Scam Telephone Call Pretending To Be Virgin Media ?

[RobCheatle]

I am getting repeated calls, clearly originating in the Far East, suggesting that I have a problem with my Router and wanting me to give them access to my router.

This felt like a scam. I have had three calls just today.

The number given after calling 1471 is 01472325599.

Any ideas?

[BazSmith]

Seems like this is doing the rounds again.    Received sheds loads of calls again today from this scumbags

02566736628
02968869625
02893772627
02823535547
01484538454
07348894661

Not really want I want to be dealing with at the moment, as currently trying to assist my wife in various bits of paperwork and calls relating to her mother who passed away a week ago.   So whilst we're expecting lots of GENUINE calls (from numbers that we don't usually recognise), we would rather not have to deal with these low IQ  pond-dwellers from downtown Delhi or whatever hell hole in India they come from

Be vigilant guys, and don't engage these bellends

[NSink52]

I have had at least a dozen calls from withheld numbers from people definitely not based in UK pretending to be Steve, Charlie, Alice and the like purporting to be from Virgin's technical team. 

I am also experiencing issues with wifi network which initially led me to believe this might not be a scam, but alas, as soon as you challenge, the line gets cut.

I can't block the number, and I have to answer the call, as I'm wfh and calls from work (NHS) are withheld. 

So so annoying. 

[goslow]

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@NSink52 wrote:

I have had at least a dozen calls from withheld numbers from people definitely not based in UK pretending to be Steve, Charlie, Alice and the like purporting to be from Virgin's technical team. 

I am also experiencing issues with wifi network which initially led me to believe this might not be a scam, but alas, as soon as you challenge, the line gets cut.

I can't block the number, and I have to answer the call, as I'm wfh and calls from work (NHS) are withheld. 

So so annoying. 

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If you have to make regular use of your landline for work, then you need to screen the calls to eliminate the scammers. Refer to message #5 in this topic ref. a trueCall device.

You can configure this so that anyone calling from a withheld number is challenged to press a key and state who they are. Only then does your phone ring. You hear the announcement and can accept or reject the call.

Real/genuine callers (such as work) can respond to this as required. Automated diallers for scam calls cannot respond in this way and the call is dropped and your phone does not ring.

[NSink52]

thank you goslow - however, this is to my mobile, would trueCall work? I will make enquiries nevertheless.

[goslow]

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@NSink52 wrote:
thank you goslow - however, this is to my mobile, would trueCall work? I will make enquiries nevertheless.

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Don't often see mentions of scam calls to mobiles on here. It is pretty much always landlines. Complaints about mobile scams are usually to do with text scams. The trueCall device is only for landlines.

I believe there are various apps for mobiles (one is called truecaller but I don't think there is any connection with the trueCall device). I have no experience of truecaller nor any of the other mobile apps so can't vouch for any of them. I believe these mainly work on blacklists of numbers rather than screening and processing the calls to decide which ones to let through, so most likely won't help with your withheld number problem. There may be an app which does some kind of screening.

You could maybe try in the VM mobile forum for advice or a forum of your mobile provider if not VM.

[Hurbster]

Literally just had one of these myself. The lady on the 'phone didn't seem quite as polite as a genuine Virgin Media caller (although it was the usual terrible audio quality) as she told me it was an important call when I mentioned that I was working from home and when she 'transferred' me to an engineer I wasn't put on hold. By that time I was already reading this thread.

As soon as I mentioned I was reading this thread he put the 'phone down on me.

[smjg]

I have had several calls from people claiming from Virgin Media. Usually they have asked me one or two questions and then suddenly hung up. But the call I received two days ago was different.

The caller claimed that they've been getting errors from my router and that there were concerns about the speed and security of my connection. I replied that I wasn't experiencing any speed issues. I was asked to run a speed test and report on the result. Then I realised, how can they possibly know that there's an issue with the speed of my connection if they don't already have this info?

I was then told to close all programs on my computer, download and install TeamViewer and then give them the username and password displayed therein. I realised something was amiss. Furthermore, come 9:28 I explained that I need to start work in two minutes and therefore have to go, but he tried to keep me on the line nonetheless and I eventually said "I don't have time now, goodbye" and hung up.

I have reported this to Action Fraud.

I don't recall getting calls from people claiming to be from Virgin Media at the phone number I had at my old address. Neither do I seem to get calls claiming from other telecommunications companies (bar a one-off Openreach instance). It would seem the scammers are targeting Virgin customers specifically, but how would they know who is a Virgin customer? I don't think it's still possible to tell just by looking at the phone number.

Furthermore, please correct me if I'm wrong, but presumably if anybody genuinely from Virgin Media has reason to phone me then they would:

• ask for me by name at the start of the call
• be able to resolve any security issues they discover at their end, thereby not need to contact me about such issues
• never ask me to download software in order to resolve an issue with my Internet connection
• respect that I am busy / need to go

[Sasha_W]

Hi @smjg, 

Thanks for reporting this to us and sorry to hear this has happened to you, we do strongly apologise that you received a scam call. 

We would never phone you to discuss broadband issues with you and we certainly would never ask for your details like that. 

We do have ways in which you can block this, and I would strongly recommend using this link to block and report these scam calls. 

Please do block these numbers ASAP so it prevents them from ringing again. 

If you do have any further issues, please feel free to ask me 

Thanks 

[goslow]

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@smjg wrote:

I have had several calls from people claiming from Virgin Media. Usually they have asked me one or two questions and then suddenly hung up. But the call I received two days ago was different.

<snip>

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Unfortunately VM offer almost nothing by which customers can mitigate against these scam calls.

The scam calls are generated automatically and numbers are dialled across particular area codes of numbers. OFCOM has produced lists in the public domain of which telcoms providers own which particular number blocks so the scammers have an ability to have a good first guess as to who provides your number. This adds authenticity to their scam script.

The aim of the scammer is to convince you that you have a fault or a security problem. They typically offer to fix the fake problem by asking to remotely log into your computer via remote access software. From their they will try to gain access to your online banking (often claiming you are entitled to some kind of refund because of the fake fault/issue they have described). Once they have access to your online banking, they will try to steal money from the account. Alternatively they may lock your computer and demand a ransom fee to unlock it or may also try to steal personal information with a view to committing further fraud against you. Once they have had access to your computer they may also leave behind hidden remote access software so they can gain future access to you computer without you knowing about it. So, never allow anyone remote access to your devices and do not follow any of their instructions on the computer.

As has been stated, VM will never call you out of the blue regarding a technical/security problem and will never require remote access to your devices. Unfortunately you will almost certainly receive more of these scam calls. The format of the scam may change and they may claim to be from Amazon, Microsoft, HMRC, your bank etc. See the links below on how the scam calls operate

Metropolitan Police
https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/fraud/met/little-booklet-of-p...

Neighbourhood Watch
https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/telephone-scams

Best approach for any future calls is to hang up immediately without talking to them.

[jonmd]

This has happened to me a few times in the last few days. I am concerned Virgin Media may have had a data breach, because we have never given our landline number to anyone, and they somehow know we are with Virgin Media. I have raised it as a complaint and I expect it to be investigated. Obviously it is a scam/spam phone call, but I am extremely concerned about how they got the number and knew it was a VM number. 

The calls we have been getting originate from overseas according to the caller display.