I had them on the phone a while back too. They asked for my stepfather, so I pretended to be him. I asked them to confirm my first name, and they couldn't. The reason, I suspect, was that they just had my mother's name since my stepfather died 15 years ago. But as for the rest, the call was almost Identical.
This was on my mother's landline phone (I only use my mobile). Despite various systems, she gets for or five scammers a week. Possibly more, but she isn't great at pushing buttons on the phone and misses a few.
But several times recently, they have used her surname. I had assumed they got it from the telephone directory because she is listed. (She always thought you MUST be listed. In the same way she always believed you MUST answer with your full phone number - both are useful for scammers. It is a thing with her age group.)
But I suspect you are NOT listed - so from where are they getting names attached to numbers? In my mother's case, I doubt it is from a stolen database. She is 99 and has very little digital profile, and nothing online. It would be reduced to a couple of charities and bank.
Mostly I hang up on them, but I occasionally have fun. I will put on an accent, or try to sell them PPI, or tell them how nice my house in Bangalore is... Or I will just let fly and make their day as miserable as I can - leave their ears burning.
A WhatsApp scammer pretending to be my son got very angry with me for wasting their time. They wanted £850 for a new iPhone as they had lost theirs. It was clear to me that it was neither of my sons but I kept chatting away until they finally said 'I really don't have time for this right now'...
Please be careful as this is still happening today - Indian lady in a call centre using same company name "Medical Health Services". It is incredible that they can just operate the same scam for years with no consequences.
Always ask for their website and physical address - when they refuse to provide it, please stop giving any information and end the call.
These are now the only calls I get on the landline - makes you want to drop it!
Thanks for publicizing this, Rory. All chimes closely with my own experiences. I've had times when I've suspected the scam caller doesn't even realise they're selling a fake service and have sounded genuinely outraged when this has been explained to them. This doesn't apply in this case, I fancy!
I had them on the phone a while back too. They asked for my stepfather, so I pretended to be him. I asked them to confirm my first name, and they couldn't. The reason, I suspect, was that they just had my mother's name since my stepfather died 15 years ago. But as for the rest, the call was almost Identical.
This was on my mother's landline phone (I only use my mobile). Despite various systems, she gets for or five scammers a week. Possibly more, but she isn't great at pushing buttons on the phone and misses a few.
But several times recently, they have used her surname. I had assumed they got it from the telephone directory because she is listed. (She always thought you MUST be listed. In the same way she always believed you MUST answer with your full phone number - both are useful for scammers. It is a thing with her age group.)
But I suspect you are NOT listed - so from where are they getting names attached to numbers? In my mother's case, I doubt it is from a stolen database. She is 99 and has very little digital profile, and nothing online. It would be reduced to a couple of charities and bank.
Mostly I hang up on them, but I occasionally have fun. I will put on an accent, or try to sell them PPI, or tell them how nice my house in Bangalore is... Or I will just let fly and make their day as miserable as I can - leave their ears burning.
A WhatsApp scammer pretending to be my son got very angry with me for wasting their time. They wanted £850 for a new iPhone as they had lost theirs. It was clear to me that it was neither of my sons but I kept chatting away until they finally said 'I really don't have time for this right now'...
Please be careful as this is still happening today - Indian lady in a call centre using same company name "Medical Health Services". It is incredible that they can just operate the same scam for years with no consequences.
Always ask for their website and physical address - when they refuse to provide it, please stop giving any information and end the call.
These are now the only calls I get on the landline - makes you want to drop it!
Thanks for publicizing this, Rory. All chimes closely with my own experiences. I've had times when I've suspected the scam caller doesn't even realise they're selling a fake service and have sounded genuinely outraged when this has been explained to them. This doesn't apply in this case, I fancy!