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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be a bit freaked out right now - 2am

61 replies

cossette · 13/09/2024 02:15

Horrible phone call tonight at 8.20 from a no caller id. Started out as a scam call supposedly from HSBC fraud dept. I've had a number of these in the past so said 'I'm not speaking to anyone from my bank on an unknown number'. Guy then said he would send an agent round at 2am. I laughed and was about to end the call when he said he planned to burgle my house at 2am. He knew my name and my full address! I said I have a German Shepherd and he then said he had a gun. I said my son is here and has a knife (not sure why I said that as my son does not have a knife) to which he said 'a knife is no protection against a gun'. I told him he was pathetic and I was ending the call. I was shaken up and called the police. They came round at 12.10 and took threat really seriously and offered to take us (myself, my teenage son and adult daughter) to somewhere else if we wanted to go. I said we'd be ok and police said they would send cars past the house tonight. I'm ok but a bit worried, and I'm cross that I'm worried because of some idiot making stupid threats. It was such a strange call and my daughter was/is really upset. Can't sleep now and I'm at work early this morning. I've been meaning to buy a ring doorbell and I've just purchased one from Amazon that will arrive same day - so that may make me feel a bit better!

OP posts:

AnywhereAnyoneAnyTime · 13/09/2024 06:50

There are no depths these lowlife won’t sink to.

I’m glad the police took it seriously but it will have been a scammer.

If he: was foreign and/or the call took a while to connect then 99.999% it is a scammer. And before I am accused of being a racist, it is well known that these people operate mostly out of India and Pakistan.

Tangerinenets · 13/09/2024 07:14

Argh no wonder you’re worried. How horrible 😞

BunnyLake · 13/09/2024 07:15

How awful for you. I also don’t answer calls from no ID or even numbers I don’t recognise. I feel if it’s important they will leave a voicemail or text.

Sparklywhiteteeth · 13/09/2024 07:19

Oh op, in future when you get these calls just say I can’t hear you what, I can’t hear you, or hang up and block. You don’t need to converse with them like this. Generally they are in asia. Of course no one’s coming to your house with a gun.

Sparklywhiteteeth · 13/09/2024 07:22

AnywhereAnyoneAnyTime · 13/09/2024 06:50

There are no depths these lowlife won’t sink to.

I’m glad the police took it seriously but it will have been a scammer.

Police didn’t take it seriously they were simply dealing with the ops fear. Or that the threat may have been from someone else. Like an ex and she was covering up. Everyone knows these scammers ain’t coming to your house. Not least as they aren’t even on this content.

TerfTalking · 13/09/2024 07:34

Sending hugs OP, these calls are horrid and unnerve you but they are more likely to be from some person is a call centre 1000s miles away.

They really aren’t coming for you.

I’ve had some horrible responses even a threat of rape when saying that I know they are scammers, the viciousness is unbelievable. I have call blockers on the landline for all but known numbers and now don’t pick up unknown numbers on my mobile unless it’s one from an std code I’m expecting or very local, and even then I get caught out sometimes.

LadyInDecline · 13/09/2024 07:44

I just say I don't speak to scammers and hang up.
Don't engage.
Since using this method I have noticed a decline in calls, apparently they mark their list as "Don't bother"

TypingoftheDead · 13/09/2024 07:54

That’s horrible, OP. Hopefully you are calmer by the time you get to work and good idea to get the Ring doorbell.
Someone tried ringing me from the bank’s fraud department last week - there was a prerecorded message when I answered, but the bank wasn’t one I have an account with.

KitsyWitsy · 13/09/2024 07:56

Why do people engage? Why do they have full bloody conversations with these people? This wouldn’t happen to me because I wouldn’t have answered a strange number to begin with, but if I had and realised straight away it wasn’t legit, I would have ended the call without speaking.

MissUltraViolet · 13/09/2024 08:01

It’s highly unlikely these people are even based in this country. Pleased the police offered help and you’re getting a doorbell camera though, they are really useful to have.

I won’t answer withheld numbers, ever. I also tend not to answer numbers I don’t recognise, I just google them then decide whether I need to call back. Never do, they always come up as scam.

allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 13/09/2024 08:05

@cossette I just tell those phone scammers to fuck off!! I have even been threated with rape!!! 😃

Allthehorsesintheworld · 13/09/2024 08:12

They’re often in a mini call centre not in UK and under pressure to hook so many scam victims each shift. Doesn’t excuse threats but chances are they’re thousands of miles away.
Buy an old fashioned teacher’s whistle and if it happens again blow loudly down the phone as soon as they say they’re your bank. Then hang up.

Paltor · 13/09/2024 08:12

How horrible.

