"Virgin" Calls Re Web/WiFi Issue

Question

I have been receiving occasional unsolicited calls purporting to be from Virgin re an internet/wi-fi/router problem at my house. I find them suspicious and think I could be being scammed in some way, so I tend to be slightly awkward with the caller (but not rude) and they tend to hang up immediately, which in itself seems suspicious.

My service seems to be running largely OK. However my Hub 3 router DOES show a continuous red light these days. I think I've read that this could be indicative of an overheating problem and it's possible Virgin have detected this and are trying to contact me because it's a possible fire issue.

Could somebody at Virgin check this for me?

goslow · Answer

The scam works in various ways but one of the most common is that the callers try to convince you of a problem with your VM connection. They offer to 'fix' the (imaginary) problem by installing remote access software on your device which allows them to take control of it.

Once they have done that they may try to access your online banking, commit identity theft, try to take ownership of your device/account, lock your device and demand a fee to unlock it etc. etc.

VM will not ring you out of the blue to tell you of a technical issue. When the scammers call back (as they inevitably will) just hang up on them without talking to them. Now they have identified your number is working and you are willing to talk to them, they will almost certainly try again (and may present as another organisation such as Amazon, Microsoft etc.)

Here are some links from the Met Police to booklets in an easy-to-read format without jargon on how various scams are run

https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/fraud/met/little-booklet-of-phone-scams.pdf

https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/fraud/met/the-little-book-of-big-scams.pdf

goslow · Answer

The unsolicited calls are a scam. The red light on a Hub 3 indicates an overheating problem which normally involves replacing the hub.

You would normally get a reply on here from a VM person within a few days but the forum is going offline next week to migrate and merge with the O2 community forum so any comm's are likely to be delayed.

You could try your luck phoning in (most likely you will get the run around without any useful help) or, if the red light is not associated with any problems at present, wait for a VM person on here when the forum comes back online.

Mucky1 · Answer

Thank-you for a clear reply and the advice Alessandro, I will try one or more of your options.By the way, do you know how the scam would work if I engage the caller?

Mucky1 · Answer

Thanks again for your help and links which I'll be printing off. I am acutely sceptical of any unsolicited calls myself, but my wife is slightly less so as she gets wi-fi drop-outs in her office area and is all too ready to connect the "Virgin" calls to that, although the drop-outs are almost certainly on "our side of things". We may have some additional protection in as much as the calls are to a landline, so at least we can't be panicked into pressing any smartphone buttons.

goslow · Answer

For unwanted landline calls, you could consider a call screening device such as trueCallhttps://www.truecall.co.uk/category-s/116.htmI don't have a landline anymore but, when I did, I used this device on the line. It cut the automated scam calls from 4 or 5 per day, at the worst point, down to zero.When someone calls, the device plays a message and tells the caller to press a key on their keypad and to state who they are. Only if they do this does your phone ring.Automated scam call diallers cannot complete this operation so the call never comes through. Real scammers know that someone with the device fitted is scam-aware so they never bother to follow through with their routine.Any numbers you have programmed into the device (friends, family etc.) ring straight through with no screening. There is also an answering machine built in and you can configure multiple combinations of screening to suit your own requirements.

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"Virgin" Calls Re Web/WiFi Issue

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