New phishing telephone call from 01863265214 claiming account used to hack government

[#1]

Hello,

I thought others and Plusnet should be aware of a new phishing phone call scam. At 10.45 I had an automated call from 01863265214. This claimed that my account had been used yesterday to hack a government server or department, that my account would be closed down (or suspended - I didn't write down exact details quickly enough) and to either ring an 0121 268 number, or wait to be automatically connected to their agent and have my password ready. At that point I hung up. (Oddly the call number did not come up on my call list but does on 1471).

I'm fairly certain that my account / IP address has not been used to hack in to any government department and don't think Plusnet are calling from an 01863 or 0121 number using a female robotic voice. The same number had tried at 0952 this morning but I didn't pick  up the phone quickly enough.

Maybe Plusnet can remind people to be wary of these scams.

Many thanks,
Kiron Reid.

[#2]

Yep thanks for letting us know and what a load of nonsense that is.

Apart from the fact PlusNet are based in Sheffield and not Birmingham, they wouldn't be asking you to give your account details across.

Not much PlusNet can do about these things I'm afraid.

[#3]

As @Alex  has said, this is an obvious load of nonsense, and if you check (for example) http://uk.whocalledme.net/ you will find it is very prevalent  - most people have got wise to the 'Microsoft' &c calls, so he scammers are trying new tricks. The obscure dialing codes for most of these calls usually give themselves away.

As a point of interest, the phone call allegedly originated in Argday in the Scottish Highlands - highly unlikely!

Ignore!

[#4]

Many thanks, Alex, and John. Yes I agree with Alex "what a load of nonsense that is. Apart from the fact PlusNet are based in Sheffield and not Birmingham, they wouldn't be asking you to give your account details across."
And as you say John, while scammers are trying new tricks as people have got wise to old ones, it's highly unlikely that I'm getting a call from Argday in the Scottish Highlands (or that the call came from there at all I guess).

Cheers, Kiron in Liverpool.

[#5]

Hello

I had an automated call today  from 01831929849 saying that my account had been used for "illegal activity" and would be suspended in 24 hours. I hung up but it seems very much like another phishing attempt.

Chris

[#6]

@chrispiggott 

Here is another example of an invalid and undialable telephone number. Area code 0831 is unassigned. Therefore this is a spoofed CLI and the telecommunications providers are charged by Ofcom to do something to stop such calls from reaching the end user according to the Ofcom document "Guidance on the provision of Calling Line Identification facilities and other related services" , see - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/information-for-industry/telecoms-industry-gui...

I would think that it should be relatively simple to intercept such calls - merely checking the CLI carried with the call against the database of valid numbers should suffice, but then again that would probably hit their revenue stream.

[#7]

Thanks for letting us know, @chrispiggott.

If you don't already use it, we'd recommend taking a loot at Plusnet Call Protect, details below:

https://www.plus.net/home-broadband/plusnet-call-protect/

Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

[#8]

@OskarPapa 

Unfortunately Plusnet Call Protect is little use against spoofed numbers as the perpetrators continually change the alleged originating number. As I said it requires intervention by the telecoms companies to put an end to such practices - see my post above.

[#9]

I understand, unfortunately there isn't an action we could take, however if a call is from a spoofed number call protect would prevent calls originating from that number even if it is spoofed. 

[#10]

Just to add unfortuantly CLID has been hacked and the scammers have worked out now how to get around blocks.

I've had a call (a couple of times) which flashed up as something like: 0123456789012. Thanksfully it went.

Obviously that is not a valid number.

[#11]

@adamwalker

“if a call is from a spoofed number call protect would prevent calls originating from that number even if it is spoofed”

Are you stating that Call Protect does stop all calls having an invalid presentation CLI? If the answer is “Yes”, then that sounds like a fulfilment of GC6 which previously has been stated as not fulfilled.

If the answer is “No” then what did your statement seek to suggest?

Calls do not “come” from a spoofed number - the originating CLI cannot be spoofed - this is the number presented to emergency services, however the presentation number can be spoofed. GC6 requires that the presented CLI be a valid allocated number which can be risked and if notvthat the call should not be routed to the termination number.

[#12]

@Townman 

That is the point I was trying to make in my post 8 above. Thank you for expressing the issue more clearly.

I await Plusnet's response with interest.

[#13]

So dislike this foreshortened editing time ...

My post should have read “can be dialled... “. Not risked!!

[#14]

Fair enough @Townman 

To be honest I am no expert on this and I don't know as I haven't tried it 

I just wonder how I was getting those calls though, which is why I assumed it was possible. Luckily they stopped after a few days.

This was a few years back, maybe they've tightened up on security now or something like that.