Warning - BT scam phonecalls

[PandaG]

Just wanted to make people aware of a scam that was tried on us, and hopefully stop others falling for it.

Twice in the last week I have had a scam fishing phone call, purporting to be from BT. Caller says that a direct debit to BT for line rental had been refused by our bank, and that the line was about to be cut off immediately after the phone call.

The first time the caller said a letter had been sent on 29 February - I pointed out there was not a 29 Feb this year and put phone down. Second time I put it on speakerphone so DH could hear it too, and we told caller our ,ine is not with BT so to go away - DC were around otherwise the comment would have been somewhat stronger.

Am so glad we don't have our line with BT, as I may have fallen for the scam the first time round, as it was, the chap did not get as far as asking for our bank details, which I am sure would have been the next step.

just done a search and discovered this scam started a year or so ago, and has got more common recently. Apparently if you tell them you are not with BT, they try to tell you a % of your line fee goes to BT and that is why, when you have alledgedly not paid your line rental BT can cut you off.

Yes, I have been contacted a few times too - to make it even more confusing, one of the calls was apparently genuine but some were definitely dodgy. It is quite unnerving

yes, very unnerving. First time I was pretty freaked, until I caught them out with the lie about the date of letter, second time I knew it was rubbish, and DH and I both told the bloke so on speakerphone.

I work for BT and, unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to stop this scam BUT if you ever get a call from someone purporting to be from BT ask them for their EIN number (this is the unique nine digit number each employee holds and we all use them all the time so we all know them off by heart). They will either stumble and not be able to answer or, if they give you a number, hang up (and if the line goes dead it just means they've put you on hold at their end - does not mean that your line has been cut off) and then call the following number:

From a landline 0800 800 150
From a mobile 0330 123 4150

*Opening hoursMonday to Friday 8am to 9pm, Saturday 8am to 8pm, and Sunday 9am to 6pm

Sorry, posted too soon. Call the phone number and check the EIN you've been given. If the call was genuine they should be able to reconnect you or advise you of the caller's name and number. It's unlikely that the number would be real, however.

Thanks BelleDame - I will keep bumping this to warn others.

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