'BT' Scam Warning

[Idris]

There seems to be a new telephone scam doing the rounds.
Yesterday morning, I received what appeared to be an automated telephone call from BT informing me that my Internet would be cut off at the end of the day. If I believed this to be incorrect, I needed to hit '1' on the keypad. Since I'm in the middle of changing my contract with BT and they made such a mess of things last time round that I had to take them to the ombudsman (and I won the case!), I duly pressed '1', only for it not to registered and the call ended.
I then 'phoned BT to ask what was going on.They stated immediately that it was a hoax call. In fact, they replied so quickly, I'm convinced they've had multiple calls about this.
So, if you get a similar call, just ignore it. (Presumably, if you press 1, you get put through to someone 'from BT' who claims there's an unpaid bill and duly notes your bank account details.)

[DrJeep]

Thanks, Hugh. There's another one that claims to be from HMRC telling you that you owe tax and that you must contact them "before a bad circumstance unfolds on you". Fairly obviously a scam from the poorly-worded threat, but I can imagine my elderly parents being convinced.

[YYS4BOB]

The BT scam has been around for ages. I get at least 1 call a week, usually a female with an American accent.

[petethesweet]

Hi all, we have had three or four phone calls over the last few weeks i like to get them at it , i pretend to be an old lady & ask them if they are coming round for tea they usually put the phone down on me. Pete

[mmi]

in USA they (nigeria etc) pray on the elderly with fake phone id #'s claiming it is govt
parents get 25-30 a week,now set up so ALL calls go thru answer service.they cant hear and write, so they have a screen where relayed messages are printed out. money requests get cut off automatically.

child is going to prison
tax not paid, we will take your home
we will shut of xyz
etc
they want all confidential details then you have to get a retailer gift card for x $1000's and phone back with access #
they then take the cash , drain your bank and sell info