Tag Archives: scam method

Weekly Top 3 Spammers

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Were are back again to bring you the top 3 spammers of the week. Shame on:

1. 01932504981 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 7
2. 01412582118 from Weybridge with a tellows score of 8
3. 02073286956 from London with a tellows score of 7

Last week’s second and third rank numbers moved one rank up. The new most active spam number is 01932504981 trying to sell car insurance on behalf of Van compare.

Dorothy reported last week:

Never heard of them, phone number not normally given. But then again all I got was someone that sounded stoned and hung up, but when i checked this number they said it was about car insurance.

This week’s second worst spammer has been well known to us already. We already found out that it must be a slightly unprofessional call centre. If they are not giggling or leaving offensive messages on people’s answer machines, they are tying their best to sell a wide range of products: air conditioners, home security alarms and solar panels.

Short comment by user 111a:

Rude people making harrassment calls, keep hanging up if you speak.

The last but not least annoying number is 02073286956, providing thousands of households with harassing silent calls. You pick up, but there is no-one on the other end.

Silent calls proved to be the precursors of real telemarketing calls – so watch out!

Remember: Never ever tell confidential personal information to telemarketers or fraudsters phishing for information!

Kind regards,

Team Tellows

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Beware: Fraudulent Sky Callers Want Your Bank Details!

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Were are back again to bring you the latest news on a new fraud method circulating in the UK. Scammers pretending to work for SKY TV or companies related to SKY are calling (former) sky customers, claiming their package had to be renewed or their bills had not been paid. Watch out! It might sound logical in the first place, but all these fraudsters want is to get your bank details!
We are talking namely about the following numbers:

The caller pretends to be an employee of SKY TV or a company installing the gear for SKY. All calls show a similar structure: first you will be confronted with some financial matter. Either you have not payed your SKY fee or you are paying too much and should get money back. Second part: you will be asked for your details.

We provide some simple advices how you notice that this is a scam call

  • Never ever tell anybody your credit card details during a cold call, nor give any other personal information like your name or address. The caller should have at least your address, if it really is a legitimate company calling you. Ask for the information they got on you!
  • Ask the caller for her/his name, job title, company and telephone number
  • Write down the telephone number and report it to tellows.co.uk
  • Keep in mind that legitimate companies do contracts in a written way and never ask for personal details and financial matters on the phone

Source:

Yours,

Team Tellows

Read more on the topic in our press release.

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UK’s Top 3 Spammers Sell Insurance

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Surprise, surprise! 01484818084 is persisting on rank 1 of the British top spam numbers.

1. 01484818084 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 8
2. 01932504981 from Weybridge with a tellows score of 7
3. 01412582118 from Glasgow with a tellows score of 8

As we already reported last week, number 01484818084 is a telemarketing number for PI claims, mortgages, insurance and even solar pannels. The latest comment by user Amber says that the number is still active, but it sounds like it is giving silent calls once in a while, as well:

Keep calling me, no one ever speaks, now on my phones “blocked number” list sends their call straight to my voice mail.

Insurance, insurance, insurance. Is there anything in life they do not have an insurance for? The company number on rank 2 is apparently Van Compare Insurance or Connect Quote – or a callcentre working for both of them. Several users reported this fact after having called them and after being led to the company´s answer machine.
copper1fox wrote:

Called this number back and this number takes you to an automated message advising they are calling up about car insurance.

On this week´s rank 3 we have a really ridiculous call centre. They really seem to be selling anything! Tellows users commented the following items sold by this number: air conditoning/dehumidifier, solar panels and grants, Home Safe Security and alarms as well as green energy.

User Broadsword wrote:

They rang twice man with strong Glasgow accent asking “Do you want any Gear”, plus other dirty comments. Laughed a few times and hang up. This at 10.30am.

Did they call you, too? What else can you tell us about these numbers? Are there any other harassing, ridiculous or dangerous numbers trying to call you?

We appreciate all useful comments on harassing phone numbers.

In the name of the community: Thank you!

Your Tellows Team

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Ignoring The TPS!? The British Top 3 Phone Spammers

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The only number that didn´t change since the last British Top 3 spam number report is 01484818084 on rank 1.

1. 01484818084 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 8
2. 01412582118 from Glasgow with a tellows score of 8
3. 01234945454 from Bedford with a tellows score of 7

Manyfold telemarketing offers seem to originate from number 01484818084 – the British top spam number! As we discovered recently with the help of all Tellows users, the callers are not only trying to sell PI claims or mortgages but also goods, suchs as solar pannels. The latest comment reveals even another “product” – CI insurace. Insurance scam seems to be the most flourishing fraud method of all in Britain.

User waveylines reported:

Asian person who rang me wanting my details…for a claim he reckoned i was due….was reluctant to give me any details about the company he worked for -was evasive but eventually told me that hie company was called Talk International and he worked in the CI claims department..Difficult to understand his accent….

Tellows does not want to promote any stereotypes or xenophobia. We highly depreciate this. Please keep in mind that suspicious telemarketing companies hire the cheapest workforce and therefore often make a profit out of globalization and bad economic situations in other countries.

