BT Scam

This has been passed to us by one of our members:

A guy calls up saying he's from BT. The bill needs paying and he will cut you off if you don't pay up now. Says if you don't believe him, he will suspend your line now and try calling out in 15 seconds. If you don't pay up, it will cost £75 and you will have to have a new number. If you say you're on direct debit, he says it failed and they have written to you three times as a warning.

You pick up the phone 15 seconds later and there is a dead line. You hang up and he calls back after 1 minute. You try to pay, but he says that the credit card has been declined and asks for another (one lady gave SEVEN). Points to note:

1. If someone calls into your line, you cannot make calls out until they hang up. Anyone can do it and they can leave your line blocked for hours if they forget to hang up the extension. It's been like that in the UK for ever.
   
   
2. BT don't do this. If they are going to do something like this, they divert all outgoing calls to their billing office, where they then sort it all out.
   
   
3. BT won't change you number out of spite, only if you want it changed or you are getting funny phone calls or at the request of the Police with the subscribers consent.

BT are aware of this scam and advise anyone who receives one of these calls to report it to the:

Nuisance Call Bureau on 0800 411 422 and police

In any event, do not give any personal or financial details over the phone.

Paul Hammond, Barnet Boroughwatch