"Accident Investigation Bureau"

[LIZS]

Is this a scam ? I've just had a call claiming to be from a Steven Smith of the Accident Investigation Bureau, asking for me by name and stating that I had had an accident in last 3 years . When I said no it must have been another family member. We are on Telephone Preference and no number on 1471.

[Whizzz]

At a guess - ambulance chasers - after a cut of payouts

[Jayle]

I also had a call on Friday from Accident and Investigation Bureau, they called again on Monday then my daughter had one also! The telephone number had been witheld on all occaisions. I telephoned the police who said it was a scam and do not give any information to them whatsoever. Next time they call I will tell them the person they want to talk to is in the garden and I will go and get them and leave them hanging on and hopefully their telephone bill will be reflective!

[HellesHero]

Have just had a call from a gentleman with an Indian/Pakistani accent claiming to be representing the Accident Investigation Bureau of the UK Government.

Very suspicious of this as have never heard of this body. Additionally he claimed they had information that someone at our telephone number had attended hospital after an accident in the last 3 years.

Any official body who had access to Hospital records would be able to name the individual concerned, would not withold their telephone number and give their name when asked. Additionally they would be happy to provide a postal address where they could be contacted etc etc.

As with Whizz above, strongly suspect this is a dubious firm of Ambulance Chasers, or worse fraudsters on a personal details fishing expedition.

We are also registered with Telephone Preference Service and have registered a complaint.

You can register your phone number here:-

www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/

[southeastastra]

tell him you slid over answering his call so would like to sue him please

[FossilMum]

I too have just had a call from someone with a strong accent from this "Accident Investigation Bureau". As my son just recently broke his leg at first I thought it might be real, but when he couldn't properly answer who he was representing I hung up without giving any details.

[peteh2]

I have also had a call from these cowards who could cause distress to less vunerable people than me. Their website only has e-mail, no other form of contact. I am ex-directory and registered with the Telephone Preference Service so should not get this rubbish. I have registered a complaint with TPS, but unless others do so I fear that no action will be taken. So I urge others to register with them (0800 0493 582 - it's free) submit complaints to them on www.mpsonline.org.uk/tps/news3.html in order to stop these people.

[pyecombe]

I too received a call -after going through the same spiel everyone else did I asked him to give his name - he said John Wilson (highly implausible as he made an Indian call centre operative seem positively eloquent) - i asked for his # - 02081778858 - asked him if he was from Singapore Accident Investigation Bureau or Nigerian one as no UK one listed on Google or Gov.uk - he said UK so I asked who his minister was - he said Hilary - I said -ollacks, he is Defra Minister.

With that I hung up

[KBen]

I have just had a phone call from these people. As no-one in my family has had an accident I was immediately suspicious. I asked several times where they got my information from and all they kept saying was their "survey department" had given them the details. When I asked to be put through or speak to someone from that department I was told this was not possible. They just said they would have got this information from a doctor / hospital. When I mentioned that they had broken the Data Protection Act by this and also that the hospital / doctor had as well by giving out personal information they did not seem too worried. I managed to get through to a "supervisor" and asked for their telephone number and further details about their company - the line just went dead - surprise!!

[lilybean]

I too have just had a call where do these people get our telephone numbers from we are ex directory and on the TPS listing. I did have an accident but it has all been settled. When I told them this they still persisted and said did I still have any injuries. I said I did not wish to continue this conversation and put the phone down. This did cause me to have a flashback which I could have well done without as I am 67 years of age.

[4sibbs]

These people have called us on two occasions & we too are registered with the TPS both calls were from a very foreign Indian man who insisited he was calling on behalf of the UK Government. On the second occasion I questioned him about where he got our details he told me they get them from Hospitals & Doctor surgeries, my son did have an accident earlier this year abroad but had visited both his GP & a hospital Consultant here in the UK, these calls must be scams I didn't give any specific or personal details but the caller was no longer interested when I said the accident happened abroad. I have reported this company to Consumer Direct who have passed it to Trading Standards. I'm also going to contact the General Medical Council to ask if personal details can be obtained in this way.

