Must be a new scam on the go, today I had a phone call, saying that I had a refund and if I didn't press 5 to speak to one of their advisers the value of the refund could go down and the nice touch is , if this refund doesn't apply to you press 9 to exit, so please be careful, If I had any refunds on the go then I would know.

Thanks dave for the warning..cheers mike.

So... what happens if you press 5 or 9 ?
you didnt say.
do you get charged and if so do you know how much?

cheers.

A phone call like that some one could connect you to some distant part of the world and have huge costs as has been done many times before best policy to ignore it.

We've been getting these almost daily for over a year. It's usually an automated messsage about PPI refunds. I've sometimes pressed '5' to continue (just to waste a bit of their time ) and it just goes through to a call centre somewhere. Never been charged for it.

The thing about the time limit before the amount goes down just sounds like a new tactic their using to hook the gullible.

I never try these numbers, as even if they don't charge you they could be harvesting your telephone number for other things, so it's just a warning, being xmas they will be trying all sorts to get your money.

Just registar for TPS on your phone if BT 0845 0700707 it is an automated service.Other providers have there own systems.
This stops most of these calls

From my experience, if you don't press any buttons it quickly disconnects as I was trying to waste some of there money, it was also for compensation I was due!!

Yay it's my turn to get the scams, just had " Microsoft is saying your computer is having problems" and can you please turn your computer on and we will fix it, took me 10 mins to find that I don't have a computer , my son must have took it away to get it repaired, leaves a nice slot for them to ring me back at a later date, oy vey.

Anonymous Call Rejection lets you stop calls from people who have withheld the number, I find this very useful on my land line!

Thanks for the info Nigel. Could be useful, but NOT at £51.60 a year, on top of the already rip-charges from BT ! BT created the problem by allowing the caller to remain anonymous, THEN they want to charge you to stop it.

What Ive noticed when these type of calls come through, is once you answer the phone, there's a short gap before the person on the person on the other end starts to speak. I usually put the phone down at this point

Keep them talking. Just for the fun of it. Had a few regarding virus on the computer and PPI - ask them lots of questions to find out where they got this information from. However, I did have a call and they knew there was an accident with details of the car number, date and type of injury - someone must have passed on the details. I was not impressed with this - just said that "someone had an accident in the car and didn't tell me!!!" - they would not reveal where they got the info from nor any people's names. Someone has breached the Data Protection.

http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/number_type.html

Register for free with the telephone preference service, you can also add mobile numbers. If you do get calls tell them you are registered with TPS and they soon scarper, unsolicited calls can result in the caller losing their licence. I've been call free for over a month now.

The problem with this is that you will also be rejecting legitimate calls. The phone system on the site where I'm based withholds the number and there's no facility for me to override this. This means if I have to try and speak someone, for example to offer or cancel an appointment at short notice, I have no way of contacting them if they have this facility enabled, which could result in a wasted journey or an urgent appointment not being given. You could argue that the system ought to be set up release the number, but then there are issues over confidentiality, as anyone dialling 1471 could return the call and find out there'd been a call from our department (we deal with extremely vulnerable people, who don't always share their problems with those around them)

We are registered with TPS, to stop getting nuisance calls but we still get them

I've been on the TPS for a number of years. It certainly filters out 99% of the Cretin calls. Sadly, it doesn't seem to stop calls from abroad. The likes of Mahatma Coat and Kneecap Patella - the Indian Carpet Salesmen always seem to get through !!

The computer scam works by them gaining remote access to your computer and showing you 'error messages' that are harmless and on practically every PC. They then remove them just like you can do yourself and ask for £500 or thereabouts. I just say I haven't got a computer and ask if they can fix the washing machine remotely. They hang up. They always say they are some Microsoft agency. read a good article recently where by chance they phoned a genuine Microsoft engineer who gave them a very hard time!

I had my number made ex-directory years ago, I am also registered with TPS. fortunate enough to get very few nuisance calls....

The callers have access to confidential information. One had the reg of the car and type of injury sustained and noted that I did not put in a claim!!! Only the Police and Insurance company knew this. Another said that I DID have a computer to delete the virus from - only Tiscalli knew this! Somewhere our information is being sold to call centres - other than boycott them, how can it be proved? The callers say they don't know how they got our information! I usually tell them that the information is wrong and to 'give me more details to clarify this' - they usually become pretty hesitant and nervous then.

I find the best way to deal with the computer virus callers is to blind them with science.Any question or answer that you give which is not in their script blows their mind.Which version of Windows do you have? Answer=glass ones, usually sends them to hell and back to start off.

Will try that one next - 'glass' windows love it!

Good idea! I have one too. I have a recording of Iam Paisley making a fire and brimstone sermon about God, the devil and damnation. When they come on line I play it to them. I put the phone on speaker and you can hear them trying to interupt sayimg 'Yes sir but do you....' while he rants on and on. They hang up when he starts to really shout.

Confidential information being passed on for money? What do you expect when all the info is processed in India?

I get text messages, saying I could be owed money, I text "STOP" to opt out. But I still get them.

That's why you keep getting them; you're telling them the number is "live".