more dodgy calls.......

[Scousemouse]

A while ago, i posted about cold calls from our sub-continental cousins ringing to tell us our computer was full of viruses etc; and tonight this happened...............

 

the phone rang, and a pleasant sounding indian lady informs me that i have been "chosen" to "benefit" from a deal on my Telstra land line......for a mere $48.95, i can get a WHOLE MONTH of free local calls, capped calls to mobile phones on ANY network......(max $1.10 for even an hour long call to a mobile from my landline!)and capped $1 calls on interstate calls, no limit to the time or numbers i care to phone.

 

To qualify for this "fantastic" deal i would have to fullfill some criteria..................

like being in the age range of 17-70 years could i give her my date of birth?? Errrrm, ok, and gave myself a decade and 1 month;

confirm the spelling of my name.........so naturally i lied, spelling both names wrong for her.

next some ID.........to prove australian citizenship.............like my medicard number, or my drivers licence number!!!

 

I THINK NOT darling!!!

 

Passed to her supervisor, an equally pleasant chap of similar ethnicity ( not that it matters, but there is a point to this); I told him point blank that i would not be taking the offer, and certainly wouldnt give out such personal information; HE proceeded to inform me that i could pay them right now by credit card(?!) and that certainly Telstra would NOT be sending me a bill, or confirmation letter. I hung up, and within 20 seconds they rang me back............

 

Telstra, and Foxtel do NOT employ indian call centre staff...........i am reliably informed by the boss at Salmat! They will be investigating the issue within their organisation tomorrow.

 

Please dont get caught by these scammers.

 

Nighty night

 

Jane

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

 

To qualify for this "fantastic" deal i would have to fullfill some criteria..................

like being in the age range of 17-70 years could i give her my date of birth?? Errrrm, ok, and gave myself a decade and 1 month;

confirm the spelling of my name.........so naturally i lied, spelling both names wrong for her.

next some ID.........to prove australian citizenship.............like my medicard number, or my drivers licence number!!!

 

 

Hmmm, not a citizen, can't help you call centre person....

Blooming scammers are soooo annoying - we've just had one of our (business) websites hacked by one of our (chinese, not that it really matters, apart from the history there, in that they constantly rip us and other businesses in our industry off without any legal comeback) 'competitors' who screwed lots up and then had the blooming cheek to SIGN who had hacked it!! GRRRR

 

Thanks for letting us know of scams DU though, obviously we will be clueless to begin with with things like this.

[Guest cornish Busdriver]

I have a simple remedy for people who make these call.

Tell them you are putting them on hold whilst you try to connect them to your fraud investigations department and then leave them sitting there for about 2 minutes.

They always hang up and never call back lol lol

[Guest the4hopes]

I have a simple remedy for people who make these call.

Tell them you are putting them on hold whilst you try to connect them to your fraud investigations department and then leave them sitting there for about 2 minutes.

They always hang up and never call back lol lol

 

Also leave the phone next to a loud sound system!

[Guest Adelaide_bound]

I have a simple remedy for people who make these call.

Tell them you are putting them on hold whilst you try to connect them to your fraud investigations department and then leave them sitting there for about 2 minutes.

They always hang up and never call back lol lol

 

Or if you have a small child, you can allow the child to speak to them for a bit

[Bailey]

Hi jane

It must be doing our area......

I've had 3 in the past week! prior to that it was about 3 weeks ago!

I just hang up once they start "rambling".......

 

Cheers

Fiona

[Guest Nick11]

A very loud whistle usually does the trick !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest Guest5035]

You could always use one of the following,( note the links contain graphic words)

 

 

 

Hindi Swear Words

 

stevo

[Guest jorose]

A chap I knew in England used turn the bogus calls around by saying (in his Lancashire accent) - "eeeh lad/lass I'm reet glad you have called me. My wife left me last night for another fella and I'm beside myself...." He then used to not shut up and fabricate further details about how he didn't know how he would manage in general and for money. By the end of the call he had them feeling that sorry for him they left him alone.

[coolerking]

A while ago, i posted about cold calls from our sub-continental cousins ringing to tell us our computer was full of viruses etc; and tonight this happened...............

 

the phone rang, and a pleasant sounding indian lady informs me that i have been "chosen" to "benefit" from a deal on my Telstra land line......for a mere $48.95, i can get a WHOLE MONTH of free local calls, capped calls to mobile phones on ANY network......(max $1.10 for even an hour long call to a mobile from my landline!)and capped $1 calls on interstate calls, no limit to the time or numbers i care to phone.

