I have been a loyal PlusNet broadband customer since 2004, and a week ago, getting tired of all the dropped internet connections I was experiencing with 2 different ADSL+ router/modems, I switched my service to fibre to see if it would make any difference. I also decided to switch my phone provider over to PlusNet from TalkTalk at the same time, and was told that the switchover of my phone line would occur on 16 Oct.
I got my fibre a week ago and the dropped connections stopped, but the download speeds, although MUCH better, were not as fast as I'd hoped.
I received emails about the switchover to PlusNet in the morning, and within an hour I received a phone call from a man purporting to be from BT OpenConnect, saying that their engineer was responding to reports in my local area of bad broadband speeds, etc. and they were doing some line replacement work and wanted to "reset" my broadband router. I told them I was with PlusNet, not BT OpenConnect, but he said they provided the infrastructure. He went on to ask me a number of questions about my broadband connection and the problems I'd been having, and frankly, it sounded quite genuine - although the caller had an Indian accent, it wasn't unusual at all these days for call centres to be located outside the UK. There was also a lot of background noise suggesting it was a busy call centre. He told me that in order to conduct the broadband test, all devices apart from the main computer should be disconnected from the router - it struck me as a little strange, but perhaps it was too early in the morning, and since I have never got spam or marketing calls on my line ever since signing up to TPS years ago, I persuaded myself it was legitimate.
Anyway after various questions about the quality of service I was experiencing, he said that they were obliged to pay me compensation for the poor broadband service I'd been experiencing. But in order to test my broadband, he wanted me to install TeamViewer on my Mac, and I don't really know why I went along with it but I did -- and then subsequently, I also installed ConnectWise Control client software which allowed him remote access, he said it was the engineer who was conducting tests to my broadband, and they even flashed up a screen with a graph showing peaks and troughs in my so-called broadband performance. He also asked numerous questions about whether I had reported previous faults and slow service to PlusNet and I said no, never...despite occasionally really slow service and dropped connections.
The screen went black for a while as the "test" was commencing, and he told me to go away and come back in 10 mins - it was so early I hadn't had any breakfast or coffee yet, so I left the line but returned within a few minutes to find the screen still black - once or twice, my desktop returned and he was insistent that I minimised all windows. He then said that in order to claim my 255 pounds of compensation, I should type my bank name into the search bar on my browser. With this, I grew immediately suspicious and asked him why I should do that, and he insisted that it was the only way they could return the money to me. I said there was no way I was accessing any bank website, and he tried telling me that there would be a button for me to click on the website allowing me to claim the money. Now, I do NOT do any internet banking but I smelt a rat anyway and refused even when he became impatient and said it was my only chance to claim the money. Long story short, I refused and grew suspicious of his actions, and really should have unplugged my ethernet cable then but I kept on the phone a while longer and noticed an email from Paypal Digital Gifts saying I had bought a voucher. By then he was telling me that my broadband had been "fully tested" and I should hang up but keep the modem on all day because the engineer was still in the process of 'testing'. The funny thing is, he said quite a few things that should have raised red flags, but because I had been lulled into complacency by not having had nuisance or telemarketing calls for YEARS, I wanted to believe the call was genuine. Immediately after hanging up I deleted the remote client software and took my computer offline. He had made two Paypal payments to purchase 2 iTunes vouchers to the total of 75 quid. He actually called me again as I was frantically checking what other information he may have compromised - he asked me if I had switched off the computer, and then said, more hesitantly this time, that I could switch on my computer again later today, probably wanting to establish another remote connection to steal more info.
Anyway I have checked my Mac Activity Monitor and all the processes to see if he has installed anything on my computer, he hasn't - but I don't know what else to do to verify this. I called Action Fraud to report this, reported the transactions to Paypal as well as my credit card company, who are issuing me a new card. My Mac has been offline since as I want to be absolutely sure there are no hidden processes running on it before I reconnect it to the internet.
In hindsight I feel absolutely stupid to have followed through with his requests before finally getting suspicious only when he asked for me to type my bank into the search engine, probably hoping I had my bank account on auto-login or something. However it was too coincidental IMHO for this phone call to have been made on the same day my phone line was switched over to PlusNet, and only a week after my fibre internet was activated.
I have done google searches and there have been numerous reports of similar scams whose calls only came through after something had been done to their phone line, or a fault had been reported.
Sorry for writing such a long essay but I just want to make PlusNet aware of this and perhaps any other users who may have experienced the same thing.