I always tell these scammers karma will come for you. And that they are disrespecting the reputation of our motherland (if I hear an Indian accent - I’m half Indian) And then hang up.

unsync · 13/09/2024 08:26

I never answer my phone anymore. If someone needs me they can leave a voicemail or DM me. My ex disseminated my number and email when we separated over seven years ago. I have it on DND and only certain numbers are allowed through.

I hope you feel better this morning.

TinyGingerCat · 13/09/2024 08:29

I had a spate of obvious scam calls and on one of them i was so fed up with the bullshit he was spouting that I picked up my DH's referee whistle that happened to be hanging up next to me and blew it as hard as i could down the phone. Petty yes - made me feel better though.

kirinm · 13/09/2024 08:34

Absolutely not unreasonable to be freaked out but I agree it's probably a scammer. My DP gets a lot of calls from people pretending to be debt collectors - he is a tradesman and his contact details are online - and they can make reasonable assumptions about the type of things he might pay for.

He nearly got caught out by one but as soon as he worked out it was a scam - and called the actual debt agency they claimed to be calling from, they started getting really aggressive. Nothing of this level thankfully.

Boudiccaofsteel · 13/09/2024 08:35

I am sorry you had that experience. I've got rid of my landline as fed up with scammers

I fail to engage with anyone who calls me apparently from a bank or any other company. Generally as soon as I hear it is not someone I know I put the phone down saying nothing. If the person has a hint of sounding genuine I politely tell them we do not deal with people on the telephone at all and they should write. And do not give my address or any details. I have already asked companies who may have a legitimate reason to contact me that I do not accept phone calls or emails due to the risk of hacking or interception and anything important is to be dealt with by post

you don't have to engage with anyone on the telephone or answer the door to anyone Your house your phone your rules

and elderly relatives and neighbours who are at serious risk I have written them a script which just says we do not deal with people on the phone. Please write to me the address you have If you are genuine you will have these details and whilst I appreciate this is more work I know that if you are genuine you understand.

RottenApplesSpoilTheLot · 13/09/2024 08:38

Its a form of "Spear phishing" @cossette - when they find out enough about you to convince you they are genuine or freak you out.

I had one where they had my address details as well as name, no threats fortunately, but it did freak me out too.

Weddyweddy · 13/09/2024 08:41

TinyGingerCat · 13/09/2024 08:29

I did similar but I’d had him on the phone for an hour winding him up about believing my computer was up the swanny, I was cleaning, told him pc was upstairs and could he wait while I ran and did the things he asked, eventually I said it was making a funny noise and if I could get in nearer the phone would he know what was wrong with it, oh yes he could help. So I said there was only one word for scammers like him, said the word and blew the whistle.
(my house was completely dusted and I’d saved someone else from an hour of his scamming). My Dr friend told me off, said it can really damage the ear drum.

i did answer the phone on loud speaker for a while after that.

but now OP I don’t answer any number I don’t know, if I need to I always say my answer phone message and do the beep, scammers ring off, legitimate callers try to leave a message and I simply explain why I seem so mad.

CheekySwan · 13/09/2024 08:43

I had one of these calls and he got really nasty, said he was going to come round to my house, I told him the door was open and to come and see what he finds

I could not believe what he was saying on the phone, we got into a right argument. I was a bit shaken up, but these people pray on who they think is vulnerable. This is their 'job' and this is how they make a living regardless of the consequences

Hope you have got over it!

Have you seen the film The Bee Keeper?

Blinky21 · 13/09/2024 08:48

I never answer unknown callers or numbers I don't recognise, if they are legitimate they'd leave a message and always check numbers independently before calling back

Lemonyyy · 13/09/2024 08:48

That would really freak me out too op but if you receive scam calls again, you don’t need to engage, you can just hang up. You don’t even need to explain, just hang up the phone as soon as you realise, and block the number. You don’t owe someone who is trying to steal from you any common courtesy.

PandoraSox · 13/09/2024 08:50

I had one who said he was going to come to my house and kill me! I knew he was in reality thousands of miles away, but it still shook me up a little bit.

I got rid of the landline a while back.

Hope you are OK OP.

Conniebygaslight · 13/09/2024 08:59

Jeez OP, that sounds bloody awful. Glad you rang the police and they took it seriously. Hope you’re ok today.

IHaveNoMoreFucksToGive · 13/09/2024 09:10

I've had the same twice
Got nasty when I told them it was a scam
Told me that they'd break into my house and stab me in my sleep
They obviously didn't, otherwise I wouldn't be replying to your post
No one with half a brain cell would actually warn you of what they planning on doing
It's quite funny hearing 'David' calling from Mumbai getting into a right tizzy on the other end of the phone

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