Telephone scams
We have received information on two telephone scams that are currently in operation.
The first concerns a recorded message, usually to a landline, which informs the recipient that they have won an exotic holiday with all expenses paid. You will then be invited to press 9 to hear further details. When 9 is pressed, you are connected to a premium rate line that casts approximately £1.50 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, your line will be connected for a minimum of five minutes, costing you about £7.50.
The final part of the call involves being asked to key in your postcode and house number (which could have further serious consequences) and after a further two minutes, you are informed that you are not a lucky winner after all. By this time the total bill could have reached £10.50.
Since the calls originate from abroad, our telephone companies are relatively powerless to do anything about it. The only thing you can do is to hang up when you hear these pre-recorded messages telling you that you have won something, especially if you have not entered into any competitions. There are other variations on this scam so beware.
The second scam relates to mobile phones. A missed call comes up with the number 0709 020 3840. The last four may vary, but the first four remain the same. If you call back the number you may be charged £50 per minute.
Apparently there is nothing illegal about this scam and we have no further information as to what happens when the number is rung, other than to get a whopping big phone bill.