Be Scam Aware - potential telephone scam - unpaid BT bill?

Central

Bedfordshire

Scam Aware

Central Bedfordshire Council’s Trading Standards team is warning consumers and small businesses to be aware of a potential telephone scam regarding unpaid telephone bills.

We have received a report about a scam that has recently come to light, where a telephone call is received and the caller claims to be calling on behalf of BT asking for an unpaid bill to be settled immediately or face disconnection. Various numbers for the caller have been reported, although none of these are connected with BT. If told there is no BT account, the caller explains that the unpaid bill is regardless of whether a BT customer or not, as all telephone service providers rent BT lines anyway.

If challenged further, the caller claims they can prove they are from BT by saying they will disconnect the phone line there and then, and ask you to hang up and attempt making a call. When attempting to make the call, a consumer will find they have what appears to be a dead line, although in reality, the caller hasn't disconnected your line at all, they just didn't hang up their own phone and pressed the mute button instead, leaving your line still in use. The caller can in fact listen to the consumer attempting to make a call and will appear to "phone" the consumer back once finished. This will usually leave the consumer convinced that the caller is genuine and payment will then be requested over the telephone by providing credit card details.

Based on the information received we believe that this call is a scam and we would advise anyone to act with extreme caution when receiving such calls.

Our advice to consumers and small businesses is that a company like BT would never contact you by telephone and request payment of an unpaid bill. You should never give your personal or credit card details to anybody over the telephone unless you are absolutely certain of their intentions. Never be intimidated into making a quick decision and always take a moment to ask yourself whether the call is genuine. If you do show any interest or provide your details, you may be identified as a possible target for a future scam attempt. If, at any point, you are unsure as to whether the offer being made or the caller is genuine, do not be afraid to hang up the telephone.

If you have any information about suspect rogue traders or would like to report a possible scam please initially contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06, in order so that all relevant regulatory authorities can be notified.

In the meantime, please visit our website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/bescamaware for advice and guidance on how to spot a scam and how to avoid becoming a victim.

Kind regards

Trading Standards

(Community Safety and Public Protection)