Scam Phone Call

[237SJ]

This morning I had the usual "I`m calling from Windows Service Centre" type call on my ex directory land line. I have had them before but this person (West African accent) asked for me by name and quoted my bt email address. How would they have obtained so many details? I`m presuming they must have hacked an email account of someone that I have contacted in the past but I can't think of anyone who I would have given all of those details to.

[Jackdaw33]

Unless they've hacked your account. Mine are usually Asians who begin by saying, "I'm calling from Microsoft, am I speaking to Mr Jackdaw?", to which I reply, "yes, but not for very long".

[237SJ]

I can't see how they would have got my landline number from my email account though

[Guilbert53]

Many of these large companies have outsourced their IT to India and so on. That means all the customer data is stored on computers in India. I am sure it is very easy for an Indian IT support person to make a copy of this customer database and sell it to the highest bidder.

[Bazile]

I'm impressed that you were able to identify a 'West' African accent.
What does it sound like ?

[237SJ]

Bazile - it sounds like a West African accent and I should know as I have been there enough!

[Tuvok]

Get yourself the BT phone with built in Call Guard/True Call

I've only ever had one person come through on it - told him where to go - and that I'm TPS registered. Then I blocked his number!

[Buenchico]

It's unlikely that an email account was hacked. It's far more likely that the information was obtained by hacking data from a company that you've traded with (or even bought from them, if it was a rather dodgy trader). After all, most people you send emails to probably won't have your landline phone number, whereas traders often ask for a contact phone number, so your name, email address and phone number will all be stored in the same place on their servers.

[Peter Pedant]

Oh I usually say - No I am Mr Pedant the housekeeper....

There was one where I got sucked into the spammer who takes over the computer -
and after using my keyboard as tho it were a telephone key pad - ( can you see the windows sign bottom left hand corner - Ans- no I can only see a hash sign - musical sharp sign you know one of them )
I cdnt resist - Oh ! do I have to turn my computer on ?

the pundits do NOT recommend this

[Peter Pedant]

// 'West' African accent. what does it sound like// Baz

they're not all the same you know ! - I only know jamaican and guyanian because of some of my relations. I was amazed to learn that de west africarn Londarn street accent is learnt - in London ! yeah man wot wiv dat den?
( and is not in any way immigrant because the teenage kids arent erm immigrant)

[Buenchico]

It might be worse. Callers could have your phone number linked to someone else, whom they regard as a good target for sales calls.

I've had my current mobile number for about 15 years but I keep getting calls for 'Norman Hobbs' and 'Debbie England', whom I've never heard of. They always come from (different) Manchester numbers and the callers always promise to remove my number from their system but they've carried on plaguing me with calls for one and half decades anyway. (I suspect that Debbie England might be the person who had my phone number before me, and that Norman Hobbs might be the guy who phoned me not long after I'd acquired the number, accusing me of nicking his girlfriend's phone and telling me that he knew where I lived and exactly what he planned to do to me!)

[melv16]

I got one this morning purporting to be from BT. She said she was called Jenny in a strong Asian accent. Soon rang off after my excellent chicken impression :-)

[ToraToraTora]

email address are routinely harvested because people will insist on using the to/cc boxes hence everyone is at the mercy of one hacker, use BCC only.

[johnny37]

have a look at the bt guardian call blocking system. i wont go in to detail here but its briliant. no more nuisance calls at all

[Jackdaw33]

I agree with Johnny. I've got a BT 8600 and it's brilliant. I checked my calls list the other day and I had about 30 'international'. The phone doesn't even ring, it just tells the caller to hang up and if he doesn't the machine will do it for him.

[Tilly2]

...and I agree with Jackdaw.

[david small]

Love it melv16. Or, maybe a coughing fit....really loud into the phone.