CTS Lawyers and accident claims: Anyone been called by them?

[Death]

Hail all!
Whilst typing my reply to a post on another forum, I received a very strange call on my mobile from a company calling themselves CTS Lawyers who were calling in regard to "your accident", and asking me if I would be interested in claiming compensation payments for this. The caller themselves was a lady with a southern English (I'd say Essex) accent who stated that the file had been passed to her today, and the line itself - Which was quiet and prone to echo - Sounded to me like it was being routed across a mixture of phone services to try and disguise the origin of the call behind its withheld number.

Now the first thing that got me was the apparent "No win, no fee" nature of such a claim, which always makes me suspect a cold-calling NWNF service trying their luck. However the worrying thing is that the caller had quite a few of my personal details to hand - Including my name, street, and details of a vehicle I had owned - And seemed to impress that she knew quite a bit about this alleged "accident" that she was calling me about.
However when I pressed her for details (Such as exact location of the accident, damage done to vehicles and property, who referred the case etc) she was extremely vague in her responses. She would only give me a town name for the accident location, wouldn't tell me what damage was involved in the claim other than fiscal value, and wouldn't tell me the company or insurer who referred the case to them - Stating in all cases that "We havn't been given that information due to Data Protection". :roll:

As soon as I mentioned that I was not happy that this was a genuine call, the lady became audibly irate and started to get quite stroppy with her responses - Trying to press the issue of this being "The only chance to give your details and make your claim" which pretty much sealed it for me. Thank Odin the battery in my phone was Dying, and she hung up just as I was about to! hock:

The thing that concerns me here is the level of personal and vehicle details that she had to hand, and I would like to know where the heck she got them from. I was covered by a reputable mainstream insurer on that vehicle, who shouldn't have been passing those details around at all. I never made any claim on my policy, but of course I can never tell whether or not anyone may have made a claim against my registration number without my knowledge.

Does anyone know what action - If any - I should take in regard to this call and the alleged "claim"? ​

The real slip-up in this case of course is that the vehicle in question was scrapped by my own hand in late 2008CE as she needed more work on the brakes than I could afford... :roll:
>> Death <<

 

[Geezertronic]

It could be these guys (don't know if they are the same):

http://www.claimtoday.com/
http://www.yell.com/b/C.T.S-Solicitors-birmingham-B151BQ-3764283/


But there is this on the CAG website which doesn't contain a lot but may be worth noting:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.u...tchout-they-try-to-spoof-you-on-old-accidents.


Or might just be some chancers...

 

[william]

Hail all!
Whilst typing my reply to a post on another forum, I received a very strange call on my mobile from a company calling themselves CTS Lawyers who were calling in regard to "your accident", and asking me if I would be interested in claiming compensation payments for this. The caller themselves was a lady with a southern English (I'd say Essex) accent who stated that the file had been passed to her today, and the line itself - Which was quiet and prone to echo - Sounded to me like it was being routed across a mixture of phone services to try and disguise the origin of the call behind its withheld number.

Now the first thing that got me was the apparent "No win, no fee" nature of such a claim, which always makes me suspect a cold-calling NWNF service trying their luck. However the worrying thing is that the caller had quite a few of my personal details to hand - Including my name, street, and details of a vehicle I had owned - And seemed to impress that she knew quite a bit about this alleged "accident" that she was calling me about.
However when I pressed her for details (Such as exact location of the accident, damage done to vehicles and property, who referred the case etc) she was extremely vague in her responses. She would only give me a town name for the accident location, wouldn't tell me what damage was involved in the claim other than fiscal value, and wouldn't tell me the company or insurer who referred the case to them - Stating in all cases that "We havn't been given that information due to Data Protection". :roll:

As soon as I mentioned that I was not happy that this was a genuine call, the lady became audibly irate and started to get quite stroppy with her responses - Trying to press the issue of this being "The only chance to give your details and make your claim" which pretty much sealed it for me. Thank Odin the battery in my phone was Dying, and she hung up just as I was about to! hock:

The thing that concerns me here is the level of personal and vehicle details that she had to hand, and I would like to know where the heck she got them from. I was covered by a reputable mainstream insurer on that vehicle, who shouldn't have been passing those details around at all. I never made any claim on my policy, but of course I can never tell whether or not anyone may have made a claim against my registration number without my knowledge.

