MIL in potential scam
Discussion
Ok - don't know why I put potential in title, 90% sure she is doomed!!!
My MIL isn't the greatest with details, difficult to get hard straight fact out of her and I was relayed this by my wife who only spoke to her briefly on the phone but the jist of this potential scam is as follows.
Received call from Talk Talk (1st alarm bell) apparently her bill is two part - not sure if this is true, and something to do with security feature on one part meant she is due a refund of £250ish (2nd alarm bell). - I'm not sure if this was a separate call or a precursor.
Anyway £9k is transferred - they ask her if she'd received correct amount of money as they understand there was a mistake blah blah, (3rd alarm bell) basically she gets passed from pillar to post to supervisors to managers (so it must be legit) and in the end lets them 'scan' her computer i.e remote access surely??? Anyway somewhere down the line they convince her under the security guise to put her card into the little card reader fob for online banking and give them the security number-- (alarm alarm alarm).
My guess is she is f
ked!!
To make matter worse she flew out on holiday at 5am this morning! I mean is that just poetic for the scammers or what?!?!
Anything we can do this end!?! Or just sit and wait for the invertible chaos to ensue?
Any advice gratefully received
Thanks
My MIL isn't the greatest with details, difficult to get hard straight fact out of her and I was relayed this by my wife who only spoke to her briefly on the phone but the jist of this potential scam is as follows.
Received call from Talk Talk (1st alarm bell) apparently her bill is two part - not sure if this is true, and something to do with security feature on one part meant she is due a refund of £250ish (2nd alarm bell). - I'm not sure if this was a separate call or a precursor.
Anyway £9k is transferred - they ask her if she'd received correct amount of money as they understand there was a mistake blah blah, (3rd alarm bell) basically she gets passed from pillar to post to supervisors to managers (so it must be legit) and in the end lets them 'scan' her computer i.e remote access surely??? Anyway somewhere down the line they convince her under the security guise to put her card into the little card reader fob for online banking and give them the security number-- (alarm alarm alarm).
My guess is she is f
ked!! To make matter worse she flew out on holiday at 5am this morning! I mean is that just poetic for the scammers or what?!?!
Anything we can do this end!?! Or just sit and wait for the invertible chaos to ensue?
Any advice gratefully received
Thanks
Cancel the card immediately and inform the bank of the potential breach with the reader. If she does that then I believe liability will be limited?
If she's on holiday and without an alternative card, I'm sure something could be arranged to get funds to her.
Oh and check statement, obviously!
If she's on holiday and without an alternative card, I'm sure something could be arranged to get funds to her.
Oh and check statement, obviously!
That's bloody dreadful.
My next door neighbour was actually called in by her local bank due to unusual transactions on her account. She had five "Skybox maintenance" contracts running totaling over £300 a MONTH! The scan started off by taking very small amounts and then ramping it up.
My next door neighbour was actually called in by her local bank due to unusual transactions on her account. She had five "Skybox maintenance" contracts running totaling over £300 a MONTH! The scan started off by taking very small amounts and then ramping it up.
I had this last week.
I answer a call and the heavily accented voice says.....
"BT here, I am calling to help sort out your internet problem. Please turn on your computer and I will direct you".
I tell them I have no internet problem and it's working fine. They can't answer.
So I ask, how do I know you are BT? They can't answer.
What's my company name? They can't answer.
What's my internet problem? They can't answer.
What's my postcode? They can't answer.
Can you prove to me you are BT? They can't answer.
I ask where they are calling from as I assume we're in a postcode local to them and the issue is a local one not national? He says Bradford. I'm in London.
I ask him what his name is. He hangs up. Nothing since. Internet still working perfectly.
I answer a call and the heavily accented voice says.....
"BT here, I am calling to help sort out your internet problem. Please turn on your computer and I will direct you".
I tell them I have no internet problem and it's working fine. They can't answer.
So I ask, how do I know you are BT? They can't answer.
What's my company name? They can't answer.
What's my internet problem? They can't answer.
What's my postcode? They can't answer.
Can you prove to me you are BT? They can't answer.
I ask where they are calling from as I assume we're in a postcode local to them and the issue is a local one not national? He says Bradford. I'm in London.
I ask him what his name is. He hangs up. Nothing since. Internet still working perfectly.
I don't know - the 9k seems strange to me?!?! I can't make sense of it - unless it could have been called back or needed to be verified so if she hadn't have fell for it they could have retrieved it?
As I said some of the details will not be 100% as it is 3rd hand and could be a bit wooly.
So say they have access is it just a race to rinse the account or is it more subtle than that? Setting up small direct debits etc?