The number on rank 2 is getting on people’s nerves with silent calls. It is a typical method of checking phone numbers with the help of an automath in order to give telemarketing calls sooner or later. Same thing with 01234945454 which is on rank 3.

Don’t let them take over! The community counts on your comments!

Your Tellows Team

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Spam Numbers Of The Week – The British Top 5

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The most annoying numbers are still the same, though there are some changes on the minor ranks:

1. 01484818084 from Huddersfield with a tellows score of 8
2. 01234945454 from Bedford with a tellows score of 7
3. 07968463380 a mobil phone number with a tellows score of 7
4. 07787225074 a mobil phone number with a tellows score of 9
5. 07787241083 a mobil phone number with a tellows score of 9

This week’s most annoying phone number 01484818084 has been searched more than 5293 times now. Beware! Several stories about what the callers are offering on this number have been reported. The range is very wide, starting off with PI claims, mortgages as well as solar pannels. This does not sound trustworthy at all.

This is what waveylines wrote about this number:

Asian person who rang me wanting my details…for a claim he reckoned i was due….was reluctant to give me any details about the company he worked for -was evasive but eventually told me that hie company was called Talk International and he worked in the CI claims department.

For number 01234945454 we found out that the initial ping calls comming from this number turned into PPI claims spam. We already reported about this method in a previous article:

Main principle of the scam: the caller is trying to convince people that they are owed money for an unclaimed PPI insurance. The method of the fraudulant calls is simple: assuming the called person has a loan, stating exactly how much money the person is owed by the unclaimed insurance and offering their service of getting the client’s money back – after prior payment, of course.

read more

We count on you in the struggle against phone spam and scam!

Your Tellows Team

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UKBA scammers try to sqeeze money from immigrants

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There is a new scam that especially affects foreigners (mostly students). There are two reported telephone numbers connected this case:

The caller pretends to be an employee of the UKBA (United Kingdom Border Agency). All calls show the same structure. The fraudster will tell you that there is a problem with your immigration status or your visa and that you’ll have to pay a fine. You’ll be advised to give him your credit card / debit card details or directly make a Western Union payment to settle the issue as easy as possible to prevent the UKBA from taking further steps against you. To convince you of his authenticity the dubious employee may tell you some personal information about yourself like your passport number or your telephone number. One victim even reported that he was called concerning one of his relatives. If you refuse to cooperate the caller will most probably try to put pressure on you with deportation threats and other tricks.

We provide some simple tips that you can rely on

  • do never ever tell someone your credit card details during a cold call
  • nor give any other personal information like your name or address
  • instead ask the fraudster for his name, job title and telephone number
  • note down the telephone number and report it on tellows.co.uk

Sources:
http://ljmu.ac.uk/NewsUpdate/index_124039.htm
http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/

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PPI Claims Phone Scam To Strike UK – The Most Wanted Numbers

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Here are this week’s top three callers:
1. 01254368742 from Blackburn with a tellows score of 7
2. 0166886633 from Bamburgh with a tellows score of 8
3. 01412582118 from Glasgow with a tellows score of 8

We have a new top spam candidate this week: 01254368742 from Blackburn. Citizens of the UK beware, this is a new phone scam method that is about to strike not only Great Britain, but also other English-speaking parts of the world.

There were more than 2000 search requests for this number on Tellows since several cases of PPI fraud attempts have been reported. Fraudsters have been contacting people, saying that they won a PPI claim for the loan somebody apparently had. What loan? Never had one? No matter, cold callers hope to catch people in desperate financial situations to fall for their scam.

Main principle of the scam: the caller is trying to convince people that they are owed money for an unclaimed PPI insurance. The method of the fraudulant calls is simple: assuming the called person has a loan, stating exactly how much money the person is owed by the unclaimed insurance and offering their service of getting the client’s money back – after prior payment, of course.

After other scams, such as the so-called “PC doctor”, lotteries or surveys, fraudsters are now trying to be paid for gaining money back for clients who had an unclaimed payment protection insurance (PPI). PPI, also known as credit insurance, insures consumers that they will be able to pay off their debt in the case of losing their income source or in case of illness or death. The difference between serious insurance agencies and fraudsters is that the latter will ask consumers to pay for the service in advance and/or give out their bank details on the phone.

As many Tellows users reported, the number followed the classical scheme of sending out ping calls first in order to check whether phone numbers are active. babs reported:

This number rings my mobile every day. I do not answer. I looked up number is Accrington Lancs,. I always leave it to go to voicemail. never leave a message. Have now reported it to my network provider. I withheld number and rang it. A machine picked it up, said Elsworth Associates.

First complaints about PPI matters from this number were lodged since the end of June. User scott wrote:

they are a ppi company that can claim cash back on loans etc, it is possible on mobiles to block a certain phone number like this one. hassling us peeps ive blocked the number so good luck.

User Carol is not impressed at all:

Called asking to help me “claw back PPI” when I said I didn’t require their services they said they would remove me from their database. Yeah, right!

Beware and don not fall for this. In order to prevent other scam methods to flourish, do not hesitate to report spam/scam numbers and their ways to Tellows. Thank you for your cooperation!

