Be aware of telephone scam in operation
1st Reaction, a Kettering based security company, would like to alert Chamber members to a 'phone scam' that has been brought to its attention by its customers.
Private phone numbers are the main target for this latest scam. The target receives a phone call from someone purporting to be from BT, who tells them that there is a small sum of money outstanding on their account.
The call recipient is also informed that unless they pay off that amount immediately, providing credit card details, this ‘BT engineer’ will immediately cut them off. If they do not give any payment details, the ‘BT engineer’ asks them to hang up while he disconnects the line to prove he is who he says he is.
The phone line is then completely dead with no dialling tone when the target picks up the phone again. The ‘BT engineer’ then calls back asking for the credit card details for payment to avoid disconnection.
Please be aware of this scam and do not give out your credit card details.
This is how it works; after you have put your phone down, he just stays on the line with the mute button on. This means the line is still connected (it works because the person who initiates the call is the only one who can terminate it) and even when you pick up the phone again, he can hear you but you hear nothing, giving the illusion of being cut off. When you put the phone down he does the same, then just re-dials your number.
Posted by: 1st Reaction Ltd