[peteh2]

Further to my posting, I have looked at their website and contact details are given as:-

Edward Hamilton-Smith
59 Stainforth St.,
Mansfield Woodhouse
Notts NG19 9AH
01623 6578853

[irishbump]

Just recieved a call this evening at 19.26 from some one claiming to be from the accident investigaion bureau asking about an accident in the last three years. This person spoke with an Indian/Pakistani accent. Refused to give details of said accusation. Kept saying under the data protection they could not give me any details.When asked where they got my number from they hung up.

[stephsmum]

I was unfortunate enough to have a call from these people this afternoon and I too am registered with the TPS. Frankly they don't care, are most likely based outside the UK and this is a scam to try to get personal details from whoever answers the phone number they call. When I tried to ask where they were based and find out who they really were the "supervisor" who called himself Paul Simon (ha ha - his mother never called him that!) became very offensive making obscene suggestions. I put the phone down and wished I had done so at the very beginning.
Don't bother to talk to anyone who says they are the Accident Investigation Bureau and that it is a UK Government Agency. It is not.

[ontheball]

I have just had a call from 'Alec' of the A.I.B. Same as the others, Indian or Pakistani accent, lousy phone voice and spoke like it was taxing his brain. I instantly knew it was a scam because he didn't know my name and yet he said he was given my number relating to a recent 'accident' which he had been told had happened to someone at this number. I strung him along a bit by pretending I couldn't understand him and made him repeat his 'spiel' 4 times. Then I told him I had the information he needed, at which point I told him to 'Go forth and multiply', although I didn't use those exact words. Then I hung up. It made me feel good, too :-)

[OAPmum]

Just had a call from this Pakistani/Indian sounding person. He said he had details that someone at my address had had an accident in the last 2.5 years. I asked him where he got my phone number from and he said someone had'written it down'. I said I was confused as to why he was ringing and asked for his number whereupon he hung up. We too are registered with TPS and are ex directory. We recently had some calls from a telephone company purporting to be from BT and another last week from another company (also a scam). We are ex directory and I cannot tell you how careful we are on giving out personal details, in particular our phone number. Bt Nuisance Calls dept on 0800 411 422 (I think) will register you for a month.and when you get a call you put in a number which gives the number you are being called from and then you report it to BT .

[spenthen]

Hi, just had one of these calls from the "Accident Investigation Bureau", the caller claimed to be called "David" but had a very very strong Indian sub-continent accent. He said he had info that someone on this number had had a car accident in the last year, and would I confirm that. I said I wouldn't give out any personal information to unsolicited callers, he went very quiet and I put the phone down. I dialled 1471 but guess what - number withheld.

I googled it and the first hit I got was this Mumsnet thread so thank you all as I'm now very reassured it was some sort of scam and I didn't just put the phone down on the coppaz!

[rs12345]

Got a call from them, they didn't know my name, couldn't tell me the names of the relatives, and didn't know that I have no relatives in the UK.

Anyways, I asked if I could call them back and they actually gave me a number - 01992300121. I have no intention of calling them back but if anyone does...

(In case this is just some innocent number - please ask if it's the Accident Investigation Bureau before you proceed with having your fun :D)

[zoesadler]

The number these people are giving out is my home phone number!!

We have had a nightmare and have had to change our number!

Please do not call these people - it is obviously a scam!!

Luckily one caller alerted me to the fact that these people were giving out my number. I don't even know how they got it, we are registered with the TPS and have only has the number since July.

I will now have to let all family & friends know our new number and change my details on all of my registrations etc...Not to mention the stress it has caused receiving many calls at all hours of the day and evening!

I just hope they don't start giving out my new number!!!!

