Scam Telephone Call Regarding Amazon Prime Membership

duncanp · 23 Sep 2019

I don’t know if anyone else has received this unsolicited telephone call, but it is clearly a scam.

“…Hi, this is a call to let you know that your Amazon Prime membership will be auto renewed for a payment of £79.99 from your bank account. You can continue to enjoy the benefits of Amazon Prime Membership, or if you wish to cancel, please press 1 to speak to one of our advisors…”

It makes a change from:-

threats of legal action from HMRC because you owe money for unpaid tax.
supposed calls from your bank wanting to discuss the suspicious payment of £600

Has anyone else received this call?

It seems to have surfaced in the past couple of weeks, and I received a second such call this afternoon.

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STEVIEBOY1 · 23 Sep 2019

There are so many scams about and some do sound quite genuine, you really have to be careful. I don't answer my land line now when it rings as I get a lot of these calls, I wait until it has stopped and then call 1471, if it's a number I know I'll call back, but usually it isn't, same with odd numbers that come up on the mobile.

bramling · 23 Sep 2019

duncanp said:
I don’t know if anyone else has received this unsolicited telephone call, but it is clearly a scam.

“…Hi, this is a call to let you know that your Amazon Prime membership will be auto renewed for a payment of £79.99 from your bank account. You can continue to enjoy the benefits of Amazon Prime Membership, or if you wish to cancel, please press 1 to speak to one of our advisors…”

Presumably the scam in this case is that pressing 1 will connect to a premium rate number, or connect to an "adviser" who will then attempt to extract bank account details or password?

duncanp · 23 Sep 2019

Yes, the "adviser" will ask for bank details, so that they can (allegedly) cancel the direct debit or standing order.

If the case was genuine, then they would already have the required bank details.

These calls are automated, and presumably use a random number generator to work out every possible number with a particular telephone code (eg 020 7XXX XXXX).

Even if only one or two in a thousand answer the call and give their bank details, that will make them enough money before the scam gets recognised.

The other one to watch for is one from HMRC saying that the owe you a tax rebate, and they want your bank details so that they can send you the money.

John Webb · 23 Sep 2019

About 18 months ago I invested in a new phone which has a built-in "Call Guardian" system. If the number is recognised from those you've put into it, callers get through without problems. If the number is not recognised, the caller is asked to announce who they are and then press a specified button on their phone. The call is put through to you and you can choose to accept or reject the caller. So it blocks automated calls - on average about one a day over the 18 months - without disturbing you.

You may also wish to try https://who-called.co.uk/ - a free look-up service on which people can post comments (anonymously) about calls they've received which were dubious or definitely a scam.

geml90 · 23 Sep 2019

There are some channels on YouTube which show how these scams work.

I received similar calls a few weeks ago and found that Plusnet has a feature to block them. I've enabled it in the online account and had nothing since - it seems to be free.

Howardh · 23 Sep 2019

I just use an answerphone, those who know me know once they speak I will pick it up (if in) and if not, I'll ring them back. Stops all the scam calls.

Kite159 · 23 Sep 2019

I tend to pick up the phone and say nothing for around 5 seconds, that way you can hear what is on the other end. It is normally enough to confuse the auto diallers into hanging up thinking they got an answer phone

Mag_seven · 23 Sep 2019

My usual response to these scam calls is to say "I wasn't born yesterday" followed by a rapid putting down of the receiver.

PeterY · 23 Sep 2019

Luckily I don't have a landline. With my mobile, if the number comes up "unknown" I don't answer it.
I've watched some of those scams on Youtube. Quite an interesting watch.

3141 · 23 Sep 2019

The latest ones I've received are from an outfit claiming that it's called UK Broadcast, asking whether we still have Sky and then asking for further details and probably leading to a request for bank details. There have been several of those recently. There's also the one allegedly from Sky saying that they will put us onto a lower monthly payment, and one telling me we're still paying too much for our TV. It's quite entertaining to interrupt and ask them questions, which takes them away from their script. Two recent automated ones have been from "Visa Security" and from "BT" to tell me that my internet connection is about to be closed down.

From time to time I get a batch of calls about "investment opportunities". In the past year or so I've noticed several calls which claim to be from a genuine company, which you can find on the internet but which you cannot easily get in contact with. One example was the former building society Bristol and West, which offered bonds paying a high interest rate. Another pretended to be from an investment company which turned out to be a subsidiary of a large food processing and marketing organisation. There have been several similar ones. The brains behind these schemes must have worked out that if they use the name of a firm that potential victims can find on the internet there's a better chance of persuading them to fork out some money.

