The ongoing “this is BT / TalkTalk / Microsoft – there is a problem with your router” scam has taken a new twist this week. Some of the banks are now – finally – becoming aware of this, and are logging transactions (especially those over £10,000) as potentially suspicious. Once the flag is raised at the bank, they will try to contact you to find out if the transaction is genuine. As the person being scammed is usually on the phone to the thieves, the next point of contact is via a mobile. The robbers are now aware of this too, and their “advice” is to please switch off your mobile phone as it is causing interference to your router. This is a nasty twist, as not only can the victim then not be contacted, they also can’t ring a third party if they are suspicious.
We had a client on the ‘phone earlier today – they were scammed out of a lot of money last year by falling for the “this is BT” hoax call. After intervention by the Banking Ombudsman, they are going to receive a full refund from the bank, who initially refused to help.
We had a client on the ‘phone earlier today — they were scammed out of a lot of money last year by falling for the this is BT†hoax call. After intervention by the Banking Ombudsman, they are going to receive a full refund from the bank, who initially refused to help.
