Calls from "BT Guide Calling" - are they genuine?

[ann-ywaun]

I don't know if this is the correct board on which to ask about this or not - sorry!

We have had two calls on our landline which have come up on Caller ID as BT Guide calling.

The first was from 0800 3289393. A female identified herself as from BT / EE Security and asked if I was "my first name". I agreed and she told me that someone had phoned in asking to change my email password. As she was suspicious she had decided to phone our landline to check with me, apparently keeping them on hold. I confirmed that I had not requested a password change, but that I would in fact do it myself later. 

The second call today was from 08000285085. A male identifying himself as Syed from the BT / EE Home Billing Team for the Manchester Stockport Area (not our local area) asked if I was "Mrs My Surname". When I confirmed this he asked if Mr "My Surname" was with me. I confirmed that he was in the house but not actually in the room at that point. he then said that someone had phoned, knowing details of our account, wanting to change certain things. When Syed had said he would phone him back on the home landline the caller had said he would have to rush home to take the call. Syed went on to say that he had called because there is a "Red Banner" on our account - he wasn't sure why but thought he should call us to check if we had indeed made the call. He assured me several times that he was genuine, not trying to get money or anything. 

Can anyone advise if these are likely to be genuine calls or are they scammers trying to get more details? 

[Peter_W · Accepted solution]

Good morning @ann-ywaun.

Welcome back to the BT Community!

The numbers you've listed here are both ones that we would typically use for contacting customers, and the 'BT / EE Guide calling' message is something we have in place for calls.

I can completely understand your hesitation, especially considering the callers were jumping straight into discussing details of security issues, which can seem alarming. 

In mentioning Stockport, this will be the location of where the call centre is based and some Guides will introduce this as part of the call.

If you're at all unsure about a call you've received though, we'd recommend erring on the side of caution, and hang up and call back. 

If the Guide is genuine, they will be able to log your account to mention they called, and when calling back the notes will be present to confirm this is genuine.

Peter

[ann-ywaun]

Thank you, that's good to know.