[Destress]

Hi,
I've literally just had a call from the same company 'Accident Investigation Bureau'.
I googled it and come across this site which is FAB
The guy who rang was Indian or Pakistan origin, and was called Mark.
He claimed to have been given my information from the Government!
I responded with 'you should be able to tell me who you wish to speak to then'
I was told a male.
When asked for a name he told me they couldn't disclose the details as it breached data protection and they were legally obliged NOT to disclose the information to any other party.............
This amused me as when I answered the phone they'd originally asked if I'd had the accident (and I certainly do not have a butch voice- LOL)!
I then responded by pointing out that the Government had breached data protection by passing on any details to there company - he then began to get a little panicky and stuttery.
I ended the call rather abruptly, informing them that there source of information was completely false and not to call again.
Obviously a complete scam though had fun running the poor guy round in circles before hanging up!
DO NOT DISCLOSE ANY DETAILS TO THIS COMPANY AS EITHER TRYING TO GAIN PERSONAL DETAILS OR AN CHEAP MARKETING PLOY......
I am also registered with the TPS and the caller withheld the number - no surprises there!

[MissCorfu]

I've just googled the accident investigation bureau and come across the mumsnet site. I have just had a call from some asian guy asking me the same questions about whether someone had had an accident in the last three years. As I have, I was concerned about who had breached the data protection act and had quite a long conversation with him about it. He claimed to be a government department, which I knew was totally untrue, so I strung him along for a while. He said that he had been trying to send me some compensation so I suspected he was after my bank details. I just kept him going with all sorts of questions until he eventually gave up. I am on TPS so can only assume they just randomly call numbers and hope that someone responds, the chances of someone in the family having had an accident must be pretty high.

[rugbymom]

I too have just received a call from the Accident Investigation Bureau asking for me by name saying that someone reported an accident on this number in the last 2 years. The chap gave a name but was asian and spoke very quickly with a strong accent. He was unintelligable on occasions so I kept having to ask him to repeat what he said. I asked him twice who he was calling on behalf of (and he said AIB), so I got fed up and said I was busy on a another call and he would have to call back in 10 mins when I had more time(hasn't so far). We are ex-directory and registered with the TPS, but they won't do anything without a telephone number. I have reported this scam to my local Trading Standards Service.

[littlealex]

Definitely a scam like phishing thing - I had a call from an Indian/Pakistani accent guy claiming to be representing the Accident Investigation Bureau which is 'sort of' part of the UK Government - kept him on the line for 10 minutes asking him which department etc and trying to get more details - his initial question was "have you had an accident in the last x years etc..." - after trying to get him to say which part of the government for about 7 minutes I finally said "yes, I have had an accident" and then asked what's next but he wouldn't proceed until I gave him some more details...eventually he hung up on me...lol - hilarious!

Heres the number the guy called from...

091 399

[LivvyMum]

I've just had a very disturbing call from these people, again an Indian/Pakistani accent. The guy was insistent 'someone' in our house had been in an accident in the last 3 years, when I asked him where he got this information from he got quite stroppy and and told me to 'listen' he then proceeded to tell me he wanted to 'f**k me'. I was so shocked I said 'pardon' and he then repeated it at which point I hung up. They then tried calling back so I ignored the phone. I am aghast!!

[JustMyTwoPenceWorth]

Actually, I'm now wondering if a phone call we had was from these guys.

It was yonks ago. My husband answered the phone. This person was asking him about an accident, if he'd had an accident. that he could get compensation.

My husband said no but he could arrange one if they liked. How much would he get?

The bloke said it doesn't work like that and my husband (in best reassuring tone) said no, no, it's ok, which kind of accident would be best for him to arrange and how long would it take for him to get his money.

By this time I was weeping with laughter.

[Margatemum]

Hi seems like the same scam is running again as usual indian accent very cadgey witheald number when pressed said his name was Mark Simon, the call was at 11.15am today I have taken the advice on here and reported it to the police and trading standards and also joined the bt preference service. It seems there is no good scam like an old scam so be warned they are at it again