Scam emails, phone calls, etc.

[smittims]

I've been a dedicated M&S fan for many years, at one time buying all my clothes, food and wine and even wardrobes from them , but never had a 'Sparks Card'.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well my visit to my nearest Lloyds bank branch this morning seems to have sorted my problem, though it took some time there as the woman dealing with it was made to wait and wait on the end of a long queue - "We're sorry for the delay, we will be getting in touch with you shortly". I couldn't hear any Vivaldi or Satie's Gymnopedies in the interims, but it was slightly relieving to observe that the bank staff themselves have to undergo the same kinds of problems facing customers with queries: "Yes, every branch feeds their queries into that one department" she told me, evoking the image of a portacabin on the outskirts of Crewe staffed by three overstretched women wearing headphones. The upshot is that yes, I had definitely been scammed - and (fixing me with the doctor's glare while telling you to give up smoking) I should have known I was, what with all the programmes giving out warning information all the time. I wanted to say, "but I listen to Radio 3 all day" or "I listen to news programmes informing me of all the terrible events happening around the world", but she was, after all, fixing my problem. Strangely enough there was nothing in my accounts to indicate any kind of interference, but that could mean the perpetrators might be lying in wait for a good moment to pounce, so she cancelled my two bank cards, said I would get replacements in the next 5-7 days, and told me I could go to the counter and ask for cash to tide me over, which I did. Things such as direct debits or inter-account transactions are not affected, so none of my debtors and creditors need informing. It is also probably worth mentioning that they do require some form of proof of identity from people turning up with problems such as mine - which, fortunately, I had anticipated by taking along my driving license.

One gets so accustomed to using chip-and-pin or contact payments that going back to cash is going to feel strange.

[oddoneout]

Well I had a telephone scam encounter today as well. It was very bad timing from my point of view as I'd just returned from a very difficult encounter trying to make an appointment at the GP surgery, and was also getting shaky from lack of calories. I wouldn't have answered except that I was half expecting a call from someone, and it was a local area code number. Usual spiel about noticing unusual activity on my card(but not saying which, giving details(Amazon £300 and a foreign transaction), hence the call, press 1 for OK go ahead and 2 to be connected to someone to discuss if it isn't your use. I put the phone down, and then thought it might be a good time to try 159 to check my Lloyds accounts. First attempt got stuck on account details as I have both debit and credit cards but didn't have the full set of info for either to hand so the automated system couldn't proceed. Got the relevant bits and tried again and got through to a human, but just at the point we seemed to be making progress the telephone had one of its hissy fits(the plugs at the back have to be 'just so', and are prone to becoming not 'just so' during a call, if I have to move papers around for instance) and disconnected the call. At which point I decided to finish lunch and go into the Lloyds branch, and also check with Nationwide since I didn't know which card was "suspect". It was sunny, mild and dry so - get something positive out of the tiresomeness - fresh air and exercise, which was also useful for calming me down!
All checked out and OK in both cases, and the Lloyds cashier confirmed it was a scam - apart from anything else they wouldn't use a local number if they did phone me for any reason. She also said, when I mentioned not wanting to use the number on the back of the card unless I had no option as I have to pay for calls, that customers can use the phones in branch in such cases.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well I had a telephone scam encounter today as well. It was very bad timing from my point of view as I'd just returned from a very difficult encounter trying to make an appointment at the GP surgery, and was also getting shaky from lack of calories. I wouldn't have answered except that I was half expecting a call from someone, and it was a local area code number. Usual spiel about noticing unusual activity on my card(but not saying which, giving details(Amazon £300 and a foreign transaction), hence the call, press 1 for OK go ahead and 2 to be connected to someone to discuss if it isn't your use. I put the phone down, and then thought it might be a good time to try 159 to check my Lloyds accounts. First attempt got stuck on account details as I have both debit and credit cards but didn't have the full set of info for either to hand so the automated system couldn't proceed. Got the relevant bits and tried again and got through to a human, but just at the point we seemed to be making progress the telephone had one of its hissy fits(the plugs at the back have to be 'just so', and are prone to becoming not 'just so' during a call, if I have to move papers around for instance) and disconnected the call. At which point I decided to finish lunch and go into the Lloyds branch, and also check with Nationwide since I didn't know which card was "suspect". It was sunny, mild and dry so - get something positive out of the tiresomeness - fresh air and exercise, which was also useful for calming me down!
All checked out and OK in both cases, and the Lloyds cashier confirmed it was a scam - apart from anything else they wouldn't use a local number if they did phone me for any reason. She also said, when I mentioned not wanting to use the number on the back of the card unless I had no option as I have to pay for calls, that customers can use the phones in branch in such cases.

