phone, another handset will ring if someone calls my home number. Likewise, if someone is on the phone, I can still make a call. It is true enough what Willo says, by targeting home phone lines you are 99.9% certain to be able to do the trick. But then these chumps, if they wanted to, could do a line check to sus which type of line you have prior to calling. Also worth noting is something that Gypsy touches upon, if they are calling from a withheld number then you won't know they are calling using any form of caller ID. Anyway, it's a none event as it's unlikely to happen and the whole thing is just designed to see how far an email can go, do us all a favour and don't pass it on. It's just irritating.
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For future reference: In certain situations if you should get a call to a LANDLINE which you are unsure about in anyway. Do NOT replace the receiver. Leave it off the hook and call either BT or Police from another phone. The call could then possibly be traced. I am not sure how it would work with mobile phones.
Oh come on... please, police, someone has called me and I don't like them, could you trace the call please, I've left it off the hook. Never going to happen. Put the phone down and move on with your life.
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The only way that could have been done was by someone near to the house, fiddling round with one of those green boxes you see on street corners, or "concentrators" as they are known, and physically disconnecting the line from the PSTN.
I say analogue, you say public switched telephone network True, BT couldn't disconnect your phone from their network by clicking a button on their PC. But we're getting far too complicated for your standard wiki thread.
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I keep having to call the mechanic in to fix my computer when the screen gets covered in Tippex.
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For future reference: In certain situations if you should get a call to a LANDLINE which you are unsure about in anyway. Do NOT replace the receiver. Leave it off the hook and call either BT or Police from another phone. The call could then possibly be traced. I am not sure how it would work with mobile phones.
Oh come on... please, police, someone has called me and I don't like them, could you trace the call please, I've left it off the hook. Never going to happen. Put the phone down and move on with your life. I stated in certain situations, which could mean abusive calls to women, and yes the calls can be traced, depending on the severity, whether it's done or not.
Last edited by granny; 13th Jan 2012 5:20pm.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
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I stated in certain situations, which could mean abusive calls to women, ..Well tbh they shouldn't be on the phone in the first place unless there's one handy in the kitchen. FYI IP checks are the same, when someone says 'omg the police will track your IP!' the paperwork involved and costs assosiated with actually tracking down information on the person that was using the line at that particular time just aren't worth it except for the most serious of cases. And, sorry to say, phone scams don't fall into that category.
----- 1337
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I stated in certain situations, which could mean abusive calls to women, ..Well tbh they shouldn't be on the phone in the first place unless there's one handy in the kitchen. FYI IP checks are the same, when someone says 'omg the police will track your IP!' the paperwork involved and costs assosiated with actually tracking down information on the person that was using the line at that particular time just aren't worth it except for the most serious of cases. And, sorry to say, phone scams don't fall into that category. Sorry Exo all this has got a bit distorted. I am not for one moment sugesting that anyone should call the police for a phone scam. What I was trying to get across is that if anyone should be seriously violated by phone calls, and each individual is capable of making their own decission on that point, then that is a proceedure they could follow. Once the receiver is replaced the call cannot be traced. My daugher was held up at knife point in her bed and had all her personal items taken including her phone. Next thing the perpatrator was phoning her boyfriend. The police had the call traced and pin-pointed within 5 mins. In such circumstances, we do pay for our services from BT or any other provider and our council tax is for Police operations.
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. ~Chief Seattle
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..Well tbh they shouldn't be on the phone in the first place unless there's one handy in the kitchen. Nothing to add but that ^ made me LOL
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Had a distinctly foreign call the other day from the 'makers of my computers operating system' the usual, theres problems, need money, blah, blah. I just told them we didnt own a computer. Caller ID just said unavailable. I was tempted to keep him hanging on for ages and acting the dumb innocent pc owner with a big wallet and costing them money on their long distance call, but I had to go out there went my fun for the day.
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