This topic

Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:51:37 GMT

With now at least 50% of all incoming calls being some form of scam is it time for BT to take action.

By providing the 'vehicle' for scammers to get into our homes via the landline and email, scammers are exploiting this obviously with some degree of success.

The numerous calls we are now get telling us our amazon account has been suspended, my NI number has been compromised, BT about our phone account, how our computer has a virus, etc, etc, etc,

We are now also receiving messages from this community, "

------------------------------------------------------------------

Quicksilvers

‎18-01-2021

Best way to make money online! Use your chance to the world of digital opportunities! Join us!

Dear Sir/Madam! We are the - a group of people who jumped on the insane bitcoin profits and quietly got rich! We popularize digital technologies around the world and help people to make money on it! Hurry up to join the best Financial Online Community! Open a FREE account at make money online with us!

---------------------------------------------------------

Surely the time has now come for BT to stop allowing it's infrastructure for unscrupulous scammers to con people.

Action needed BT, you are an accessory to the crime !!

Re: Scams

CJT80 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:47:57 GMT

@thesilentone

Are you receiving messages from a member or members with content which is a Scam?

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 14:53:18 GMT

Yes, however you're filter will not allow the word in the this forum, but does allow it in my messages.

Re: Scams

Keith_Beddoe — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:02:56 GMT

@thesilentone

This is only a customer forum, however I suspect that the message was send to you on the 18th, and you have only just read it.

This type of private message should no longer be received.

As for phone calls, the only effective was to stop those is with a call blocking phone, like the BT4600.

Re: Scams

JohnC2 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:02:29 GMT

Hi @thesilentone, sorry you received the above spam message on the 18th. I can assure you that appropriate action has been taken and we've also taken further steps to prevent spam messages in the future.

Thanks

John

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:12:17 GMT

That would mean doing this every day, why should I ??

BT should vet every user and customer, and not pass the buck to it's customers to clean up the system.

Get you're own house in order !!

Re: Scams

bratman91 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:51:15 GMT

There is a limited capability for BT or, indeed, any phone company or ISP to stop scam calls.

1. Many, perhaps most, originate from outside the UK and are beyond the reach of UK regulatory or enforcement agencies.

2. Some scams are very convincing and it is not until delving into them that it can be identified as a scam. Some scammers barely have a pulse and an IQ in double figures but others can be extremely skilled and use sophisticated methods.

3. The only filter that well stop all scams is a filter than will stop everything. A filter might stop some scammer but it might also stop a legitimate call (how would it know that your Great Auntie Joan in Africa wants to contact you after losing touch for ten years, rather than a scammer?)

If you want to stop or at least greatly reduce scam phone calls, invest in a phone such as the BT8600 or something very similar. They are not expensive and work very effectively to deter scammers and prevent their calls from bothering you.

If you want to stop scam emails - you can’t stop them all but you can be careful (there are numerous guides on the internet that tell you how).

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:41:37 GMT

Then do what email does, have a 'white list ' for Aunty Mable from Africa, I'm certain these call numbers v the scam callers will be very small.

It's time for BT to cut the excuses and become much more proactive in dealing with this very serious problem.

Fraud via the BT network must be the sleeping giant for future compensation claims, as you appear to be burying your heads in the sand. This policy will eventually lead to the break up of BT as a Company.

Re: Scams

gg30340 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:46:27 GMT

@thesilentone wrote:

With now at least 50% of all incoming calls being some form of scam is it time for BT to take action.

By providing the 'vehicle' for scammers to get into our homes via the landline and email, scammers are exploiting this obviously with some degree of success.

The numerous calls we are now get telling us our amazon account has been suspended, my NI number has been compromised, BT about our phone account, how our computer has a virus, etc, etc, etc,

We are now also receiving messages from this community, "

Action needed BT, you are an accessory to the crime !!

Do you blame car manufactures for providing the "vehicle" for drunk drivers or knife manufacturers for all the murders involving a knife.

I would be interested to hear how you propose "BT should vet every user and customer". Does that include every person regardless of where they are in the world who happens to make a telephone call to a BT customer residing in the UK or every person who happens to send an email to a person who uses BT Broadband or BT email address who resides in the UK

The only people that are to blame for the scams are the scammers.

If 50% of the calls you receive are from scammers perhaps it is time that you took some action to prevent those calls. There is plenty information available that can assist you to become better informed about scams and how not to be scammed.

Re: Scams

bratman91 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:16:16 GMT

That is exactly what BT8600 and probably other models allow you to do. Phone calls from anyone in your address book (the “white” list) pass through unimpeded or to answerphone (if you have decided this); phone calls from other callers receive a message that they must announce their name and reason for calling. You can hear this and decide either to let the call through once, let it through every time, add it to your address book or bar it. It works a treat! As far as I can tell, scam callers do not bother even announcing their name or reason for calling and just hang up so that they can move on to less protected numbers.

You are in total control over the “white” list and can add to it, modify the details of numbers or delete them. It really doesn’t take much time at all. How you expect BT to do this for millions of UK subscribers and billions of potential callers from around the world, I have no idea.

Re: Scams

bratman91 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:42:56 GMT

For the silentone: I am not sure what you mean with this statement “Then do what email does, have a 'white list '” but, whatever you have in mind, is clearly not working for you as you say that you are getting invitations to invest in bitcoin.

Many email providers try to filter out scam and other such nuisances, and place them in your “Junk” folder but, if you have never found a legitimate message in this folder nor received a scam email that managed to escape the filter, then you are rare if not unique.