I've also had in the past, but not for the past nine months or so, several calls purporting to be from UBS in Switzerland. The first of these is from an attractive-sounding female voice with a French accent. Later, a male voice follows this up with talk about an initial public offering from someone like Dropbox. One giveaway is that their email address is not the same as the real company they're pretending to be from.

It's disappointing that some of the real companies don't seem much interested when I phone to tell them they are being impersonated in these ways.

Lucan · 23 Sep 2019

Mag_seven said:
My usual response to these scam calls is to say "I wasn't born yesterday" followed by a rapid putting down of the receiver.

I put it down without hanging up, hanging up later next time I pass - it wastes their time. Even better, first ask them to explain in more detail. Better still, if you have the time and inclination, play them along and see how long you can make it last. Give them some false bank account details. It's a sport called "scam baiting".

Howardh · 23 Sep 2019

Lucan said:
I put it down without hanging up, hanging up later next time I pass - it wastes their time. Even better, first ask them to explain in more detail. Better still, if you have the time and inclination, play them along and see how long you can make it last. Give them some false bank account details. It's a sport called "scam baiting".

Don't give them a fake bank account, there's an extremely remote chance the numbers could be someone's real account that gets emptied?

Lucan · 24 Sep 2019

bramling said:
Presumably the scam in this case is that pressing 1 will connect to a premium rate number

Is that possible?

pdeaves · 24 Sep 2019

Lucan said:
Is that possible?

Regrettably, yes.

StaffsWCML · 24 Sep 2019

I had a few calls allegedly from BT saying there is a problem with my Internet IP address and it will be cut off in 24 hrs.

Idiots.

StoneRoad · 24 Sep 2019

I don't normally answer the landline if it doesn't display a number, but sometimes a spoofed number is displayed.
Unfortunately, the switchboard at the health centre does the "oooooo" display thing.

I listen for 10 secs to hear if it is a call cantre... and I have been known to keep one of these scammers on the line for 15 minutes or more (I used to use a "dead account" with a zero balance or now I say I don't have one).

The longer they talk to me, the less time they have to speak to someone vulnerable.
I detest TalkTalk because they confused a 90yr old deaf man into changing phone lines and it took several months before they would accept their fault.

scotrail158713 · 24 Sep 2019

I remember when I was a child there was one year in particular that we received a lot of these calls. We often passed the phone over to my younger sister, who was 2 at the time, and let her speak to them. That was always great fun to watch. :lol:

scotrail158713 · 24 Sep 2019

John Webb said:
About 18 months ago I invested in a new phone which has a built-in "Call Guardian" system. If the number is recognised from those you've put into it, callers get through without problems. If the number is not recognised, the caller is asked to announce who they are and then press a specified button on their phone. The call is put through to you and you can choose to accept or reject the caller. So it blocks automated calls - on average about one a day over the 18 months - without disturbing you.

You may also wish to try https://who-called.co.uk/ - a free look-up service on which people can post comments (anonymously) about calls they've received which were dubious or definitely a scam.

I have one of these on my landline and it’s great. (It’s beside the point but I don’t know why I still have a landline - it’s only regular use is phoning my parents)

furnessvale · 24 Sep 2019

Howardh said:
Don't give them a fake bank account, there's an extremely remote chance the numbers could be someone's real account that gets emptied?

Surely it takes more than the bank account number to do that?

IF that were possible, why don't the scammers forget randomly generated phone numbers and just randonly generate bank account numbers?

Howardh · 24 Sep 2019

furnessvale said:
Surely it takes more than the bank account number to do that?

IF that were possible, why don't the scammers forget randomly generated phone numbers and just randonly generate bank account numbers?

I don't know - and as you say random generation would already have been done; but I wouldn't like my account number to be accidentally hit on!

cactustwirly · 24 Sep 2019

furnessvale said:
Surely it takes more than the bank account number to do that?

IF that were possible, why don't the scammers forget randomly generated phone numbers and just randonly generate bank account numbers?

If you have bank account numbers then the only thing you can do is send money, you can't take money without the Debit card number.

Howardh · 24 Sep 2019

cactustwirly said:
If you have bank account numbers then the only thing you can do is send money, you can't take money without the Debit card number.

To be honest I haven't a clue as a credit card number is what you provide to someone else in a transaction - so they automatically get their details; so if you bought something off me, with your card, couldn't I use those details to buy something for myself using that number and having it directed to me??

duncanp · 24 Sep 2019

I had a few calls allegedly from BT saying there is a problem with my Internet IP address and it will be cut off in 24 hrs.

I moved into my current address 10 months ago and arranged for a BT engineer to come and connect the broadband and phone line.

Whilst the BT engineer was still on the premises I received a phone call saying that my broadband will be cut off in 24 hours because I hadn't paid the bill.

