Mobile Phone Scam
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Mobile Phone Scam
Recieved this by e-mail,
Not really relevant to flying but could cost someone what could be a couple of hours flying!
Moderators can Feel free to delete/move it if you don't think it should be on here.
Not really relevant to flying but could cost someone what could be a couple of hours flying!
Moderators can Feel free to delete/move it if you don't think it should be on here.
Dear all
I have received an email from the Local Police regarding a recent scam which has been confirmed as genuine. Please see the message below and follow their advice.
Kind regards
Home/Work Phones (including mobiles)
Please be advised that the warning below has been confirmed by O2 as genuine - BT confirms that they are aware of the details and are investigating.
The scam relates to home and/or work phones (including mobiles). The scenario is:- Your phone rings and you receive a recorded message;
"Congratulations. We are calling to advise you that you have won an all expenses paid trip to an exotic destination. Please press 9 now to hear further details."
If you press 9, you'll be connected to a premium line that bills in the region of £20 per minute. If you press 9 and connect, even if you disconnect immediately, the other end will stay connected for a minimum of 5 minutes - at a cost to you of £100 - the message lasts for 11 minutes. The final part of the call asks you to key in your postcode and house number, and then, after a wait of a further two minutes, responds with the message; "Sorry, you are not one of the lucky winners." and disconnects, adding a further £260 to your bill!
Unfortunately the calls are originating from outside the U.K. and as such BT and other providers are relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to hang up before the message prompts you to press 9.
I have received an email from the Local Police regarding a recent scam which has been confirmed as genuine. Please see the message below and follow their advice.
Kind regards
Home/Work Phones (including mobiles)
Please be advised that the warning below has been confirmed by O2 as genuine - BT confirms that they are aware of the details and are investigating.
The scam relates to home and/or work phones (including mobiles). The scenario is:- Your phone rings and you receive a recorded message;
"Congratulations. We are calling to advise you that you have won an all expenses paid trip to an exotic destination. Please press 9 now to hear further details."
If you press 9, you'll be connected to a premium line that bills in the region of £20 per minute. If you press 9 and connect, even if you disconnect immediately, the other end will stay connected for a minimum of 5 minutes - at a cost to you of £100 - the message lasts for 11 minutes. The final part of the call asks you to key in your postcode and house number, and then, after a wait of a further two minutes, responds with the message; "Sorry, you are not one of the lucky winners." and disconnects, adding a further £260 to your bill!
Unfortunately the calls are originating from outside the U.K. and as such BT and other providers are relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to hang up before the message prompts you to press 9.
Why do it if it's not fun?
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Hmm - no date, the article mentions a big-name company (O2) but doesn't provide a link to a website... this has all the signs of being fake. A quick check on the O2 website reveals no details of the supposed scam. I'm not an expert in mobile phones, but I doubt if what they're describing is even possible.
FFF
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FFF
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Join Date: Sep 2002
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This was posted on the intranet at work, and quickly taken down again - it is another hoax.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34389.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/34389.html
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Looking back through the forwards it was first sent yesterday.
May / may not be a fake. Just thought it could be worth a mention.
As you say its looking more like a fake if its not on the website.
[Edit: Yeah i got it in work. Probably best deleting it, soz for hassle]
May / may not be a fake. Just thought it could be worth a mention.
As you say its looking more like a fake if its not on the website.
[Edit: Yeah i got it in work. Probably best deleting it, soz for hassle]
Join Date: Feb 2003
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Spikee - how many people do you know who get e-mails from the local police?
PS I've got some cheap beachfront property in Birmingham for sale if you're interested. Just send me your bank account details and I'll do all the work.
PS I've got some cheap beachfront property in Birmingham for sale if you're interested. Just send me your bank account details and I'll do all the work.
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The Daily Mirror were also taken in by this fake scam (or at least pretended to be for the sake of a story).
http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/conten...name_page.html
The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) has stated:
A £20.00 per minute premium rate tariff does not exist – the highest premium rate tariff available is £1.50 per minute. Despite the hundreds of enquiries received by ICSTIS about this 'scam' (and most have heard about it second or third-hand), not one person who claims that it has actually happened to them has been able to produce a phone bill to support their story.
