Dodgy call or genuine??

[Heathwood]

Hi folks,

Just received a phone call from a chap (very foreign accent) saying he works for a claims and compensation firm (not sure if I can post the name of the company he claimed he worked for due to forum rules).

This chap claimed to be calling about a road traffic accident involving someone resident to my address that occurred within the last three years. When questioned, he couldn't give me any more information other than it was logged to my address and this information came from the 'RTA Management'.

Now neither my wife nor myself have been involved in any sort of accident so I'm thing likely scam of some kind or just one of these compensation companies taking a rather strange approach to finding accident victims.

Any ideas wise people of PH?

[CraigyMc]

Heathwood said:

Hi folks,

Just received a phone call from a chap (very foreign accent) saying he works for a claims and compensation firm (not sure if I can post the name of the company he claimed he worked for due to forum rules).

This chap claimed to be calling about a road traffic accident involving someone resident to my address that occurred within the last three years. When questioned, he couldn't give me any more information other than it was logged to my address and this information came from the 'RTA Management'.

Now neither my wife nor myself have been involved in any sort of accident so I'm thing likely scam of some kind or just one of these compensation companies taking a rather strange approach to finding accident victims.

Any ideas wise people of PH?

scam

[Heathwood]

Maybe I'm being thick but what's the scam?

[cuprabob]

It's a scam, they call me every couple of days eve although I've told them to f**k off.

[rottie102]

Cold calling from fking ambulance chasers... Just like you will receive a text with compensation offer as soon as you post for sale ad with your number in it.

I hate them even more than I hate cab drivers and that means something!

OP - Please please WASTE THEIR TIME as much as you can. Pretend that you are interested, arrange meetings in the sttiest part of town and then don't show up etc.

Edited by rottie102 on Saturday 22 January 15:52

[Mastodon2]

Heathwood said:

Maybe I'm being thick but what's the scam?

He eventually gets your insurance details from you, and the card details you used to purchase the insurance to make sure that it was you that was indeed the purchaser and holder of the insurance, and then he transfers everything in your bank account / credit limit to a Pakistani bank account and you never hear from him again.

[Pork]

Scam or not, its a cold call selling "where there's a blame, there's a claim".

Its an industry that makes my skin crawl - "you dont pay a penny, sir". No, I'm sure, direclty, I wont, but indirectly through increased insurance premiums (such as 40% rise this year) we all pay eventually.

Having had a week off this week, I'm disspaointed with the number of these ads that run through daytime TV.

[Heathwood]

Mastodon2 said:

Heathwood said:

Maybe I'm being thick but what's the scam?

He eventually gets your insurance details from you, and the card details you used to purchase the insurance to make sure that it was you that was indeed the purchaser and holder of the insurance, and then he transfers everything in your bank account / credit limit to a Pakistani bank account and you never hear from him again.

Crikey, are people really that daft that they'd provide such information to a foreign sounding stranger (no offence meant by that) over the phone!

[Shaw Tarse]

cuprabob said:

It's a scam, they call me every couple of days eve although I've told them to f**k off.

A bit like the texts I get saying "You may be entitled to £ following your accident" ?

[Mastodon2]

Heathwood said:

Mastodon2 said:

Heathwood said:

Maybe I'm being thick but what's the scam?

He eventually gets your insurance details from you, and the card details you used to purchase the insurance to make sure that it was you that was indeed the purchaser and holder of the insurance, and then he transfers everything in your bank account / credit limit to a Pakistani bank account and you never hear from him again.

Crikey, are people really that daft that they'd provide such information to a foreign sounding stranger (no offence meant by that) over the phone!

I remember reading an article in a newspaper about a woman who had lost more than £50,000 in one of those phone call scams along the lines of "Wire us £3000 so we can unlock your millions in prize mones please" and they kept going back to her and she kept paying out. She was of sane mind, not senile or suffering from dementia or any other degenerative brain disorder, so yes, people really can be that fking thick.

[Heathwood]

On the subject of scams, I've also had a lot of calls recently from a heavily accented chap (could be the same bloke for all I know) claiming to have had reports of slow internet connection / potential viruses on my home PC. I get rid of him pretty quickly but, similarly, I'm left wondering what his ultimate objective is.

[Frederick]

Heathwood said:

On the subject of scams, I've also had a lot of calls recently from a heavily accented chap (could be the same bloke for all I know) claiming to have had reports of slow internet connection / potential viruses on my home PC. I get rid of him pretty quickly but, similarly, I'm left wondering what his ultimate objective is.

"Certainly sir, I can fix that for you for a one off charge, please can you tell me your name, address, credit card number, CVV number and expiry date. Thank you please"

[davethebunny]

Heathwood said:

On the subject of scams, I've also had a lot of calls recently from a heavily accented chap (could be the same bloke for all I know) claiming to have had reports of slow internet connection / potential viruses on my home PC. I get rid of him pretty quickly but, similarly, I'm left wondering what his ultimate objective is.

Remote in, install keylogger, tell you its fixed, then wait for you to do some online banking/Credit card. Then has access to your accounts.

[TRUENOSAM]

Yeah I have had a similar call. I usually high 5 them.....they dont like that

[TheMoron]

String 'um along. It passes the time

[stabilio]

Goto whocallsme.com and type in the number and it should say if its a scam. Chances are there are several pages with others leaving feedback if it is fishy.

[Heathwood]

TRUENOSAM said:

I usually high 5 them.....they dont like that

Eh, what's that?

[simion_levi]

Heathwood said:

Mastodon2 said:

Heathwood said:

Maybe I'm being thick but what's the scam?

He eventually gets your insurance details from you, and the card details you used to purchase the insurance to make sure that it was you that was indeed the purchaser and holder of the insurance, and then he transfers everything in your bank account / credit limit to a Pakistani bank account and you never hear from him again.

Crikey, are people really that daft that they'd provide such information to a foreign sounding stranger (no offence meant by that) over the phone!

I doubt it is a 'scam' in that sense of the word. I would expect it to be a cold-call to harvest information on behalf of some compo-Injury company. Once the call centre has dredged the bottom of the barrel and actually got some responses, the jokers higher up the food chain can filter the incidents for profitability and establish proper contact.

Having said that, there's always the potential for some advanced fee shennanigans with the mouthbreathers... call it £50 non-refundable admin costs. Depending on how transparent they are with their fee and what the applicant is getting for it (i.e. probably a 'case review' then told it isn't worth chasing, for the majority), it could actually be a scam.