If that was a genuine call then my name is Donald Trump.

jon0844 · 24 Sep 2019

Howardh said:
Don't give them a fake bank account, there's an extremely remote chance the numbers could be someone's real account that gets emptied?

If you made up details then there's no way it would all match to give someone access.

With security as it is these days, most scammers try and gain access to your PC and then pretend to overpay a refund and make you pay them the overpaid amount in gift cards or something so ridiculously stupid it is stunning that people fall for it.

But they obviously do, hence why I try and waste their time long enough to reduce the time that operative has to scam someone else.

Lucan · 24 Sep 2019

Howardh said:
but I wouldn't like my account number to be accidentally hit on

Shopkeepers and waiters have the potential to note my bank account and sort code numbers every time I use my debit card; similar if I use my credit card. They might even manage to see the security number on the back (glass shop counter with a camera below?). A shop assistant in Japan was recently found to be doing something like that, and was found in possession hundreds of customers' card details - and using them for himself. Same potential problem with on-line sales companies.

Howardh · 24 Sep 2019

Lucan said:
Shopkeepers and waiters have the potential to note my bank account and sort code numbers every time I use my debit card; similar if I use my credit card. They might even manage to see the security number on the back (glass shop counter with a camera below?). A shop assistant in Japan was recently found to be doing something like that, and was found in possession hundreds of customers' card details - and using them for himself. Same potential problem with on-line sales companies.

Worrying.

DynamicSpirit · 25 Sep 2019

STEVIEBOY1 said:
There are so many scams about and some do sound quite genuine, you really have to be careful. I don't answer my land line now when it rings as I get a lot of these calls, I wait until it has stopped and then call 1471, if it's a number I know I'll call back, but usually it isn't, same with odd numbers that come up on the mobile.

I really think it's time we put some system in place by which phone numbers must always be registered with full details of the owner of that number, and callers can always be traced - sufficient for the authorities to always be able to track down the people who make scam calls. And have sufficient police resources available to have units dedicated to pursuing scam phone calls. I know several people on this thread have mentioned systems they use to ensure they personally don't answer scammers - and that's great for individuals, and something I'd recommend everyone doing if possible. But it doesn't give any incentive for scammers to stop scamming - it just means they need to dial more numbers before they find a victim - and with automated dialling systems available, the cost of dialling more numbers is basically zero. Really what we want is for scammers to find they very quickly get tracked down and prosecuted - that's, sadly, the only way that the problem is going to be fixed.

PeterC · 25 Sep 2019

DynamicSpirit said:
I really think it's time we put some system in place by which phone numbers must always be registered with full details of the owner of that number, and callers can always be traced - sufficient for the authorities to always be able to track down the people who make scam calls. And have sufficient police resources available to have units dedicated to pursuing scam phone calls. I know several people on this thread have mentioned systems they use to ensure they personally don't answer scammers - and that's great for individuals, and something I'd recommend everyone doing if possible. But it doesn't give any incentive for scammers to stop scamming - it just means they need to dial more numbers before they find a victim - and with automated dialling systems available, the cost of dialling more numbers is basically zero. Really what we want is for scammers to find they very quickly get tracked down and prosecuted - that's, sadly, the only way that the problem is going to be fixed.

The requirement is technology to stop number spoofing and make a "withheld" number being visible to the 1572 system so that the recipient can block it even if they don't know which number it is.

The problem with call screening is that, for reasons of confidentiality, some institutions simply won't leave messages.

I was just thinking that an automatic reporting system would be nice but then remembered how with email, in my own business, people would use the "report as spam" button rather than unsubscribe from a legitimate mailing list.

Lucan · 25 Sep 2019

DynamicSpirit said:
it's time we put some system in place ...... sufficient for the authorities to always be able to track down the people who make scam calls. And have sufficient police resources available to have units dedicated to pursuing scam phone calls

Most scams calls come from abroad, paticularly from India (and from China in the case of the USA). In India it is an industry, with large "call centres" employing numerous agents. During scam calls you can often hear other talkers in the background.

The agents first get jobs at legitimate call centres, outsourced by UK companies like BT. That way they get free (or rather paid) training on how to talk to UK "customers" and on the technical side - I have found some scam callers (the ones who say my phone is being disconnected) to be very knowledgable about the BT phone system.

The local Indian police are not interested. The scam centre is a good employer and earner for their community, and they probably get a cut, or at least their wives work there. One guy on the web (I forget the link), an expert at networking, has a story that he delved and found not only the street address of one of these centres, but also the names of the bosses. He gave this info to the Indian police but they did nothing.

Scam Telephone Call Regarding Amazon Prime Membership

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