 

To qualify for this "fantastic" deal i would have to fullfill some criteria..................

like being in the age range of 17-70 years could i give her my date of birth?? Errrrm, ok, and gave myself a decade and 1 month;

confirm the spelling of my name.........so naturally i lied, spelling both names wrong for her.

next some ID.........to prove australian citizenship.............like my medicard number, or my drivers licence number!!!

 

I THINK NOT darling!!!

 

Passed to her supervisor, an equally pleasant chap of similar ethnicity ( not that it matters, but there is a point to this); I told him point blank that i would not be taking the offer, and certainly wouldnt give out such personal information; HE proceeded to inform me that i could pay them right now by credit card(?!) and that certainly Telstra would NOT be sending me a bill, or confirmation letter. I hung up, and within 20 seconds they rang me back............

 

Telstra, and Foxtel do NOT employ indian call centre staff...........i am reliably informed by the boss at Salmat! They will be investigating the issue within their organisation tomorrow.

 

Please dont get caught by these scammers.

 

Nighty night

 

Jane

 

I had a similar one about two weeks ago and they could apparently reduce my calls even though they did not know what I was paying. Wasn't sure if it was legit but I hung up anyway - the number had rand numerous times previously.

 

It sounded like a call centre but I do think it was bogus.

 

As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues: "Hey, let's be careful out there"

 

Cooler

[Guest diesel tech]

The OH works in a bank and always tells me of all the dodgy stuff out there, one at the moment that's getting all the alot of folks is holiday offers, she says don't be tempted, and don't give any info over the phone. It goes back to the old saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is

[Guest Reenz]

If you're truly fed up with annoying canvassing callers, you know you can register your phone number on the government's "Do Not Call" Register, and the calls will stop. Worked for me - haven't had a call of this type in about four years!

 

Do Not Call Register - australia.gov.au

[Bailey]

I have done this...... worked for the first few months and now they seem to be filtereing through! I do not have many fortunately!

 

Thanks for the link! I think I will investigate......

[Sallyh]

I have a simple remedy for people who make these call.

Tell them you are putting them on hold whilst you try to connect them to your fraud investigations department and then leave them sitting there for about 2 minutes.

They always hang up and never call back lol lol

 

I've taken to telephone evangelism.

We also registered do not call but that took a few weeks to set in. Need to do it again now we have moved, thanks for the reminder.

 

In terms of giving out / not giving out info, remember they know NOTHING about you. So don't tell them you are a citizen, or that you're not... don't tell them you are a home owner or that you are not... don't tell them the phone bill isn't in your name (or whether it is...) etcetcetc...

[Guest Guest75]

Just to point out.....

 

Apparently charities are exempt from the Do not call register.

 

I do tell them we are on Do Not Call but they keep saying they are exempt.

 

Tired of the begging.

[jim and adel]

If you're truly fed up with annoying canvassing callers, you know you can register your phone number on the government's "Do Not Call" Register, and the calls will stop. Worked for me - haven't had a call of this type in about four years!

 

Do Not Call Register - australia.gov.au

 

There's a big difference between unsolicited calls for genuine businesses - trying to sell you double glazing, move bank accounts, get cheaper electricity etc - and scam calls trying to trick you into providing them with your personal details or remote access to your computer. In relation to the first category, the Do Not Call register is useful, but when it comes to scams, what they're doing is illegal, so unfortunately they're hardly likely to adhere to a government register!

 

Jim

[Guest Mitchell]

I have a rule that I never talk to anyone on the phone that phones me. Businesses I mean not my Mum lol. Even if it really is my bank I refuse to tell them anything and yes they get a bit narked but how do I know it's really them and not a scammer? I ask for their name and department and say I'll call them back. I will only do this using a number from say my bank statement and not any they try to give me. That way I can never get caught out.

[Sallyh]

Good point Michelle about when the bank phones. They put us through hoops when we ring them... but I have to say when NAB rang us about our credit card it was obvious it was them (they were telling us about a fraud that had been done on it - last year after Kmart's system was hacked) and I was impressed that was so proactive of them. Much better service than we got with Nathaniel in UK.....

[Guest Aussie pat]

I have done this...... worked for the first few months and now they seem to be filtereing through! I do not have many fortunately!

 

Thanks for the link! I think I will investigate......

 

We've also registered for call blocking but the odd one still slips thru.

[Guest Mitchell]

We've also registered for call blocking but the odd one still slips thru.

 

I would suggest dealing with them the same as in the UK with the telephone preference service. Stop them as soon as you realize it's a sales call from a company you don't already have a relationship with. Tell them you're registered and they shouldn't be calling. Ask for the company name, phone no and name of the person calling. Tell them you will be registering a complaint against their company for breaching the the do not call register. Even if you don't actually file a complaint it scares the bejesus out of them and may get them to change their procedures and not call you or other people in the future.