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

I was getting calls daily from numbers from abroad, it went on a while, I made sure when I could, to connect the call which would then be costing them, and they would hang on then cut off when they realised nothing else was going to happen 😂
Another one was this guy telling me to go to my computer right now and he would tell me what I needed to type in etc 🤦‍♀️🤣 I was getting ready to go out at the time, so I left him on loudspeaker whilst I just carried on 😁 he was getting more and more annoyed. I was going 'oh dear I am doing what you are telling me and the computer is not saying/doing what you are saying it should be' he then said he had my email address but could he check it with me, I said yes go on, if you've got it, you should know what it is, so you tell me and I'll tell you if you are right 😂 he said erm I will need to look through quite a lot of details to obtain that information I will call you back 🤣🤣🤦‍♀️🤣 never heard from him again!

We usually get the automated Amazon ones but I had a live one the other day claiming that they had taken over our file for domestic appliance cover. We don’t have this, never have had it. He had all our details (including address, which was concerning) so presumably there’s been a data breach somewhere because we’re ex-directory. Anyway I strung him along for a while because I was bored and like someone else said, it stops them calling someone vulnerable. And then I told him he was a scammer and did his mother know that he tries to scam people for a living? Click... Brrrrrr

They’ve been calling me regularly and all I get is a stern man telling me that there will be a warrant or something if I don’t pay

Oh, I do hope they used those actual words: "If you don't pay, there will be a warrant.... or something"

I had the HMRC scam text come through this morning at about 2 o'clock. I have a family member in the hospital, who is very sick indeed, so I'm always antsy when my phone makes a sound. I know the hospital would call rather than text, but even so, it's still deeply unpleasant.

The best one we ever had was an ultra pushy saleswoman rather than an actual scammer (I presume) She asked how old our phones were, so we told her (2 or 3 years) and she said that they'd now be absolutely useless, obsolete and would break/catch fire at any time. Phones of that age are effectively a death trap and should be thrown away immediately. Then, before we'd shown any interest at all (obviously we never did), she pushed her hopes and urged that we should in fact also take a spare phone in this family 'deal' she was trying to sell, for an additional monthly fee - it would be invaluable for us to give to our child and we'd be fools not to. When we told her that our only child was a baby, she suggested that we could pay for an unnecessary phone every month until he was old enough for one and then eventually present him with a lovely decade-old phone....

Put "IRS scammers" into YouTube. There are people who play along with them. Some are very, very funny indeed.

BTW a mate of mine who's a Tax Inspector says HMRC never contact by phone in such cases.

@safariboot

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.

This. They aren’t expensive to buy. Especially worth it for anyone with elderly relatives. We have to answer international calls due to family abroad and we got sick of picking up to scammers. Got one of these and have never had a call get through. Our landline is quiet, and it is bliss.

Anyone with elderly family get one of these
shop.bt.com/products/bt4600-premium-nuisance-call-blocker---single-084665-BY4H.html?refs=58450000

I have this call blocking feature with talk talk. I ws getting 3 or 4 scams a day. Now the landline barely rings. Bliss.

We’ve had multiple calls a day all this week. Some say international on the call display and some have the number. I usually leave it to go to voicemail, but sometimes I pick up the phone and just wait. If it’s automated, it cuts off. The most recent said he was from EE. We don’t have anything from EE. I told him (politely) to stop.

I get a lot from Manchester for some reason. Really annoying as I have daily there!

@KenzoBaby

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

Unfortunately that no longer works apparently. The call centre systems have a decibel cut off and loud noises shut it off to protect the callers. Or so I saw on a television program about it.

DH had one of these spam calls at work. Actual person. They (the caller's) didn't believe them when they said what the phone number that they had actually was and kept trying to push on.

Yep, the Operations room for an Army Brigade is calling to fall for a phone scam...