Does anyone know what action - If any - I should take in regard to this call and the alleged "claim"? ​

The real slip-up in this case of course is that the vehicle in question was scrapped by my own hand in late 2008CE as she needed more work on the brakes than I could afford... :roll:
>> Death <<

This is a common reaction by call centre staff when questioned in my experience.

 

[Death]

This is a common reaction by call centre staff when questioned in my experience.

Seems a bit daft to me, given that - In todays climate - They should be fully prepared for customers being suspicious and wishing to confirm the call as being genuine! hock::roll:

 

[HST Power]

Just before I logged in there was an advertisement banner for injury lawyers directly above this thread.....most amusing!

First it was PPI, now it seems that work related injuries are becoming the new thing. Last week, we even had a letter from a stockbroker, who said we could be entitled to money from share sales. My family did have shares......but they were sold twenty years ago!

I would advise you treat such calls with an unhealthy pinch of salt. If you do need to make an injury claim then you should be the one making the move, a random call from a random company with access to your details would be an immediate hang up if it were me.

 

[jb]

Seems a bit daft to me, given that - In todays climate - They should be fully prepared for customers being suspicious and wishing to confirm the call as being genuine! hock::roll:

I really am surprised at how thrown staff from, say, a credit card company get when they call me, unbidden, from a hidden / unverifiable number and then I ask them for a verifiable number on which I can call them back.

It is quite literally as if no-one has asked them this question before and they are utterly unable to fathom why I should do such a ridiculous thing.

 

[Death]

I would advise you treat such calls with an unhealthy pinch of salt. If you do need to make an injury claim then you should be the one making the move, a random call from a random company with access to your details would be an immediate hang up if it were me.

That's pretty much the line I was taking. I never made any claim against my motor policy (Given how much paperwork I had for a travel insurance claim a couple of years ago, I think I'd remember if I had! :razz: ) and five years after the vehicle has been scrapped (DVLA cert on file) seems to be a bit like closing the stable door long after the horse has Died and wound up in a Tesco Value pastie! :roll:

What worries the heck out of me is that these people have a lot of my information which they shouldn't have, and I want to know how the Bl**dy Hell they got a hold of it! hock:
Think I might be having some stern words with a few comparison websites that I queried for my insurance cover at the time...

I really am surprised at how thrown staff from, say, a credit card company get when they call me, unbidden, from a hidden / unverifiable number and then I ask them for a verifiable number on which I can call them back. It is quite literally as if no-one has asked them this question before and they are utterly unable to fathom why I should do such a ridiculous thing.

It seems to be a rather dim-witted attitude that a lot of companies (If not society as a whole) seems to have adopted over the past few years;...

• If a company calls ye, then ye are expected to take their merest word as the Gods' truth without the slightest hint of checking and verification from the customer end. I've run into major hassles in the past with companies that have expected me to accept this attitude regardless, and who refuse to verify themselves as genuine by complying with my reasonable security checks which take the form of confirming pieces of info (I.E: Account activity) that are mutually held by both parties!
  
  I have actually had someone from a genuine business call me, intro themselves and the business, and then immediately request my extremely private and confidential customer ID for "security purposes". It was a genuine call and I did resolve it after being passed to a floor manager who accepted my request to verify them, but it was such a poorly executed call that I wrote to their head offices afterward to highlight my concerns! :roll:
  .
• Whereas if ye call a company - Even from thy own phone line or from in store on their phone - Ye have to go through an unreasonable series of hoops to get to where ye want to go! I don't mind being asked to confirm two or three items of sensible and business relevant info (Such as "What was the amount of your one purchase on the 8th of the month" or "Please name the Pay-Per-View event that you purchased on the night of the 19th") but being asked to hand out pieces of irrelevant and personal info on the bat is just beyond the pale.
  Unless I'm getting a job with them that involves driving a repair van around, no telephone, satellite or cable company has any business knowing the number on my driving license! hock::roll:

To summarise: Nowadays - Especially with fraud and scams on a continual increase - I refuse to do business with companies that can't appropriately identify themselves to me, and refuse to let me verify their staff as genuine when I require it!
>> Death <<

 

[Greenback]

If someone calls you unannounced or uninvited and asks for any personal information, simply refuse, after all, they rang you so they must want something!