As I said some of the details will not be 100% as it is 3rd hand and could be a bit wooly.
So say they have access is it just a race to rinse the account or is it more subtle than that? Setting up small direct debits etc?
dojo said:
I don't know - the 9k seems strange to me?!?! I can't make sense of it - unless it could have been called back or needed to be verified so if she hadn't have fell for it they could have retrieved it?
As I said some of the details will not be 100% as it is 3rd hand and could be a bit wooly.
So say they have access is it just a race to rinse the account or is it more subtle than that? Setting up small direct debits etc?
The stolen 9k they transferred is clawed back. The £8750 she refunded them is her responsibility. As I said some of the details will not be 100% as it is 3rd hand and could be a bit wooly.
So say they have access is it just a race to rinse the account or is it more subtle than that? Setting up small direct debits etc?
Justayellowbadge said:
The stolen 9k they transferred is clawed back. The £8750 she refunded them is her responsibility.
So if everything above is correct she's been done for best part of £9k - They won't be cleaning out anything else (pensions, other savings etc)Edited by dojo on Friday 24th February 10:55
dojo said:
Justayellowbadge said:
The stolen 9k they transferred is clawed back. The £8750 she refunded them is her responsibility.
So if everything above is correct she's been done for best part of £9k - They won't be cleaning out anything else (pensions, other savings etc)Edited by dojo on Friday 24th February 10:55
Sad to see. If only more people were educated to treat everyone unknown to them who calls as a potential thief the world would be a better place. I had a call from my 'pension provider' last year and all I did was say "I didn't call you, I'm not discussing my pension with you, can you put it in writing please?" Lady agreed to my request. 2 days later a letter arrived and was all legit 
. But the moral here is they were genuine and no harm was done..... why they'd called in preference to mail in the first place was a mystery though? Always play safe. If someones given you money in error they can wait a long while for it to be returned as far as I'm concerned, and if "the Bank" (custodians of my money) need to transfer it quickly they can do it themselves without my help.
Call me selfish, but I'll not be helping anyone else with their money movement issues.
. But the moral here is they were genuine and no harm was done..... why they'd called in preference to mail in the first place was a mystery though? Always play safe. If someones given you money in error they can wait a long while for it to be returned as far as I'm concerned, and if "the Bank" (custodians of my money) need to transfer it quickly they can do it themselves without my help.Call me selfish, but I'll not be helping anyone else with their money movement issues.
This happened to my mum last weekend.
They promise her a £250 refund due to poor broadband service
They "transfer" £3250 to her account. Ask her to log into on-line banking while they're connected to her PC to check the refund has gone through.
They screen print her online banking balance and "refresh" it to show the deposit (photoshopped screen print)
Give her a sob story about how he'll get sacked and his family will starve if she doesn't transfer the money back.
Ask her to use Western Union to transfer the extra cash and get abusive when she refuses.
Get many more scan phone calls over the coming days at all times of day and night.
They promise her a £250 refund due to poor broadband service
They "transfer" £3250 to her account. Ask her to log into on-line banking while they're connected to her PC to check the refund has gone through.
They screen print her online banking balance and "refresh" it to show the deposit (photoshopped screen print)
Give her a sob story about how he'll get sacked and his family will starve if she doesn't transfer the money back.
Ask her to use Western Union to transfer the extra cash and get abusive when she refuses.
Get many more scan phone calls over the coming days at all times of day and night.
I got one from the 'Phone Protection Service' the other week.
I told them I was registered with TPS, so I shouldn't get cold calls.
They informed me that they were part of TPS and wanted to extend my service, for free.
All I had to do was verify my registration with TPS
They insisted they didn't need any money or personal details, but could I read the long number off my debit card? Oh, and the short number off the back.
I'm afraid to say that at this point I got very confused. They had to keep giving me the instructions.
I got them to give me their address. Took ages to write it down.
Then I asked them to spell it. Apparently Gloucester is spelled Gloster
Then I gave them the long number.
Got it wrong.
Had to get the other credit card.
Gave them that number.
Made them repeat it.
Got it wrong.
Told it to them again.
Made them repeat it.
Corrected it.
Twice.
Then gave them the short number off the back.
Pause.
"Sir, that card doesn't seem to be valid"
I got them to read all the details back again.
Corrected the mistake.
Made them repeat it.
"Sir, I still can't access your account"
After about 20 minutes of this I'd run out of excuses, so I'll confess I let rip, called the guy on the other end of the phone all the rude names I could conveniently think of, and told him in no uncertain terms that he was complete scum (and a bit of a moron for letting me keep him on the phone for so long).
Strangely, he hung up.
Haven't heard back from them
I told them I was registered with TPS, so I shouldn't get cold calls.
