As the number of fake telephone calls continues to rise and the callers keep changing their methods and become more persuasive how can you protect yourself? The first rule of thumb is to just hang up and don't engage in conversation with them and you won't go far wrong but if you do want to engage how should you approach it? Always remember that if it is a genuine call and you hang up the provider will contact you in another way such as a letter through the post and you won't lose anything.
If you imagine that you are ringing your bank, the first thing they do is take you through security and ask you a series of questions to identify who you are. I therefore use this process in reverse on the cold caller. I don't ask them questions about who they are because you have nothing to verify it with but ask them questions about you. Ask them to give you your name, address and postcode and see how they get on, if you want to go the whole way then ask them to give you your account number. Fake callers simply won't have this information and will have called you at random, they have no idea who you are and will try to prise the information out of you in an effort to convince you they already had all your details. If the caller fails these tests then just hang up, don't accept excuses like their computer system is down. Talk Talk customers need to be extra wary as the Talk Talk database was compromised and therefore personal information is in the public domain. If somebody does call you claiming to be Talk Talk you need to remain wary even if they can answer your questions. A recent scam is to pretend they are offering £500 compensation due to all the problems you have experienced. They request your bank details in order to make the payment and customers have had money taken after falling for this scam. My personal advice is not to ever believe anybody who claims to be Talk Talk and if they want to contact you they will have to write to you.
The next piece of advice is to remain as calm as you can. The tactic these callers use is to try to get you into a state of panic that causes you to take steps that you wouldn't take under normal circumstances. They will talk about services being cut off today unless you do certain things or your bank account being frozen. You need to remember that these things never happen and certainly not as a result of a phone call. If one of your providers were going to cut you off they would write to you and give you an appropriate period of time to put right what ever is wrong. Your Computer, Broadband Connection, Telephone, Gas and Electric won't be cut off just because you don't make an immediate payment on the phone - hang up!!
Another common method of verification is to tell the person you will call your own provider using the number you recognise from your latest bill. If you are doing this then always use another phone. If you are on your landline then use a mobile or vice versa. If you don't have a second phone then I suggest you wait 3 or 4 hours before making the call. It is common practice for the original caller to wait on the line and then answer again pretending to be official staff at the number you have just called. If you think you will spot this because there will be no dial tone then think again as sophisticated phone scammers now play a dial tone into the microphone at their end so to you everything sounds as it should do.
You will receive a number of offers via the telephone that range from cheap gas and electricity through to Investment schemes. Always request everything in writing to your postal address and if the scheme is fake they will tell you that it is a one time offer on the phone that you have to accept or reject now. Again this is using the pressure tactics outlined above. They want to panic you into thinking you'll lose the deal if you don't act now and then do something rash while you are off your guard. Always remember that if it's a genuine deal it will still be on tomorrow and you will be able to see it in writing. If you can't it's fake.
Never allow anybody remote access to your Computer when they have called you. The people who have called often say they are from Windows and for a start there is no such Company as Windows (apart from the UPVC type). Microsoft is the correct name and they will never ring you out of the blue to assist with a problem. They will quite happily sell you a Computer but they don't make any calls to fix them. The exception is if you called them or taken part in an online chat that you initiated after experiencing a problem. Again please be aware that you need to be very careful if you use Google to search for assistance. If you search for Microsoft or HP you have a good chance of ending up on a genuine site but if you search for something random like 'computer help' or 'broken computer' there's a huge risk you will end up on a fake website. The person will answer the phone claiming to be Microsoft or HP and then will ask for remote access to your Computer. After doing some damage they will then demand some money to fix it. If you are not confident of identifying a genuine website then use another method like a local Parish Magazine or recommendation from a friend to find a local Computer Repair service.
I will end in the way I began and say if in doubt - hang up!!. Nothing will go wrong but it may well do if you continue to engage with whoever called you. My customers often ring for advice when somebody keeps calling threatening to cut them off if they don't get immediate access to their PC. I am happy to offer this advice and therefore if you need it call Mark on 07557 483438, e-mail mark@churchdowncomputers.co.uk or fill out the form at the bottom of theContact page.
