General Chat

The last scam email I had a few days ago was about getting a covid passport and had links. It looked very genuine with all the logos etc, but I reported it anyway, just in case. Yesterday I had a txt from our surgery warning me about these emails. Remember to always report these texts and emails, it's the best way we can stop them.

This is from our Neighbourhood Alert site.

Reporting suspicious emails:

If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, you can report it by forwarding the email to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service at: [email protected]

As of 31st October 2021, the number of suspicious email reports stands at more than 8,100,000, with the removal of more than 67,000 scams and 124,000 URLs.

Thank you for your continued support.

*In a small number of cases, an email may not reach our service due to it already being widely recognised by spam detection services. The vast majority of reports do reach our system so please keep reporting any suspicious emails you receive.

Reporting suspicious text messages:

You can report suspicious text messages to your mobile network provider, for free, by forwarding the text to 7726.

If you forward a text, your provider can investigate the origin of the text and take action, if found to be malicious. If 7726 doesn’t work, you can find out how to report a text message by contacting your provider.

(On many Android devices and iPhones, pressing and holding on the message bubble should present the option to forward the message)

Daughter took a call on our house phone recently.
"Is that Mrs Xxxxxxx"
"No, who is calling please?"

He proceded to read out from his script......
"So, Mrs Xxxxxxxx.....
"No, I am not that person, as I stated at the beginning of this conversation"
"Who are you? You are an imposter! Why are you answering someone else's phone pretending to be them. You are an imposter, that's what you are ! "

And then he hung up, very irate having had to talk to an 'imposter'.

A couple of weeks ago I received a text from Monzo Bank, telling me that my new debit card was on its way, and that if I hadn't ordered one I should follow a certain link.

As I don't have an account with Monzo, I ignored it - and no card has arrived!

I'm not troubled by nuisance calls on the landline since I invested in a call-blocker phone a few years ago.
I've set it so that anyone who isn't on my "safe" list has to give their name before the call is passed on to me to decide if I want to take the call or not.
Scammers just hang up.
I can tell they've rung, because the phone rings once and then stops.

I think the last call I got was to tell me that the direct debit for my car insurance hadn’t gone through. As I don’t even have a driving license….. I hung up.

Almost every morning, about 9 am or so, someone from Amazon Prime tells me that my account needs paying.

Then about lunchtime 3 or 4 days a week someone form Visa credit card tells me that a $300 or $400 charge has been made, and I need to check whether it was me or someone else.

Very kind of them, but I have never used Amazon or Amazon Prime, and I keep a close check on my credit cards. :-D

They're all on the landline. I haven't yet had anything on the cell phone, as only about 3 people know it.

Such a nuisance, OH gets the amazon one on his mobile. I get the one about the internet being cut off. We get the odd one on the landline but for some reason they hang up on us especially when OH answers. No idea why ;-) ;-) :-D

The scammers are getting wiser over here.

As many of you know, we have area codes in front of the 7 digit phone number. In many areas including here in BC we have different area codes depending on where you live in BC.

So, 604 is the area code for the Lower Mainland for landlines, a pretty restricted area, and all calls are free within that area.

Some of the scammers are using that area code, so you think it is a local call but heaven knows where it is actually coming from!

I have just had a phone call with a london landline number saying they are from "bank security" and telling me £1000 has been withdrawn from my account and another amount via Amazon. I should press 1 to speak to an advisor. All in an amercian accent.
Was quite funny actually as i had just been checking my balance so i knew exactly what was left in it!

Naturally i just hung up.
Just to let all be aware to be on your guard.

Florence in the hebrides