I always invite them to put in writing if it's important - I will not even confirm the street name!

Of course, genuine callers will be prepared for this if they have been anywhere near adequately trained. I remember a brief period working in an office which rang people to arrnage medical appointments they had been waiting for - some were suspicious at the beginning of the call and I was always perfectly happy to provide a number that they could ring if they wanted to, or to send them a letter on headed paper with their appointment details on, and let them contact me if they wanted to change it because it was inconvenient.

 

[deltic1989]

"Please name the Pay-Per-View event that you purchased on the night of the 19th") but being asked to hand out pieces of irrelevant and personal

I would be extremely uncomfortable revealing this information, particularly since when I call my bank I usually speak to a lady

On a serious note. Mrs D and I have been on the receiving end of an extraordinary number of cold calls just lately. Ranging from Accident Solicitors offering to sort out an injury claim for my non-fault motorcycle accident (I had a motorcycle accident about 3 years ago but it was entirely my fault so no entitlement to claim), to loan companies saying they can have £1000 in my account today (Just pay us a £60 "admin fee":roll.

They are all treated with equal contempt as we are not interested in what they are selling, they are given the second word of "off" and invited to select their first (it's only polite ).

But like Death I am very concerned by the amount of personal information they have about us. full name (including middle names), address, one even quoted my driving licence number which nearly made me drop a brick.
One has to wonder where they get this information from, it is extremely worrying that information such as this is freely accessible to potential scam artists.

I play a very close game with my details I never give out personal stuff to someone who calls me. If the bank calls for instance I say "ok I'll call you back" and that's never a problem. With some of these other callers they get rather shirty if you ask for a number to call them back, and they are given the response detailed above.

Remember from the word go you are in control of the call, if you don't like something about the caller hang up. If the number is not witheld then Google it, there are forums like whocallsme.co.uk where someone will have had a call from the same number.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The response from one of my sons to matters such as this is to inform the cold-caller that he is a solicitor and that any personal legal business he has is conducted through his own firm.

 

[Searle]

On a serious note. Mrs D and I have been on the receiving end of an extraordinary number of cold calls just lately. Ranging from Accident Solicitors offering to sort out an injury claim for my non-fault motorcycle accident (I had a motorcycle accident about 3 years ago but it was entirely my fault so no entitlement to claim), to loan companies saying they can have £1000 in my account today (Just pay us a £60 "admin fee":roll.

It's not just you, we've started getting an extortionate amount of cold calls lately, we're on about 3-4 per day, and now adopt a policy of 'don't pick up the phone unless you recognise the number'

 

[swj99]

What worries the heck out of me is that these people have a lot of my information which they shouldn't have, and I want to know how the Bl**dy Hell they got a hold of it!

Could be the DVLA.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/dvla_selling_personal_informatio

 

[william]

I had one once when I was ex-directory...

Agent: "Can I speak to Mr Smith?"

Me "I'm sorry, you have the wrong number"

Agent "What is your name?"

Me "I'm sorry you have the wrong number, where did you get this number?"

Agent"I'm sorry Sir, if I could just take some personal details?"

(The cheek, I thought)

Me"THIS IS A CLASSIFIED NUMBER, WHO IS THIS AND HOW DID YOU GET THIS NUMBER?"

Agent (rather sheepishly): I'm sorry Sir, it's a wrong number , have a good day.

 

[district]

I used to work in a call centre which had been instructed by major banks to conduct market research on its customers. We therefore had a lot of information to hand to prove the legitimacy of our request.