Almost an identical scam to mine! Well done odders for not being taken in - what a hassle having to be on the constant lookout for this sort of thing invading our everyday lives.

[alywin]

This is kicking off again as i write. It seems my card has been cloned and £6k attempted to be extracted from my account somewhere in Wales, which luckily the folks at Lloyds fraud dept managed to intercept. I've literally got the Lloyds investigator on the phone right now - I'm on hold. The urgency of the situation means he is having to arrange a despatch rider to come round straight away and collect the current a/c card I use for everyday shopping etc to be taken for examination and, would you believe it, presented to the courts as criminal evidence! Apparently I will have to use cash until all this gets sorted out - just as well this seems still to be accepted where I shop!

Having been alerted to the possibility that last time this same guy at Lloyds fraud might have been himself an impersonator he is the same guy today on my case. He hasn't asked for any details, pins etc, so I just have to take him on good faith. I'll keep the forum informed as to further developments.

Hmm, is this the burglar's mentality of "catch them once, then wait for a few weeks and repeat"?

One of my bank cards did get cloned a couple of decades ago. My not-so-local branch sorted the whole thing out quite easily and got me a replacement card, but then the bank's credit department (I think) decided to get involved, and froze my account. THEN they decided to send someone round to demand the (new) card back, but not before. (This all happened over the Easter break, and I was left with no money, and no banks open, for a week. Nightmare!)

[alywin]

He asked me to go and check on a nearby ATM, which I was just about to do, to which two of my neighbours strongly urged me not to do this, but to actually physically report everything that has happened at my nearest branch tomorrow, which is over in Streatham, and which I will most certainly do. I think our friend's just been back on the blower, but I didn't pick up.

Streatham! And the whole situation is made so much easier for the perps when your local branch is closed and replaced by a Starbucks, of course

[french frank]

Emails this morning with special offers from Aldi and Currys (I'm overwhelmed by all these generous offers), both with the same 'redirect' link on the TAKE SURVEY box. I do conscientiously redirect them, with the headers copied, to report@phishing.gov.uk even though they have all been automatically sent to the Junk folder.

[LMcD]

I've just 'trashed' an email which warns me that summat's up with my moonpig account and urgent action is required. As I've never used moonpig, my scope for such action is decidedly limited.!

[Serial_Apologist]

I've just 'trashed' an email which warns me that summat's up with my moonpig account and urgent action is required. As I've never used moonpig, my scope for such action is decidedly limited.!

Aha - you spied a Moonpig dot con!

[LMcD]

Aha - you spied a Moonpig dot con!

[Pulcinella]

Just had a second email in as many days that arrived in my inbox but addressed to an account I don't hold (with talktalk).
No idea how it made it through.
Thus time I forwarded it to report@phishing.gov.uk

It was headed thus, looking like it related to iCloud storage:

Don't lose your videos and pictures! Update your storage! N-84776 250

[Petrushka]

I've had two e-mails this week, supposedly from Google, saying ' someone has added [my email address] as their recovery email'.

I don't recognise the account given and an option is given to disconnect the email. It looks to be genuinely from Google but I'm very suspicious after this second one that it could be a phishing attack.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[french frank]

Has anyone else experienced this?

No but I've had two emails in the last couple of days, one saying they'd updated their T&Cs and one telling me my account would be deactivated if I didn't use again soon. Spent a long time identifying buses, traffic lights and fire hydrants but then couldn't remember my password.

[oddoneout]

No but I've had two emails in the last couple of days, one saying they'd updated their T&Cs and one telling me my account would be deactivated if I didn't use again soon. Spent a long time identifying buses, traffic lights and fire hydrants but then couldn't remember my password.

I had a T&C update email a couple of days ago, I'e left it unread.
Yesterday I had a phone call claiming there were problems with my account and that my card had been blocked. They lost me at "This is a recorded message from Actionfraud".