Scam emails generally include a great deal information about the sender (not always reliable as the sender can be spoofed), the subject, routing metadata, the formatting and the text itself. An email with the initial salutation of “Hello my friend” and the statement that the originator is the daughter of a dead African dictator who needs to get a vast cache of money out of the country is a dead giveaway but, with a phone call, the initial connection or attempt at connection conveys provides comparatively little data with which an intelligent filter can work.

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:18:01 GMT

Despite one sitting in my BT mailbox. scam emails from BT are not the key issue, scam calls and BT's attitude to them is.

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:22:04 GMT

What you offer as a compression is nether fair or relevant. When buying a car or a knife to perpetrate a crime and there is only one car garage, and one shop that sells knives, it would not be long before I was rumbled and arrested.

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:27:16 GMT

I think you miss the point, it is BT who is allowing there network to be used for illegal scamming, of which I assume it is mainly the older and vulnerable who are the most likely victims. For this, BT has a part to play to help stop this , and act. How do you really think the call interception system would help the average older person living alone ?

Denial will be BT's downfall, as many are suffering.

Re: Scams

Andy_N — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:02:56 GMT

@thesilentonewrote:
I think you miss the point, it is BT who is allowing there network to be used for illegal scamming, of which I assume it is mainly the older and vulnerable who are the most likely victims. For this, BT has a part to play to help stop this , and act. How do you really think the call interception system would help the average older person living alone ?
Denial will be BT's downfall, as many are suffering.

No-one is missing the point.

What you are saying has been going on for years - and it's worldwide not just BT. If it was easy to stop it, then all the telecoms companies around the world would have done so.

Re: Scams

gg30340 — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 21:50:24 GMT

@thesilentone wrote:

What you offer as a compression is nether fair or relevant. When buying a car or a knife to perpetrate a crime and there is only one car garage, and one shop that sells knives, it would not be long before I was rumbled and arrested.

It is relevant. There are hundreds if not thousands of telephone and broadband companies in the world and the perpetrator of the "crime" ie the scammer, is invariably not a customer of BT and as such has not purchased anything from BT therefore BT have no control of the scammer which is pretty much the same with drink driver using one of the many car manufacture's cars or a murderer using one of the many knife manufacturers knifes.

As you would appear to have no idea how the world wide telecom and broadband system works and to what extent BT along with all the other phone and broadband companies work to prevent scammers and how the scammers can circumvent security measures there is little point in this thread continuing.

Re: Scams

thesilentone — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 10:14:30 GMT

I'm afraid you are clutching at straws. If you want to use that as a comparison, then lets suggest their are many car garages but they all have to go only one fuel station. Once again, the fuel station holds the cards and controls the fuel distribution.

The world of telecoms is no different to banking or any other mega customer platform, the difference is, BT chooses to sit on it's hands, and is still suffering a very, very bad case of Monopolyitus !!

You must be more proactive against fraud, or your failing customer service will be your downfall.

Re: Scams

gg30340 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 10:33:35 GMT

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Keeping with your analogy about there only being one petrol station! there is more than one broadband and telecom provider, there are over two hundred providers in the UK alone.

BT and the other providers do not sit on their hands and do nothing, you should have perhaps done some research before posting your groundless claims.

These links are just some of the mountain of information about what is being done and what the individual such as your self can to so as to not become a victim of scams.

Calling Features | Landlines | BT

BT Scam Calls | Report a Scam Call | BT Help

BT Call Protect: Free service to crackdown on nuisance calls | BT

Nuisance calls: phone services that can help - Ofcom

Stop getting nuisance calls and texts - Citizens Advice

Just so that you are aware, BT is not a monopoly. As I have already pointed out there are over two hundred providers in the UK.

Anyway, as I said it is pointless carrying on with this thread.

Re: Scams

bratman91 — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 10:42:23 GMT

“You must be more proactive against fraud”. The primary responsibility for being more pro-active against fraud is YOU! You have been advised how to prevent almost all scam phone calls by using a phone with a call blocker - they are not expensive and, for example, the BT8600 (they may no longer be available from BT but there are other sources and there are plenty of alternatives) is a pretty capable phone in its own right. If you do not want to do this, then you must accept the consequential annoyance of scam calls. BT, like all other email providers around the world, do not have access to an easy solution.

You imply that the average old person would not be able to operate a phone with a call blocker. First of all, you clearly haven’t done much to find out more about such phones and, secondly, the average old person is quite capable of operating them. Some might find, or think, that it is beyond them but few old people do not have family, friends, contacts, carers or neighbours who can help them.

Don’t forget thatBT are providing a service and any additional overheads will be passed on to the customer. The sort of solution that you seem to be after is not possible but, if it was, would likely cost a small fortune to implement. Who would pay for this ultimately? Please do not say that there is a quick, easy or cheap solution - there isn’t!

Re: Scams

RobbieMac — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:49:54 GMT

Hi guys,

Having read through the comments on this thread I feel that the question has been answered numerous times.

@thesilentone The information the guys have provided you on here is accurate. We realise that scams are a real thing and if we could do something rest assured, we certainly would. However, it's a worldwide issue and something we simply have no control over. There are ways to combat it and @gg30340 has included some useful links in their recent post on here. I would suggest given them a read and deciding what would work best in your scenario.

As the question has been answered and the discussion is starting to move off topic, I'm going to lock the thread.

All the best,

Robbie