Scams: Information about scams currently circulating

[gg30340]

@wkirkman 

The scam you have posted above has been happening for a number of years now and is in fact mentioned in this thread along with the method of how it is perpetrated. It is also posted in other threads on the forum.

While it is not a new scam it is always a good thing to alert other users that the scam is still doing the rounds.

[Idlebob79]

Always good to have an update.

I got a call from these people today with exactly the same scenario - from an 01256 area code number.  I've had a few more in the last few weeks all from the same area (but with different phone numbers). Looks like the people on Basingstoke have nothing better to do.

Apart from the ladies attitude and accent it was pretty well put together scam. I called BT after, they don't call they wil email any issues. 

They don't seem to be interested in following up.

I had a call a few weeks ago that ended abruptly when the lady called me a liar when I told her I didn't have BT broadband. Definitely not BT at that point. Pot, kettle, black...

[JPWarwick]

I wish I had read this post a week ago!  I got taken in by this exact scam last Friday and as wkirkman says, it exposes a major loophole in the BT security system.  Although I was deeply suspicious given it was obviously an Indian call centre and the line quality was poor, it was the fact that they knew my mobile number and then were able to send both a text message and an email which both looked like they were genuinely from BT (because they were!).  This tricked me into reading back one of the PIN numbers (without realising what would happen next).  This meant they were able to quote my BT account number and tell me about my recent bills which of course made it seem more plausible.  I was carried along to the point where they asked me to type an address in my browser which was something like btsecurity33/weebly.com.  This opened a pop up window which was again fully BT branded so it looked genuine.  Of course this was actually a remote access tool and I was able to pull the plug and shut everything down before they were able to downlaod anything much. 

However, I felt a complete fool as I am normally super aware of these things and couldn't believe I had been taken in - but it is a very clever scam and is only possible because of the 'forgot password' or 'forgot login id' loophole.  BT urgently needs to fix this as it has obviously been going on for months. 

I'll keep a closer eye on these forum posts going forward!

[WSH]

Easy enough to defeat with a change of procedure.  They send you a pin.  You read the first digit back.  They give you the 2nd and 3rd digits.  You then supply the 4th digit.

[Keith_Beddoe]

They do not know the PIN that was sent, all they do is to enter it into their screen (hidden), and if it matches, then it gives access to your account.

[WSH]

As I said, needs a change in procedure.  Upgrading to an 8 digit pin would help as well.

[richrarobi]

Read this today, had to unblock BT - I had reported it as spam and blocked after the evil "person" tried to scam me with that speedtest thing. I wondered how they managed to send a message as BT !!!

I still don't understand how they managed to flash my DSL light on the openreach modem box, it MIGHT have been a coincidence.

Good information though, it shows gaping holes in  the so called better two stage authentication, which is really just another level of nuisance for innocent law abiding people.