TG.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/conten...name_page.html
The Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS) has stated:
A £20.00 per minute premium rate tariff does not exist – the highest premium rate tariff available is £1.50 per minute. Despite the hundreds of enquiries received by ICSTIS about this 'scam' (and most have heard about it second or third-hand), not one person who claims that it has actually happened to them has been able to produce a phone bill to support their story.
TG.
Why do it if it's not fun?
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A pre-emptive apology to all blondes on this forum for what follows...
I usually don't forward these kind of e-mail warnings, but please
don't get caught out too:
SEND THIS WARNING TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST.
IF A MAN COMES TO YOUR FRONT DOOR AND SAYS HE IS CONDUCTING A SURVEY AND
ASKS YOU TO SHOW HIM YOUR TITS, DO NOT SHOW HIM YOUR TITS.
THIS IS A SCAM, HE ONLY WANTS TO SEE YOUR TITS.
I wish I'd seen this email yesterday. I feel so stupid.
Signed,
A. Blonde
I usually don't forward these kind of e-mail warnings, but please
don't get caught out too:
SEND THIS WARNING TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST.
IF A MAN COMES TO YOUR FRONT DOOR AND SAYS HE IS CONDUCTING A SURVEY AND
ASKS YOU TO SHOW HIM YOUR TITS, DO NOT SHOW HIM YOUR TITS.
THIS IS A SCAM, HE ONLY WANTS TO SEE YOUR TITS.
I wish I'd seen this email yesterday. I feel so stupid.
Signed,
A. Blonde
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Evo said,
Incorrect. The new Panasonic KXTDA and the Siemes HiPath business telephone systems can both provide this kind of functionality if programmed to do so.
It has to be a hoax - you cannot switch from being a receiver to being a caller without first disconnecting.
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FFF - you're a natural for JetBlast!! 
Reminds me of a guy I used to know in the West Highlands who was 5ft and a quarter inch tall (very emphatic about that bit!), who was an ex-Para. Any new barmaids in the pubs he visited used to get approached with the 'Bet you 50p I can make your t!ts move without touching them'. Gullible barmaid accepts the challenge; he reaches across the bar and grabs a couple of handfuls and has a minute or 2 of fun! He then says 'Sod it - here's your 50p!' and walks off, leaving a rather shocked / bemused barmaid!
In all the times he did it, I never once saw him get his face slapped!!
Reminds me of a guy I used to know in the West Highlands who was 5ft and a quarter inch tall (very emphatic about that bit!), who was an ex-Para. Any new barmaids in the pubs he visited used to get approached with the 'Bet you 50p I can make your t!ts move without touching them'. Gullible barmaid accepts the challenge; he reaches across the bar and grabs a couple of handfuls and has a minute or 2 of fun!
He then says 'Sod it - here's your 50p!' and walks off, leaving a rather shocked / bemused barmaid!In all the times he did it, I never once saw him get his face slapped!!
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A third source that seems to refute this hoax is the BBC, who quote the Wiltshire Police Force / ICTIS as saying that it's a hoax.
As a techie (although not a telephone system expert), I cannot think that it is possible these days for a line to be 'held open' by the call initiator when the recipient of the call has terminated the call. ISTR that in the old days of mechanical Strowger exchanges, there were ways that the line could be captured and 'held' if the originator didn't replace the receiver correctly, but I've never come across an instance of this in one of the System X (digital) exchanges.
As a techie (although not a telephone system expert), I cannot think that it is possible these days for a line to be 'held open' by the call initiator when the recipient of the call has terminated the call. ISTR that in the old days of mechanical Strowger exchanges, there were ways that the line could be captured and 'held' if the originator didn't replace the receiver correctly, but I've never come across an instance of this in one of the System X (digital) exchanges.
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Hmmm................. ISTR, is that this 'Yoof-speak', mobile lingo then?.
Do I expect to moderate some posts with half the letters missing soon then?.
Cu 2mrw m8 =
Do I expect to moderate some posts with half the letters missing soon then?.
Cu 2mrw m8 =