Unfortunately, some customers did not accept this to be the case, and became abusive towards me. Some would say that they were ex-directory or on the Telephone Preference Service, which they thought would stop them from unsolicited calls.

However, the phone numbers were sourced from their bank (who was paying us) and the Telephone Preference Service only protects against sales calls. We had nothing to sell, and no facility to process payments.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

However, the phone numbers were sourced from their bank (who was paying us) and the Telephone Preference Service only protects against sales calls. We had nothing to sell, and no facility to process payments.

How would the people to whom you were talking to and were suspicious about the motives of the company, know that this would have been the case ? Sales calls can start by appearing to be "just about a survey".

 

[jb]

I used to work in a call centre which had been instructed by major banks to conduct market research on its customers. We therefore had a lot of information to hand to prove the legitimacy of our request.

Care to expand? I can't think of anything that you can provide over the phone in that situation that proves your legitimacy.

 

[michael769]

Care to expand? I can't think of anything that you can provide over the phone in that situation that proves your legitimacy.

Date of birth? Account number? Banks hold loads of information about us that are not widely known.

 

[richw]

On incoming calls, lets use your mortgage as an example scenario, (This is a real life scenario that has happened to me)
You fall behind on your mortgage, unbeknown to you due to a cock up by your bank with the direct debit. Your mortgage company call you to advise you of unpaid direct debit, but before they can advise you of any details, due to data protection act they need to confirm they have the right person, which requires 4 questions from memory about you and your account, Full Name, D.O.B, Postcode and 1 additional question relating to your account. If I didnt answer these questions they wouldnt have been able to disclose that my direct debit was unpaid, potentially jeopodising my mortgage.
Because I was willing to co-operate I was able to rectify my mortgage, without adverse affect, as they didnt report late to credit referencing companies as was rectified so close to due date, and didnt charge a late payment fee, which is applicable if going x number of days late. Had I not co-operated with their call, I would of suffered their late fee, credit report affected, and probably numerous phone calls each day.

 

[Geezertronic]

On the other hand, you ask them for a reference and ring them back on either the number they provide or the number on their website. Either way will help resolve your issue without giving out any information to the person who called you but the latter way would do so to a number you expect to be correct if it is from their website

 

[jb]

Date of birth? Account number? Banks hold loads of information about us that are not widely known.

Nope, nothing that is straightforward information works here. All that them providing not-widely-known things "proves" is that they could be quite well-informed scambags.

 

[youngboy]

Hail all!
Whilst typing my reply to a post on another forum, I received a very strange call on my mobile from a company calling themselves CTS Lawyers who were calling in regard to "your accident", and asking me if I would be interested in claiming compensation payments for this. The caller themselves was a lady with a southern English (I'd say Essex) accent who stated that the file had been passed to her today, and the line itself - Which was quiet and prone to echo - Sounded to me like it was being routed across a mixture of phone services to try and disguise the origin of the call behind its withheld number.

Now the first thing that got me was the apparent "No win, no fee" nature of such a claim, which always makes me suspect a cold-calling NWNF service trying their luck. However the worrying thing is that the caller had quite a few of my personal details to hand - Including my name, street, and details of a vehicle I had owned - And seemed to impress that she knew quite a bit about this alleged "accident" that she was calling me about.
However when I pressed her for details (Such as exact location of the accident, damage done to vehicles and property, who referred the case etc) she was extremely vague in her responses. She would only give me a town name for the accident location, wouldn't tell me what damage was involved in the claim other than fiscal value, and wouldn't tell me the company or insurer who referred the case to them - Stating in all cases that "We havn't been given that information due to Data Protection". :roll:

As soon as I mentioned that I was not happy that this was a genuine call, the lady became audibly irate and started to get quite stroppy with her responses - Trying to press the issue of this being "The only chance to give your details and make your claim" which pretty much sealed it for me. Thank Odin the battery in my phone was Dying, and she hung up just as I was about to! hock:

The thing that concerns me here is the level of personal and vehicle details that she had to hand, and I would like to know where the heck she got them from. I was covered by a reputable mainstream insurer on that vehicle, who shouldn't have been passing those details around at all. I never made any claim on my policy, but of course I can never tell whether or not anyone may have made a claim against my registration number without my knowledge.

