Security

[Chaunb10]

I've just received a phone call on my landline claiming to be from VM Technical dept saying that my router has been hacked by someone in California. They needed my IP ID number so that they could rectify the situation. When I asked them to prove that they were genuine by sending me an email, they said that they couldn't. How do I know if this is genuine? And why is there not a telephone number at Virgin Media that I can ring to authenticate?

[Client62 · Accepted solution]

100% this is a scam, well done for not being sucked in.

Try the number here https://who-called.co.uk/   it may have been the source of previous nuisance calls.

Just a word of warning about validating a phone numbers - in the current VOIP age it is super easy to set the Caller Id to any value. Hence the scam caller can display on your phone a number that looks just like it comes from VM / Barclays Bank / HMRC etc. 

We can not take the displayed number as any form of assurance.

[goslow]

---

@Chaunb10 wrote:

I've just received a phone call on my landline claiming to be from VM Technical dept saying that my router has been hacked by someone in California. <snip>

---

The scammers will doubtless try your number again as they have now confirmed that the number is live and someone is answering and is willing to talk to them. For future reference, VM does not make outbound technical support calls to customers out of the blue. 

They may call back again pretending to be VM or they may use another brand name such as Microsoft, Amazon, BT etc.

Best advice is to hang up immediately and not engage with them. Even better still, do not answer calls from unknown numbers. Let them go to voicemail/answering machine or let the call ring out unanswered.

I have found this trueCall device very effective at screening out unwanted scam calls.

https://www.truecall.co.uk/category-s/116.htm

If you want to talk to VM, call one of the recognised support numbers 150 (free from a VM landline) or 0345 454 1111 (call charges may apply)

[Spurry5661]

This is a scam , i get them all the time..I'm sick of telling then to [MOD EDIT: Language], I put up a post on the forum but it got taken down i think

[HughJarsse]

I use the method my late father used for these sort of people, He had an old police whistle, and when he got these sort of scammer calls, (actual human person, not recorded message) He would grab the whistle and give it a full lung blast down the phone, followed by asking 'are you still there' before hanging up. 

They soon got the message, and these sort of calls soon dried up.  (obviously they passed his number around, like scammers do, but all got the same treatment) 

I now have that whistle, and as soon as I get one of these 'live' calls, I let them talk for a second or two, then give them a full blast... funny, but we don't appear to be getting many of them lately..🤔