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I have just been sent this at work. I thought it would be best to post this.
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Extract of warning issued by PC Paul Toseland (Corby Business Anti-Crime Network Administrator)
The reason this is working so well is it plays on your good will! Picture the scene:-
You are sitting at home and there is a knock at the door. On answering it you are confronted by a respectable looking woman in a suit, who is slightly distressed. She explains that her car has broken down further down the road and she needs to contact her husband to come to her aid. Is it at all possible to use your phone to call him? You allow her to use the phone, but being the suspicious type you stand with her as she makes the call. She dials the number, and asks to be put through to Mr Smith / Brown / Stevens (Whatever). She holds the line for about thirty seconds. She continues, "In that case can you ask him to leave the meeting for a minute I need to speak to him quite urgently." She apologies again and explains they are getting him out of a meeting. A couple of minutes goes by and she starts to speak to her husband. She explains the situation to him, tells him what has happened to the car, is annoyed because she now can't get to her meeting, and asks what she should do now. She listens for a few seconds and then says, "Well as soon as the meeting finishes can you come to Cardiff Road / Leicester Road / Surrey Street (Whatever), where the car has broken down. Another few seconds go by, "OK, I'll see you in about twenty minutes then." She put the phone down, and thanks you ever so much for your kind assistance, even offering you a pound for your trouble, but of course you decline, it's no trouble. She leaves and everything is fine.
Or is it? The day or week before knocking on your door she set up her own premium rate line with a telephone company at the cost of about £150, and she has dictated that calls to that number should be charged at £50 per minute. She has dialled that number. The conversation she has had with her "husband" is entirely fictitious, there is a pre-recorded voice message on the other end to give you the impression she is talking to someone. She has been on the phone for about five minutes, that call just cost you £250, the majority of which goes into her pocket, and the first you know about it is when you get your bill a month later. To rub a bit of salt into the wound, she hasn't even committed a criminal offence. You've given her permission to use your phone. 5 occasions in Luton where this has been reported in the last couple of weeks .
2) We have been informed of the following scam, which is targeting females in particular. They receive a phone call from the Post Office asking them to confirm their postcode. When this is given, they are told that they have become eligible for some gift vouchers for their co-operation and are asked to provide their home address and postcode in order to receive the vouchers. So far 90% of the women who have provided this information have been burgled, as it is assumed that their homes are empty during office working hours. The police are aware of this scam and the Post Office have confirmed that they are NOT conducting any postcode surveys.
3) Also, it has been reported if you receive a telephone call from an individual who identifies him/herself as being an AT & T service Technician who is conducting a test on that line, or if anyone else asks you to do the following DON'T. They will state that to complete the test the recipient should dial nine, zero (90) then the hash key and then hang up. This will give them full access to your phone line, which allows them to place long distance, international or chat-line calls. These are then billed to your account. The information which the police have gained has suggested that many of these calls are emanating from local prisons. The information has been checked out by the police and is correct DO NOT PRESS 90 FOR ANYONE.
Would anyone reading this please pass it on to friends and colleagues etc. otherwise it could cost someone a lot of money.
PC Paul Toseland
Corby Business Anti-Crime Network Administrator
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Posted: 2002-06-14 12:02:00
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That's really scary
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Posted: 2002-06-14 12:18:00
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I know. That's why I thought I would post it.
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Posted: 2002-06-14 12:21:00
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It's good that you did!
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Posted: 2002-06-14 12:24:00
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the first one is freaky
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Posted: 2002-06-14 12:45:00
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good thing im in the philippines.
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Posted: 2002-06-14 12:53:00
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It is a hypothetical one only - to register a premium rate number you need to be a company and if the catch you cheating on the customers you're out of bussiness right away ...
People try this king of stuff quite often, but they cheat you into decent sums of money, so that you just don't get really pissed off and do not complain about them.
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Posted: 2002-06-14 13:03:00
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I know that I will be a lot more careful now
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Posted: 2002-06-14 13:18:00
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"Never trust a well dressed woman" - thats always been one of my sayings!
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Posted: 2002-06-14 13:27:00
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Posted: 2002-06-14 14:08:00
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