Does anyone know what action - If any - I should take in regard to this call and the alleged "claim"? ​

The real slip-up in this case of course is that the vehicle in question was scrapped by my own hand in late 2008CE as she needed more work on the brakes than I could afford... :roll:
>> Death <<

From what I've read in the news it's mainly down to insurance companies selling on the details to agencies who then sell the info to solicitor's and claims companies.
Jack Straw has been campaigning for a few years now about the illicit nature of this circle whereby you make a claim or just notify your insurance company of a non fault claim, they then sell the details to a third party, the third party rings you to hassle you into claiming then hey presto you claim and the cost of insurance goes up next year. Win/win for insurance companies and also some police forces which I believe have also sold personal information for the cash !!

 

[william]

From what I've read in the news it's mainly down to insurance companies selling on the details to agencies who then sell the info to solicitor's and claims companies.
Jack Straw has been campaigning for a few years now about the illicit nature of this circle whereby you make a claim or just notify your insurance company of a non fault claim, they then sell the details to a third party, the third party rings you to hassle you into claiming then hey presto you claim and the cost of insurance goes up next year. Win/win for insurance companies and also some police forces which I believe have also sold personal information for the cash !!

Along with guns
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10562425

and drugs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-22029657

 

[90019]

The thing that concerns me here is the level of personal and vehicle details that she had to hand, and I would like to know where the heck she got them from. I was covered by a reputable mainstream insurer on that vehicle, who shouldn't have been passing those details around at all. I never made any claim on my policy, but of course I can never tell whether or not anyone may have made a claim against my registration number without my knowledge.

If you've used any insurance comparison sites recently, that's probably where they'll have got the details from.

I've now had my licence for 4 years, but since I didn't have my own insurance policy until just under a year ago, I hadn't built up a NCB. When I searched for insurance, the details will have been sold on, meaning I got calls from ambulance chasers about an accident I've had, even though I haven't.


If you haven't used comparison sites, it may well have been your previous insurer.

 

[maniacmartin]

I used to work in a call centre which had been instructed by major banks to conduct market research on its customers. We therefore had a lot of information to hand to prove the legitimacy of our request.

Unfortunately, some customers did not accept this to be the case, and became abusive towards me. Some would say that they were ex-directory or on the Telephone Preference Service, which they thought would stop them from unsolicited calls.

However, the phone numbers were sourced from their bank (who was paying us) and the Telephone Preference Service only protects against sales calls. We had nothing to sell, and no facility to process payments.

Legal or not, I don't agree with this practice. I don't think banks should be giving out their customers details to third parties for cold-calling for market research.

 

[michael769]

Legal or not, I don't agree with this practice. I don't think banks should be giving out their customers details to third parties for cold-calling for market research.

The terms and conditions to which you agreed when you took out products from them do make it clear that they have the right to do this. They also make it clear that you can ask them not to!

 

[Death]

I would be extremely uncomfortable revealing this information, particularly since when I call my bank I usually speak to a lady

Well, I would say that's in context. Thy bank won't know what Pay-Per-View content ye'd be ordering (They just see a monthly Direct Debit to thy media provider) but thy media provider would, and that would be a relevant check for them. For that kind of content though, I think they'd accept "Adult content" and/or the value of the PPV order(s) for that purpose.

...and now adopt a policy of 'don't pick up the phone unless you recognise the number'

That only works if ye have a CDS subscription, though. My telephone provider charges about £2.25/month extra for this service, and - With the low number of calls I receive - I simply can't justify paying that.

Considering that CDS simply sends a few bytes of pulse-encoded data down the line through the ring voltage (A fairly simple process) though, I really think that CDS should be inclusive with ones line rental.

I used to work in a call centre which had been instructed by major banks to conduct market research on its customers. We therefore had a lot of information to hand to prove the legitimacy of our request.

Without going into any personal details, may I ask what bits of information (And whether they were full or partial) they provided to ye for this purpose? I'm interested both from the perspective of personal data security, and to improve my customer-end checks.

