BT phone scam

Mon 15 Aug 2016, 17:48

Are there examples of this available anywhere? I had no idea that the government was allowing these scam companies to recruit from the UK.

Mon 15 Aug 2016, 16:55

Katie, they're not forced to do illegal work to claim benefits, it's a case of the company advertising on the government's job search site and the claimant being told that if they don't apply for the job, their benefits stop, so then they have no income. The government doesn't police the site properly, irrespective of what it says. And if you have such a job and leave it, you need a new job to go to, or no unemployment benefit for you because you made yourself unemployed on purpose. Although that won't cover the majority of such calls which come from call centres outside the UK, it does cover some.

Mon 15 Aug 2016, 16:10

I would never condone anything illegal but not all callers are trying to con. There are scams and there are sales calls.

Mon 15 Aug 2016, 10:46

Angus. I don't think people should be forced to do illegal work in order to claim benefits. Nor do I think we should tolerate companies that exist to effectively extort money out of vulnerable people. I am never disrespectful to anyone on the phone, but we need to remember that these are criminal organisations defrauding the public.

Sun 14 Aug 2016, 22:44

I think it is important to remember that some people are forced to do this work as, if they don't accept the offered job, they lose their benefit. Since discovering this I have treated callers with a bit more respect, however irritating they are.

Sun 14 Aug 2016, 21:36

Nice one Richard!
Serves them right.
Hoist by their own petard.

Sun 14 Aug 2016, 19:21

For those of a technical bent, this is an entertaining account of someone turning the tables on the scammers.

Sun 14 Aug 2016, 11:38

I have also played along and, on occasions, propped the phone (on speakerphone) next to the radio which is usually playing Radio 4, and it can be quite amusing listening to the gentleman from the call centre trying to have a conversation with the program currently playing.

Sat 13 Aug 2016, 20:55

It can also be good fun, if you know what you're doing, to string them along and answer their questions and kid them that you are doing what they ask you to do, but actually not do anything.
I use a Linux operating system. not Windows and occasionally get to the point of telling them this which is when the call always ends immediately.

Sat 13 Aug 2016, 16:28

The rules for this are perfectly simple:
There are NO - repeat NO - circumstances in which ANYONE should be calling you out of the blue and asking you to "do unusual things on your computer"! If you should get such a call, it can be quite entertaining to keep a football referee-type whistle by the phone and blow it hard down the phone before putting the phone down. :-)

Fri 12 Aug 2016, 15:51

I also had a call this morning, phone line very bad but they said the same we are Talktalk, just put the phone down. Came through as a Withheld number.

Fri 12 Aug 2016, 11:33

Just had a call from someone claiming to be from BT telling me that she had detected that my internet was being used illegally by someone else. She then proceeded to try to take through a series of steps that would have given her control of my computer and presumably allowed her to install malware. Fortunately, once she twigged that I was on a mac she hung up, but do beware of fake callers asking you to do unusual things on your computer.