Just had a voicemail from "HMRC" threatening to issue a warrant if I don't press 1

[WhyNotMe40]

I hate these. I know it's a scam so actually I'm quit glad I missed the call, but it sounded quite threatening.
Phone number was 02036644916

@Happyheartlovelife

My best one was when they told us our computer was hacked

Me and my husband both do this for a living. So they messed with people in the know. It was hilarious

My friend told them to wait 5 mins because he was burying his wife under the patio! They hung up. He's dragged someone along for 35 mins once! I'm surprised they didn't hang up!

My friends husband actually fell for that one and had a huge go at her, calling her all the names under the sun for her stupidity for downloading viruses on her new laptop and "thankfully it had only cost them £85 to fix."

She called him a fucking idiot and asked why "Windows" would call when the company is Microsoft?! And by giving the scammers access to her brand new laptop he had basically rendered it completely useless unless they wiped the thing entirely as they would never be able to do banking or use passwords on it ever again. She also had to cancel their bank card.

@EmbarrassedUser I've had a live person calling me from HMRC threatening arrest. Some calls are automated and some are live if you're lucky and want to mess with them.

I'm a solicitor and had a (perfectly intelligent) client phone me up and ask me if I did criminal defence because HMRC were after her for non-payment of tax. They must have been good if they fooled her.

Mine was 01332 which is inner Derby. Is it computer based? I thought it was a robot voice and rang off.

Would love to do this sort of thing😃.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=aOvXxnSEQKY
Although last time I got a real caller I just said “FFS, get a proper job.“

We've had so many scam callers ring during lockdown we've resorted to putting the landline phone on silent. Anyone that needs to get in touch with us rings our mobiles. We were getting phone calls at 4am and 7am for 2 days in a row. They need hanging preying on vulnerable individuals. I suffer from anxiety and it has been a lot better since the phone has been on silent.

I also had a text sent from HSBC about making a payment to Mr Ward, I don't even have an account with HSBC. I forwarded the text to the fraud department at HSBC.

I'm aways slightly disappointed when it's a recorded message because where's the fun in that?

I do make a point of flagging these to friends and relatives though. The HMRC one is particularly threatening and I would imagine it's scamming quite a few people.

I've found that if you have a person at the end of the line and it's a scammer, then on my landline there seems to be a moment of empty air before you hear them . Which is enough warning for me to answer the phone with the phrase " Fraud squad ! How can we help? " in businesslike tones . Oddly , they hang up .

Urg, I hate phone scammers. When DH’s now-departed Gran was in the very early stages of what became severe dementia one of these bastards phoned them and completely fooled her. She gave them her credit cards details and they stole thousands. Her complete confusion over it was one of the early signs

This happened to my lovely mum. She was persuaded to donate to a
"bishop in Africa". She lost thousands by the time we discovered what was going on. She was in the early stages of dementia, just when it was early enough that we didn't realise.
These people are just evil.

Got a new one this morning. Mobile number showing - he said he was from Carphone Warehouse and had a special offer. I just said no thanks and hung up. I’ve never used them.

This afternoon my DH and I - our phones rang at the same time with the same number it started with 0330. Also some really pushy woman about a mobile phone special offer - not Carphone Warehouse though.

I’ve also had a car accident this week.

I had a call this morning as well. I didn't answer because my mobile network showed it as a scam, but they left me a voicemail!

I had one today from ‘The HMRC’ and get the Amazon one almost daily. Pisses me right off.

When the car accident ones call, DS likes me to hand them over to him so that he can lead them on.

“So you had a car accident recently?”
Yes that’s right.

“What type of car was it?”
A Bugatti Veyron.

“And was anyone else in the car with you?”
Yes, 12 of my friends.

“Did you or anyone else suffer any injury?”
Yes, I died. Etc

We have one of the BT Call Blocking phones. When an unrecognised number calls, it gives an automated message making them state their name before it even rings the phone. The scammers rarely bother.

My 84 year old dm has regular ones from "Amazon". She knows it's a scam and tells them to bugger off. However, she now hates Amazon and won't use them. It's frustrating because she and df go into shops exposing themselves to risk. Amazon may not be perfect but they'd be pretty useful to them right now. I order stuff for her and send it on but, come Christmas, she might not want me to know what she's ordering! Possibly.

you can report it on

www.tellows.co.uk/num/02036644916

but put in the actual phone no that called you.

If you are on BT, they have a free package called BT Call Protect

You can join online

You can set it to block numbers on their blacklist, and/or foregn numbers, and/or unidentified numbers, and/or number withheld calls, and/or numbers which you have yourself added to your personal blacklist.

I don't answer calls from numbers that are not in my phone directory. I let them go to voicemail. I get about a hundred a year. I usually get a flurry after I have bought something on ebay.

I love trying to piss off scammers. I'm disappointed when it's a recorded message!

Sometimes I pretend to be a police control room or Interpol. Other times I try and string them along. Always good for a laugh. An ambulance chaser scammer once told me that I was unreasonable for wasting their time!

When we were at the office, we'd have a competition to see who could keep them on the line the longest and without her laughing.

My husband got this. He is a tax litigator who spends his working life battling HMRC for his clients. They didn't get very far.

I don't often answer them but if they do catch me in a random moment of weakness I let them blether on for a bit and then just very calmly say 'fuck off cunt'. I'm normally cut off before I finish the word cunt....

Scammers are fair game for the sudden blow of a tin whistle down the phone I reckon. (Not cold callers, just the genuine criminals).

I had one at half 8 this morning from a mobile number. Told him to eff off.

@Bloomburger

I got it too from an 0207 number, I asked for telephone number I could call back on to ensure they were who they said they were and they hung up.

Don't ask them for a number. If you do think there's a chance it's legitimate, then google the number. Some have a huge charge per minute (or part of a minute) on the number you call, if you dial the number they give you.

I tell them I've died in a really miserable voice.

Take a look on James Veitch on YouTube.;)

My friend’s mother — a together, smart woman in her sixties — lost £30000 to scammers claiming to be her bank. I think they told her to call her bank branch so she knew it was legit, but then stayed on the line, so that when she dialled and they “answered’, she thought they really were her bank and gave all her details.

Mind you, it’s possible to flip too much in the other direction. I deleted months worth of emails purportedly about my credit card, assuming they were scams, only to discover last week they were legit warnings that my card provider was changing and it would no longer be serviced via the old app.