Unfortunately, some customers did not accept this to be the case, and became abusive towards me. Some would say that they were ex-directory or on the Telephone Preference Service, which they thought would stop them from unsolicited calls. However, the phone numbers were sourced from their bank (who was paying us) and the Telephone Preference Service only protects against sales calls.

Personally I don't get abusive with cold callers unless they become particularly insistent and won't take "no" for an answer, although when I turn up the heat I'm careful not to say anything that could be held against me in Law...Don't forget that many services record ALL calls that they make for this exact purpose.

I'm TPS registered and ex-directory myself and have stopped receiving some sales calls originating from within the UK. However call centres outside of the UK aren't covered by the scope of the TPS, and call centres within the UK can still funk around the TPS legislation by VoIP'ing the call from their location into the POTS at an offshore location. India and Cyprus seem to be two favourites for this trick IME.

We had nothing to sell, and no facility to process payments.

...But of course, the called party has no way of knowing or verifying that fact. Simply saying "We're not selling anything" or "We have no payment facilities here" just doesn't cut it for me, personally.

Date of birth? Account number? Banks hold loads of information about us that are not widely known.

Nope, nothing that is straightforward information works here. All that them providing not-widely-known things "proves" is that they could be quite well-informed scambags.

Date of Birth, account and card numbers, addresses beyond district level and similar specifics are all pieces of information that I will not provide to any unknown entity until they have suitably verified themselves as genuine in my eyes. Therefore if I'm cold-called by someone who's asking for this information, I will normally insist on verifying them by asking for partial pieces of information about myself that they should have immediately to hand (Which in themselves would not pose a risk in the event of myself not being who I said I was, and therefore is OK under the DPA).

Here's an approximate example, based on a call that I had from a Government organisation about a year ago:

Them: Hello, can I speak to Mr. ****** please?
[i]Me: Speaking.[/i]
Them: I'm calling about [Topic] to arrange an appointment. Firstly however, I
need to verify your identity for security purposes. Can I have your National
Insurance number, please? 
[i]Me: I hope you don't mind, but before I release any personal information to
you I must be satisfied that you are a genuine caller and that you are indeed
calling on behalf of the entity that you say you are calling from. To do this,
I will ask you to confirm pieces of information that you hold, and for which
partials may be confirmed without any breach of the Data Protection Act.

Firstly, can you please confirm the [b]first three characters[/b] of my National
Insurance Number?[/i]
Them: [Gives correct response]
[i]Me: And now, can you please confirm the [b]last two letters[/b] of my postcode?[/i]
Them: [Gives correct response]
[i]Me: And finally, can you please confirm [b]the response that I gave to question
X[/b] on the form that I sent to you on the [date].[/i] (This question was a yes/no job)
Them: Your answer to question X was [Correct answer]
[i]Me: Thanks for confirming those pieces of information, and I am now satisfied 
that you are indeed calling from [Name of organisation]. My NI number is...

[Call proceeds as normal][/i]

If you've used any insurance comparison sites recently, that's probably where they'll have got the details from.
[...]
If you haven't used comparison sites, it may well have been your previous insurer.

Most likely the price comparison sites, I'd guess. I was insured with Churchill - Who I believe are a fully reputable company (Any gen to the otherwise?) - Whose policy I found through a comparison site.

I keep eternal backups of all e-mail beyond classic spam though, so I should be able to work out who released what...IF I get the time to do so! hock:

Legal or not, I don't agree with this practice. I don't think banks should be giving out their customers details to third parties for cold-calling for market research.

Personally, I don't think that anyone should be giving out that kind of information without explicit consent from the customer beforehand, but alas many such Pass your info on to other "carefully selected" companies are opt-out rather than opt-in.
Worse though is when a company makes that feature a requirement under their TOCs of service. Google and Facebook are two high-line examples of companies who do that, and - Unless ye can go without an account to service thy smartphone, and can live without social networking (I can't do either) - Ye are pretty much stuck in a hole! hock:

Remember from the word go you are in control of the call, if you don't like something about the caller hang up. If the number is not widtheld then Google it, there are forums like whocallsme.co.uk where someone will have had a call from the same number.

