Posted: 19th Jun, 2008 By: MarkJ
Thinkbroadband has spotted an interesting article in the
North West Evening Mail, which details a new cold calling scam where people are called by phone and offered a discounted warranty on their broadband service. The caller begins by warning you that your warranty is about to expire, before offering a renewal for £9.99:
After discussing the payment options, Mrs McGertys suspicions were raised when the caller asked to check her surname. After she gave it to him he then quoted her previous address, where she hasnt lived for more than two years.
He asked me to give him my postcode and he wanted my Switch details, at which point I said Im ending the call, she said. When Mrs McGerty checked the callers identification she found the number had been withheld, at which point she alerted the Evening Mail.
BT have since confirmed that the call was a scam and added that, "
Customers will always know if they have been called by BT when they dial 1471 there will be an 0800 number given, saying that BT called."
We would advise that people avoid giving out personal details when the call is not initiated by yourself. If there are any doubts then hang-up and call back using a known contact number for your ISP.
Sadly phone scams like this are nothing new and appear to be increasingly common. Typically a little paranoia where the security of your personal information is concerned can sometimes be very helpful.