Telephone Fraud
We have been advised of a telephone fraud currently in operation
(this applies to home and/ or work telephones - landlines and mobiles):
Upon answering the telephone, you will hear a recorded message
congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to an exotic location.
You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details.
If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that
costs approximately ?20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, it
will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes, costing around ?100.
The final part of the call involves you being asked to key in your
postcode and house number (which has other serious consequences). After a
further 2 minutes, you will receive a message informing you that you are not
one of the lucky winners. The total bill will be around ?260.
Since the calls are originating from outside the UK, BT and other
telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act.
The only safe solution is to HANG UP before the message prompts you
to press 9; even safer is to HANG UP on any unsolicited `free offer' call.
This appear to be a variation on a theme; warnings have been sent
previously regarding calls made by individuals claiming to be AT&T engineers
conducting a test on the line and asking for 9,0 # and text messages similar
to the routine described above.
DO NOT DIAL 9 (OR 9,0# OR 0,9#) FOR ANYONE!
Please ensure the widest circulation of the above message