A word of Warning to landline users: ​

Because of the way the landline/POTS telephone system works, it's possible for fraudsters to trap a subsequent outgoing call from your phone line and answer it as if they were the organisation ye were trying to ring. This happens because control of the line is placed in the hands of the calling party, and the line isn't closed and freed-up until they have hung up.

When a scam artist calls ye to warn ye of "suspicious activity on your card" and encourages ye to ring another number to quantify this ("Dial 999 and ask for the Police" or "Call the number on the back of your card" are two common suggestions) ye hang up, think that the line is clear, and dial another number.
However - Because the scammer hasn't hung up and has kept the line open, ye are basically picking up the phone to them again and they can intercept thy second "call" - More advanced systems and experienced operators can identify the number that ye are trying to call by listening to the DTMF (Touch-tones) produced by thy phone, and then answer the line as appropriate to the number ye tried to dial.

DTMF recognition is also how they try to make a verify appear safe by having ye enter thy PIN into thy telephone handset. Of course, the computer system or operator can get the PIN from those tones (Heck, I use the DTMF myself to confirm I'm hitting the right numbers when dialling!) and thus keying thy number in is no safer than just telling the operator thy PIN...Just like thy bank told ye never to do! hock:

A description of this type of scam can be found at http://www.financialfraudaction.org.uk/Consumer-Card-Fraud-Telephone-Scam.asp for the curious, but an easy way to prevent falling for this trick is to Make the check-up call from a different telephone line or mobile to the one that ye received the original call on...So if a scammer calls ye on thy landline and suggests "Call 999, ask for the Police, and they'll reinforce what we're saying", call 110 (The local Police non-emergency number - DON'T use 999 for checking up on card fraud!) on thy mobile and do as requested. The Police'll soon verify that ye've got a scam call on the go, and take thy details so that they can (Hopefully) trace the call!

Anyhow...Gods only know how long this post has got to! Hope the info here is useful!
>> Death <<

 

[michael769]

One of my credit card providers asked me to provide two passwords. During a call I have to provide them one of the passwords and they have to provide the other - a simple and effective technique for mutually confirming identity - one in fact used be the intelligence community for centuries.

 

[district]

How would the people to whom you were talking to and were suspicious about the motives of the company, know that this would have been the case ? Sales calls can start by appearing to be "just about a survey".

I can't prove that I cannot process transactions, and if they decide not to partake in the survey that is entirely up to them.

Care to expand? I can't think of anything that you can provide over the phone in that situation that proves your legitimacy.

We had details about the customers account, including their name, phone number, address, branch name & the details of accounts held by them. We did not have access to account numbers or sort codes.

We also would provide the opportunity for them to contact their own bank to ask them if they have authorised the company I worked for to do the survey. I would offer to ring back at a time after they had done this.

 

[Death]

One of my credit card providers asked me to provide two passwords. During a call I have to provide them one of the passwords and they have to provide the other - a simple and effective technique for mutually confirming identity - one in fact used be the intelligence community for centuries.

Now that's a good approach! Add another two passwords for duress purposes (So ye give thy "duress" password if that applies, and they respond with their duress password in acknowledgement) and ye have a most suitable system!

We had details about the customers account, including their name, phone number, address, branch name & the details of accounts held by them. We did not have access to account numbers or sort codes.

Hmm...So I could use the last few bytes of an alternative telephone number, branch holding a specific account, and parts of my address I suppose.

We also would provide the opportunity for them to contact their own bank to ask them if they have authorised the company I worked for to do the survey. I would offer to ring back at a time after they had done this.

That's always a better option...Though for mere surveys, I'll normally request a form in writing by post.
>> Death <<

 

[SS4]

Automated scammers are the most annoying. I had one about a week ago about PPI and I could press 5 to proceed or 9 to tell me I'd done it and they'd "take me off their list". Yeah, I wasn't falling for that one! You can't even speak to a real person to express your distaste.

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