Investing in new technology, developing smart ideas, innovating, outsourcing, call centers – the buzzwords of our business-minded con artists. They’re professionals and they know their stuff. 7 in 10 receive nuisance calls, texts and emails everyday, yet these large-scale scam operators are never penalized because apparently they are just “annoying” and not yet causing “substantial distress” to people.

You, as the target market of these fraudsters, should know better than their old tricks. Update yourself with these words of advice:

• Don’t give any personal information to strangers or to businesses – remember, they should already know your details!
• Ignore employment agencies asking for payment in advance
• Check your bank and credit card statements regularly and let your bank know immediately if there are any entries you don’t recognise
• Often, you can’t get lost money back, particularly if you have handed over cash. But you have more protection if you paid by credit card or a debit card.

For our weekly top 3, the approach of our scammers is always a hard sell. Strategies are aggressive and their tactics include cold calls and unsolicited pitches – as if they are really selling some products or services BUT actually no. They are disguised as telemarketers who just want to get your bank details or other personal info. Worse huh!

Here are our top 3:

01204238003 with 77 comments and 28012 search requests. tellows score: 8
01133902114 with 6 comments and 4749 search requests. tellows score:7
08438320187 with 10 comments and 2879 search requests. tellows Score: 9

tls reported the number 01204238003:

I received a call,this afternoon, from a lady saying she was calling from hyc for insurance about my credit cards!!I asked her if this is a survey or sales, she replied no.As i was busy at the time I received the call,I told her to call me back later,she refused!I requested a leaflet she denied again!Certainly, I haven t provided any of my details but the most weird thing is that she was calling me from a very noisy place! People were shouting and clapping hands, cars were passing by! I suppose the company is homeless….Be aware!!

Sharon reported HYC with the number 01204238003 as Cost trap:

I was called today by this number calling themselves HYC wanting to refund money back into my bank account! she asked for my detailes and my bank detailes, it was a girl seem polite called Heather, and she was very persistent, and when I realised that it must be a trap, I asked her to call me back later when I look up for some information, but she was freakingly presistant and bully! i think it definaaly is a trap and they are untrustworthy and ppl should be careful.

Ekflyer reported the number 01133902114 as Telemarketer:

Idiots, supposed to be calling from our company phone provider, asked for a person by name, TOTALLY the wrong name given, and told me he was from my ‘mobile phone provider’ when i asked which one… he couldnt tell me, I then asked to speak to a supervisor, this led to another conversation with the ‘manager of an outsourced call centre’ who eventually got the message I didn’t want him to call back. Stop bloody wasting my time…

Tim reported Orange Broadband with the number 01133902114 as Cost trap:

They asked me questions about my orange broadband connection. then the call turned into a sales pitch so i hung up.

Janet’sPlanet reported PPI with the number 08438320187 as Harassment calls:

PPI repayments, press 5 to speak to someone (other than the STUPID recording), 9 to be deleted. I press 9 every time. I still get the calls.

Take care,
Your tellows team