Extract from a recent email:
We have been advised of a telephone fraud currently in operation (this applies to home and/or work telephones - land lines and mobiles): If you
do receive one of these calls, upon answering the telephone, you will hear a recorded message congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to
an exotic location. You will then be asked to press 9 to hear further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a premium rate line that costs
approximately £20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes, costing around £100. The
final part of the call involves you being asked to key your postcode and house number (which has other serious consequences). After a further 2
minutes you will receive a message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners. The total bill will be £260.
Since the calls are originating from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left relatively powerless to act. The only safe
solution is to HANG UP before the message prompts you to press 9; even safer is to HANG UP on any unsolicited 'free offer' call. This appears to
be a variation on a theme, warnings have been sent previously regarding calls made by individuals claiming to be engineers conducting a test on
the line and asking for 9, 0# and text messages similar to the routine described above. DO NOT DIAL 9 (OR 9,0# OR 0,9#) FOR ANYONE! BT has been
contacted and confirmed the details as being true.
There is another scam operating on Mobile Phones. A missed Call comes up. The number is 0709 020 3840. The last four numbers may vary but
certainly the first four numbers will remain the same. If you call this number back, you will be charged £50 per minute. People have complained
about their phone bills, once they have realised the cost of the call but apparently this is completely legal. So beware, do not call back numbers beginning with 0709.
