Talk Talk potential scam

[geoffh]

Folks may already be aware of this, but this week we have been receiving numerous calls, supposedly from Talk Talk technical department warning of attempts to access our computer. They ask you to turn on your device so they can talk you through steps to prevent this.
We have made enquiries with T.T. this is a scam!! Talk Talk state they will never contact you in this manner and they can take steps to block these calls if you contact them, it must work because today we have not received any such calls.
Just for your info folks. By the way the callers have access to account numbers so they do sound genuine at first.

[mh007]

A scam that's been going on for years in various guises by various scammers.
The plain fact is, no one can ring the user/owner & know if there is something wrong with their PC.
It requires the user/owner to call someone first & report it.

[BoroRover]

Thanks for the warning 👍👍

[RobSun]

They have been trying this scam now on me for over a year, sometimes ringing three or four times a day. They have got the account details because we are one of the unfortunate ones , and you will be too, whose information was obtained when talk talk was hacked.

I always try to string them along before cutting them off but this didn't work. Then told them they were scammers and were not fooling me still didn't work. Told them I was going to ring up UK number to varyfy and they tried the hang on to the line and send a false dialing tone. When that failed they rang back so I told them to go forth and multiply. Next day rang me back again and I forcibly told them that I knew who they were and what they were up to and that I had discussed their calls with talk talks tech dept and they had confirmed they were scammers. That was in December. Monday they called again and it was the same person as last time and as soon as she recognised me she hung up.

If I get any more going to ask talk talk for a new number. They imply that there will be a charge but as I consider its their fault the scammers got my details I will fight that or its good bye talk talk.

[Avulon]

Originally Posted by mh007

A scam that's been going on for years in various guises by various scammers.
The plain fact is, no one can ring the user/owner & know if there is something wrong with their PC.
It requires the user/owner to call someone first & report it.

The troubling thing is that they have account numbers - so there's already been a breach at TalkTalk - but no-one is mentioning that (cough ICO?).

You say that no one can know if there is something wrong with your PC and phone you up to tell you? Technically wrong. It's quite possible especially as the ISP that you can see abnormal traffic from the IP address of a customer and know their phone number... Or even being a network node or endpoint for that traffic it can be traced back, and not impossible to discover the phone number at the address.

I'd add that it's so far from likely to actually happen, that if anyone rings you claiming that something is wrong with your pc - hang up.

[Westonboy]

I amuse myself in a variety of ways when I have a supposed Talktalk call. By far my favourite is to enter into a minute or so dialogue then say that I am losing my voice due to a throat infection, I then ask if they have got their ear close to the phone, when they say yes, and shout scammer at the top of my voice.

[Unicorn1]

I've had the "there's something wrong with your PC" scam a couple of times now as a Talktalk (nee Tiscali) customer

Last week my wife rang me at work to say they'd called again saying we would loose our connection if we didn't respond. I assured her it was a scam, and reported it to Talktalk, who did their best to sound moderately interested

Oddly the scammer left a name and number to ring back!

Les

[jackatesme]

My son in law was caught out by the same, " We are aware of your problems with reception and want to send you £300 as good a will gesture". When he refused to give bank details they were abusive and foul mouthed. Then loaded his laptop with Porn. He was having reception problems at the time,so it sounded like an inside job.

[spyder]

I get a call from them on a weekly basis, it is more frequent when I have reported a problem.

If I have time I ask them a whole lot of technical question and interrupt their script, then say oh it's working again, thanks. They hang up.

When I have no time I tell them there is no problem and I have no time for scams-they hang up.

Their helpline is in South Africa, when they do phone me back re a request from me, I confirm it in Afrikaans and then carry on with the conversation.

[clf]

Register with TPS. It works and it costs the best sort of price - FREE!. Takes a few months to become fully effective, however, but you will notice the unsolicited calls dwindle. We went from 3 per day (yes 3 occasionally more!) to 1 every couple of months.

If I am honest, I kinda miss them, because when I was bored I would string them along. Opening Windows etc. hmmm it is getting cold now, can I close these windows. My favourite was the 'accident I had very recently'. 'how much do you get for amnesia?' was always my first question. 'I cannot remember'. They used to believe I had amnesia!

Originally Posted by geoffh

Folks may already be aware of this, but this week we have been receiving numerous calls, supposedly from Talk Talk technical department warning of attempts to access our computer. They ask you to turn on your device so they can talk you through steps to prevent this.
We have made enquiries with T.T. this is a scam!! Talk Talk state they will never contact you in this manner and they can take steps to block these calls if you contact them, it must work because today we have not received any such calls.
Just for your info folks. By the way the callers have access to account numbers so they do sound genuine at first.

Originally Posted by mh007

A scam that's been going on for years in various guises by various scammers.
The plain fact is, no one can ring the user/owner & know if there is something wrong with their PC.
It requires the user/owner to call someone first & report it.

Originally Posted by BoroRover

Thanks for the warning ����

Originally Posted by RobSun

They have been trying this scam now on me for over a year, sometimes ringing three or four times a day. They have got the account details because we are one of the unfortunate ones , and you will be too, whose information was obtained when talk talk was hacked.

I always try to string them along before cutting them off but this didn't work. Then told them they were scammers and were not fooling me still didn't work. Told them I was going to ring up UK number to varyfy and they tried the hang on to the line and send a false dialing tone. When that failed they rang back so I told them to go forth and multiply. Next day rang me back again and I forcibly told them that I knew who they were and what they were up to and that I had discussed their calls with talk talks tech dept and they had confirmed they were scammers. That was in December. Monday they called again and it was the same person as last time and as soon as she recognised me she hung up.

If I get any more going to ask talk talk for a new number. They imply that there will be a charge but as I consider its their fault the scammers got my details I will fight that or its good bye talk talk.

Originally Posted by Avulon

The troubling thing is that they have account numbers - so there's already been a breach at TalkTalk - but no-one is mentioning that (cough ICO?).

You say that no one can know if there is something wrong with your PC and phone you up to tell you? Technically wrong. It's quite possible especially as the ISP that you can see abnormal traffic from the IP address of a customer and know their phone number... Or even being a network node or endpoint for that traffic it can be traced back, and not impossible to discover the phone number at the address.

I'd add that it's so far from likely to actually happen, that if anyone rings you claiming that something is wrong with your pc - hang up.

Originally Posted by Westonboy

I amuse myself in a variety of ways when I have a supposed Talktalk call. By far my favourite is to enter into a minute or so dialogue then say that I am losing my voice due to a throat infection, I then ask if they have got their ear close to the phone, when they say yes, and shout scammer at the top of my voice.

Originally Posted by Unicorn1

I've had the "there's something wrong with your PC" scam a couple of times now as a Talktalk (nee Tiscali) customer

Last week my wife rang me at work to say they'd called again saying we would loose our connection if we didn't respond. I assured her it was a scam, and reported it to Talktalk, who did their best to sound moderately interested

Oddly the scammer left a name and number to ring back!

Les

Originally Posted by jackatesme

My son in law was caught out by the same, " We are aware of your problems with reception and want to send you £300 as good a will gesture". When he refused to give bank details they were abusive and foul mouthed. Then loaded his laptop with Porn. He was having reception problems at the time,so it sounded like an inside job.