Yours,
Team Tellows

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Weekly Top 3 Update… Most Wanted Spammers!

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Here are this week’s top three callers:
1. 02073451299 from London with a tellows score of 8
2. 01477536273 from Holmes Chapel with a tellows score of 7
3. 08450304416 a premium rate service number with a tellows score of 8

This week’s favourite has been searched more than 3815 times now. We are dealing with a lottery scam here. Beware and remember to never tell unknown callers or strangers any of your bank details.

This is what wickedshelly reported to us last week:

called me today whilst in the middle of my shopping! told me i had won a comp for an ipad and £1000 lady then asks if i have ever entered the euromillions and wanted to know how many lines!! i then questioned whether shed want my card details to which she said yes! this is when i told her to never contact me again as i dont buy into scams! somehow this company had my details, must have been passed on through a third party along the way but i certainly dont appreciate it!

yomoe gave the following advice how to deal with the scammers:

if you answer to this number again get snotty with them..demand that they stop contacting you or harassing you for money…demand the ipad/iphone and then tell them that you will be seeking advice from a solicitor….they stop calling

The next number moved from last week’s rank 3 on rank 2. No further information on the number was added yet, but its search requests have risen to 1786 already.

According to the comments for the nuisance caller on rank 3, the calls come from a company called Curved Air Marketing Solutions. We are certainly dealing with a dubious number, as several users reported. Here is a short overview of the most useful comments:

Steven wrote:

Nuisance call on my answerphone. Ran through its whole sequence on there as no one pressed anything. Signed up with TPS and didn’t sign up for any marketing survey. Curved Air Marketing Solutions do have an ‘opt out’ page on their website but how trustworthy that is given they are already calling ilegally is anybodys guess.

train added:

do not press 9 as requersted to stop calls, its a trap add a call charge to your bill- by pressing , you are agreeing to the charge.

And Steve gave the following advice:

We get plagued by these calls ( from 08450 304416) at all hours of the day and night – BT have told me that because its a recorded message and not an actual person making the call that the recorded message has to be licenced by “The Office of the Information Commissioner”. You should complain to The Information Commissioner on 0303 123 1113 and hopefully these pernicious pests will have their licence withdrawn

Beware of such methods and report us your experience with the scammers!

Yours,
Team Tellows

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When the Saviour Calls and the Snake Bites – A Brief Introduction in the Ways of Dubious PC Wizards, Doctors and other Online Charlatans

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Your PC is infected with a Virus! – That’s What They Say!

First things first, sit back and relax. If you receive a phone call from company that claims to work on the behalf of Microsoft, it is a fraudulant attempt to drain your bank account. These wannabe Microsoft employees will spin tales about the most malevolent of software and the ways your PC system was infected by it. According to the American computer forum bleepingcomputer.com the fraudsters will try to lure you on onto their website to download a software called Teamviewer. This program enables the scammers to access your PC directly and, therewith, provides them with the opportunity to download and install malware, manipulate your system settings and spy for personal data. However, Microsoft will not call to warn you of a potential viral infection and offer support for free. Microsoft is not ignorant of the scam and was quick to publish an article on their investigation into the matter on their windows blog.

It’s those Indians – Isn’t it?

In most cases the caller entertains an indian accent. According to the Guardian the calls may originate in India. Nonetheless, the collaboration of additional companies is required to successfully funnel the money back to India. Firms such as PayPal are tricked into these dark schemes by forged documents but once the scammer’s accounts have been identified they are shut down immediately. Unfortunately, reversing already processed debit cards payments is nearly impossible.
However, Indian call centres are only one cogwheel in far greater machination. In numerous cases fake spyware lead the PC user to believe that his or her windows suffers dangerous malware by displaying fake system reports. In the next step the software will urge the user to dial non-geographical bound numbers, such as 18005010335 and 01234765093 to contact support and, ultimately, purchase the fake anti-spyware program. The very existence of rogue anti-spyware program indicated the involvement of professional developers aiming at infecting the peoples’ PC for profit.

Knowledge is Power – And Profit as Well !!!
Considerably more dangereous than the infection itself, however, is the fact that the scammers’ target groups are the old and the ignorant. Both of those groups believe in the authortity of the caller and , therewith, deliver themselves into the trap. Since the people’s ignorance is the fraudsters’ greatest and most effective weapon it is imperative to share our knowledge on the topic in every way possible. Tellows.co.uk and tellows.com provide the means to share information quickly and without restraint (as long as conformity with the law is given). This scam is most virulent in the english speaking parts of the world, although similar attempts of fraud have been reported in Germany where fraudsters even mimic the Bundesnachrichtendienst, the german intelligence agency. The scammer’s knowledge goes hand in glove with their profits, our knowledge, however, equips us with the power to deny them every single cent, penny or whatever currency there might be!

Take Care !!!
Team Tellows

Sources:
1. Dealing with Fake Tech Support & Phone Scams – Windows Security Blog
2. Virus phone scam being run from call centres in India – The Guardian
3. Beware of phone telephone scammers calling on behalf of Google – Bleepingcomputer.com

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