Have BT had a data breach or is this information widely sold on?

[RoomR0613]

DP is self employed and had a really odd scam/nuisance call on our landline today. If it's relevant this landline is a business landline necessary for DPs self employment, but is essentially our home landline number.

The person on the end of the phone was ringing to tell us that our internet connection was being upgraded as it's a faulty line and a poor connection (very true)

He chatted to DP for some time about our usage of the phone and informed DP that we receive far more calls than we make (true), that we rarely use our 1571 service (true) that it's a business line (true) and that we have reported numerous faults on line in recent years (true true true).

He didn't ask DP for any account or personal information and even if he did there is no way DP would have a clue what it was anyway (he doesn't do internet/email at all and I manage everything business related online).

I've googled the number and it's definitely not a BT number but all they ever seem to do is chat to people about their phone line, rather than actually scamming them.

But the bit that worries me is they knew so much about how we use our phone line, the faults, the type of account we have etc. DP doesn't know any of this information - he's just related what this man told him on the phone to me, so they weren't just picking up on cues from him.

Do BT make this information available for people to buy, or have they had a data breech?

Nope - they are fishing for information for future scams marketing. They are trained to ask questions that give clues to your use and then state your use.

1. It's easy to complain on a public forum and find out what areas are having lots of issues
2. Most people receive more than they make because of scam calls
3. It's a business line - your DH probably answered with the company name
4. Reported number of faults - see 1 - likely because you are in that sort of area. If anyone of those was wrong they would apologise but bluff it through somehow. 'Oh sorry, that was your neighbour' or my last call or something similar (a bit like clairvoyants) Whilst chatting they are picking up information that can be used in future calls to make them appear genuine and/or to pick up clues as to what companies or products can be targeted to you.

It's very clever marketing which I suspect will lead to targeted illegal marketing where they already have a lot of information about you.

I would usually agree as that was my first thought but

1)we are in a small rural area and there's only 3 properties on our line and the two other houses are currently unoccupied, I'm pretty confident no one is publicising the issues online other than this thread.

2. true.

3. not a chance. To be honest it's a miracle he even answered, at best he will have picked up with a 'yep' or 'ello'

4. see 1.

It's not the kind of business where people need to ring us I.e we don't advertise our number. We have a business line because the response to fix it when it breaks is much faster than a residential line and it means we can claim the VAT back. We don't get a mobile phone signal or 3G/4g so the broadband is our lifeline.

I dunno, DP was a bit freaked out by how much it turns out they knew/guessed after speaking to me when I got back. He is extremely suspicious/ wary of scams which is part of the reason he doesn't usually pick up to numbers he doesn't recognise.

Sounds like someone fishing for info to me too.

These scammers are crafty and know what to say to get you to tell them stuff. Rather than asking the direct question if you are having problems with your telephone line, therefore giving you the chance to say no and cut off the conversation, they will say something like "So, your internet/phone line is not a good connection then." It is actually a question but it's phrased like a statement, looking for a favourable response. This means they can go on to the next point after a quick discussion about your quality of connection.

If they haven't hit on someone with a poor connection then they will try other things to get information. If there is nothing useful to gain from you they will move onto the next person on their list until they find someone that has problems. Years ago people would get calls like this then find their telephone/internet supplier had been changed without them realising, this was part of the reason why new rules and regulations were brought in about changing suppliers.

It is similar to the accident claims calls. They ring up to talk about the accident you had in your car recently, they don't ask if you have had a recent accident, they say they are calling about your recent accident. If you say you have not had an accident they move on, but if you have had one you are caught off guard thinking they already know about your accident so must have something to do with your insurance provider/police/NHS if you went to hospital etc and you respond by telling them "Yes. Last week, I hurt my back..." They know how to get information.

There are also loads of places online where people can get info about internet provision etc. If you have postcodes (readily available on Royal Mail site) you can find out average internet download times etc. We did it for my FIL from 350 miles away when he was trying to improve his internet speeds. A few minutes research can give lots of general info about an area.

Things like it being a business line. If a man answers a phone during the day at home it can often be assumed they either run a business from home, work for someone else but can work from home, or are on annual leave. The person ringing would have mentioned something about it being a business line, if it is then they'd get a yes in reply. If it isn't and DP replied "no" they would have probably made a comment about it being nice to be on annual leave etc. The person would then respond with either "yes" or "no, actually I work from home on Thursdays and Fridays." Therefore giving out more information.

We need to learn to answer these questions with a simple yes or no so as to not give personal info out. After years of telling my DH to stop giving away his life story to strangers he now asks people who they are, where they are calling from and why. If they won't give out info he just says goodbye and ends the call, if they do give info he'll say he's not interested and end the call. He has learned that at the end of seemingly innocent calls he is often asked to buy something like insurance too so won't waste his time talking to the caller.