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AIBU?

To ask where they get this so-called information from?

35 replies

JessieMcJessie · 16/09/2016 15:38

Approximately once a week I get a call from someone saying "I have been informed that you have been involved a traffic accident that was not your fault".

Every time I say "No, absolutely not, please remove my personal details from your records" and hang up.

I presume that this is just speculative and they have not been "informed" of anything of the sort. Therefore, is it not against some sort of cold- calling regulations for them to state such an outright lie?

Today I actually asked "who has informed you of this?" And was told some nonsense about the "driving and accident Authority" or some such fictional organisation.

AIBU to wonder how these calls can be allowed?

OP posts:

Report

JessieMcJessie · 16/09/2016 15:40

PS I am 100% sure that neither I nor anyone else who drives our car has had an accident. We've been living abroad and have only been back in the UK and driving for about 10 months so can't be historical.

OP posts:

bruffin · 16/09/2016 15:41

I get these call, i dont drive and tell them so, they soon put the phone down

harderandharder2breathe · 16/09/2016 15:56

Yanbu I get them and I don't drive, never owned a car, never been in an accident.

I tell them to remove my details and hang up.

19lottie82 · 16/09/2016 15:58

When I get a call and they say "can I speak to mrs Lottie?" I say, yes that's me, but I've never had any debt or been in an accident!

tabulahrasa · 16/09/2016 16:01

My DD gets them...she's 16.

JessieMcJessie · 16/09/2016 16:06

I know they are common. What I don't understand is why they say "I have been informed" rather than "have you been in accident?". It's the outright lie that really pisses me off.

OP posts:

user1471453601 · 16/09/2016 16:13

If you register your phone number with telephone preference service, then they are committing an offence if they call you, as long as either they, or the company they are calling cold call you as long as they, or the company they are calling on behalf of, is registered in the UK.

I used to get at least two cold calls a day. It's now more like two a week. Oh, and if you are cold called, I find it helpful to tell the caller that are committing an offence, they can either hang up or give me the name of the company they are calling on behalf of, so that I can report them. Usually works

FluffyWuffyFuckYou · 16/09/2016 16:17

It's a scam. Scammers don't generally abide by codes of conduct.

WhereYouLeftIt · 16/09/2016 16:18

Have some fun with them. See how long you can keep them on the phone, on the basis that if they're talking to you they're leaving some other poor soul alone. DH does this, last time he was telling them how he lost his leg in a crash, and then his head had to be amputated. Come to think of it, we haven't had one of these calls for a while now, maybe they've blacklisted us ...

Prawnofthepatriarchy · 16/09/2016 16:19

The telephone preference service is completely useless in my experience (and that of my DPs too.) I now screen all my landline calls, and never answer calls on my mobile unless I know the number. It's one of the curses of modern life.

SnowBallsAreHere · 16/09/2016 16:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nataleejah · 16/09/2016 16:24

I just say FUCK OFF and put the phone down. Hate nuisance callers with passion.

MollyRedskirts · 16/09/2016 16:25

I tell them that they're right - I was in a car accident and I was so badly injured in it that I died. They don't know what to say and kind of go 'Oh... um' and hang up.

5Foot5 · 16/09/2016 16:26

We used to get a lot of nuisance calls like this, usually early evening when I was cooking tea. I had DD trained to answer the phone and ask who was calling then repeat what they had said so I could hear. If it sounded like one of those calls I could signal to her to get rid of them and she was then at liberty to make any excuse she saw fit to get rid of them. The best, I think, was when she told the caller that I couldn't come to the phone right now as I had fallen down the stairs drunk!

Unfortunately most of the nuisance calls we get now are just automated message so you don't even get the satisfaction of taking the piss out of them.

milkyface · 16/09/2016 16:29

I got them even before I could drive

RavioliOnToast · 16/09/2016 16:33

I always act really shocked-

So:

Scammer- I've been informed that you were injured in a car accident
Me- (hysterical) oh no, was I okay? Did I SURVIVEEEE???????
Scammer- hangs up

Gatehouse77 · 16/09/2016 16:35

It's like the ones who ring about my Microsoft computer...that I don't have! I had one telesales guy accusing me of lying and threatening to turn off my internet!, so I said, "Good luck with that!" and out the phone down on him.

However, it's the people who are not so savvy that get shat on by these tactics and end up paying them

And any pre recorded telesales to my mobile get left to witter on at their expense...

Memoires · 16/09/2016 16:37

I say "Yes! I have been in an accident. Please tell me what I can do about my amputated leg - I want a new one like the Olympic runners', and I need a heart/lung transplant, do you think you can get me one, they're going spare in 3rd world countries" and add anything else I think of on the spur of the moment becoming ever more ridiculous and unlikely. If you talk really fast they can't get a word in edgeways so hang up.

WhatWouldCoachBombayDo · 16/09/2016 16:38

I told one "thank god you've phoned, tell me more I have amnesia I can't remember what happened" they hung up

chicknquack · 16/09/2016 16:41

We have a service that screens those calls so I rarely get them any more.

What I used to say is "you are a lying liar who lies because I haven't (had an accident/don't own a PC/whatever fits)" and hang up on them.

AuntJane · 16/09/2016 16:41

I tell them that I haven't had an accident.

I then remind them that it is an offence under the Data Protection Act to store incorrect personal data, which means I can take them to court unless they guarantee to remove all my details from their database.

It works.

BoffinMum · 16/09/2016 16:42

I ask them how they got the number and then say "Please remove this number from your records. It is a police line".

Justaboy · 16/09/2016 16:52

Just another scam call like those from BT, Microsoft like lets us download some programs on your PC and we'll charge you to get your data back. Those who call you from the bank for security please call us back, you put the phone down they keep it open and give you a dial tone so they answer the call you just made back to your bank they ask you personal details and your scammed:(

In the meantime have a look at these the first is a classic:-)

Not too politically correct!

Jessbow · 16/09/2016 17:06

I had one once, he started his line about he knew i'd been in an accident, and it wasn't my fault.

I replied ''Oh yes it was dreadful''

I could almost hear his rubbing his hands together

he asked what my injuries were

I told him I was fatally injured in the collision, and he went on to say how I was entitled to compensation.

I asked him if he knew what ''fatally injured'' meant

he hung up

RavioliOnToast · 16/09/2016 17:08

Oh, depending on who is in the vicinity, I often break out into song. 'All the single ladies' is a favourite, as is 'cry me a river' they always hang up.

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