They informed me that they were part of TPS and wanted to extend my service, for free.
All I had to do was verify my registration with TPS
They insisted they didn't need any money or personal details, but could I read the long number off my debit card? Oh, and the short number off the back.
I'm afraid to say that at this point I got very confused. They had to keep giving me the instructions.
I got them to give me their address. Took ages to write it down.
Then I asked them to spell it. Apparently Gloucester is spelled Gloster
Then I gave them the long number.
Got it wrong.
Had to get the other credit card.
Gave them that number.
Made them repeat it.
Got it wrong.
Told it to them again.
Made them repeat it.
Corrected it.
Twice.
Then gave them the short number off the back.
Pause.
"Sir, that card doesn't seem to be valid"
I got them to read all the details back again.
Corrected the mistake.
Made them repeat it.
"Sir, I still can't access your account"
After about 20 minutes of this I'd run out of excuses, so I'll confess I let rip, called the guy on the other end of the phone all the rude names I could conveniently think of, and told him in no uncertain terms that he was complete scum (and a bit of a moron for letting me keep him on the phone for so long).
Strangely, he hung up.
Haven't heard back from them
quote=Tuna]I got one from the 'Phone Protection Service' the other week.
I told them I was registered with TPS, so I shouldn't get cold calls.
They informed me that they were part of TPS and wanted to extend my service, for free.
All I had to do was verify my registration with TPS
They insisted they didn't need any money or personal details, but could I read the long number off my debit card? Oh, and the short number off the back.
I'm afraid to say that at this point I got very confused. They had to keep giving me the instructions.
I got them to give me their address. Took ages to write it down.
Then I asked them to spell it. Apparently Gloucester is spelled Gloster
Then I gave them the long number.
Got it wrong.
Had to get the other credit card.
Gave them that number.
Made them repeat it.
Got it wrong.
Told it to them again.
Made them repeat it.
Corrected it.
Twice.
Then gave them the short number off the back.
Pause.
"Sir, that card doesn't seem to be valid"
I got them to read all the details back again.
Corrected the mistake.
Made them repeat it.
"Sir, I still can't access your account"
After about 20 minutes of this I'd run out of excuses, so I'll confess I let rip, called the guy on the other end of the phone all the rude names I could conveniently think of, and told him in no uncertain terms that he was complete scum (and a bit of a moron for letting me keep him on the phone for so long).
Strangely, he hung up.
Haven't heard back from them
[/quote]
Classic. I wonder if there is some way Actionfraud can do similar along with tracing the origin of the call. I suspect the courts would say the caller hadn't dome anything wrong until they've taken money though! Also the call was possibly from foreign places (although they may even be able to disguise that?)
I told them I was registered with TPS, so I shouldn't get cold calls.
They informed me that they were part of TPS and wanted to extend my service, for free.
All I had to do was verify my registration with TPS
They insisted they didn't need any money or personal details, but could I read the long number off my debit card? Oh, and the short number off the back.
I'm afraid to say that at this point I got very confused. They had to keep giving me the instructions.
I got them to give me their address. Took ages to write it down.
Then I asked them to spell it. Apparently Gloucester is spelled Gloster
Then I gave them the long number.
Got it wrong.
Had to get the other credit card.
Gave them that number.
Made them repeat it.
Got it wrong.
Told it to them again.
Made them repeat it.
Corrected it.
Twice.
Then gave them the short number off the back.
Pause.
"Sir, that card doesn't seem to be valid"
I got them to read all the details back again.
Corrected the mistake.
Made them repeat it.
"Sir, I still can't access your account"
After about 20 minutes of this I'd run out of excuses, so I'll confess I let rip, called the guy on the other end of the phone all the rude names I could conveniently think of, and told him in no uncertain terms that he was complete scum (and a bit of a moron for letting me keep him on the phone for so long).
Strangely, he hung up.
Haven't heard back from them
[/quote]
Classic. I wonder if there is some way Actionfraud can do similar along with tracing the origin of the call. I suspect the courts would say the caller hadn't dome anything wrong until they've taken money though! Also the call was possibly from foreign places (although they may even be able to disguise that?)
If it's anything like my bank, the main reason I need to use that card reader is to setup a new payee.
Which means that your MIL probably now has a new authorised payee on her account, and if they've got the details to log into her bank from the call / scanning her PC etc - they can now pay themselves as often as they like up to whatever balance / daily limit your MIL has.
Which means that your MIL probably now has a new authorised payee on her account, and if they've got the details to log into her bank from the call / scanning her PC etc - they can now pay themselves as often as they like up to whatever balance / daily limit your MIL has.
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