May 2005

Phone fraud...

Warning from police 11th may 2005. We have been advised of a telephone fraud currently in operation - this applies to home and work telephones, landlines and mobiles.

If you receive one of these calls, upon answering the telephone you will hear a recorded message congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to an exotic location. You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that costs approximately £20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes costing around £100. The final part of the call involves you being asked to key in your postcode and house number, which has other serious consequences. After a further 2 minutes you will receive a message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners. The total bill by then will be £100.

Since the calls are originating from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to HANG UP before the message prompts you to dial 9, even safer HANG UP on any unsolicited "free offer calls".

There is another scam operating on mobile phones as well. A missed call comes up. The number is 0709 020 3840, the last four numbers may vary, but the first four will remain the same. If you call this number back you will be charged £50 per minute. People have complained about their phone bills, once they realised the cost of the call, but apparently this is completely legal. So be aware, do not call numbers back beginning with "0709".