Amazon Prime Scam

Tezza33 said:
There are lots of reports of people being conned out of thousands by these scams, but they must be gullible

www.actionfraud.police.uk

Action Fraud warns of Amazon Prime scam that has cost victims over £400,000 in two months | Action Fraud

Criminals are targeting members of the public with automated calls stating that the recipient has been charged for an Amazon Prime subscription. The callers use this lure as a way to gain access to the recipient’s online banking account.
www.actionfraud.police.uk www.actionfraud.police.uk


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That is not a particularly accurate or helpful comment. Many of these victims are elderly or lacking in self confidence or the ability to make rational decisions and perhaps live alone with no one to advise thm. You have to remember that these fraudsters know they will be unsuccessful in may hundreds or thousands of calls but if they do succeed in just one call a day they can make several hundred or several thousand pounds with little risk of being caught as most are not based in the UK.
 
iandsm said:
That is not a particularly accurate or helpful comment. Many of these victims are elderly or lacking in self confidence or the ability to make rational decisions and perhaps live alone with no one to advise thm. You have to remember that these fraudsters know they will be unsuccessful in may hundreds or thousands of calls but if they do succeed in just one call a day they can make several hundred or several thousand pounds with little risk of being caught as most are not based in the UK.
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I agree with you, a good scam by its nature works because it is plausible ...
 
Putting down the 'phone then trying to call the utility company directly is not an option for many.

For example try EDF Energy. There is absolutely no way to talk to a person. All contact has been cut off. You can either log into your online account, if you have the details to hand, and try to fumble through, or call their automated line and punch away starting with say your customer reference number (that's 12 digits for me) then a load of other stuff. That maybe you actually have with you. Meanwhile paying for the 'phone call, which in my case might be rather expensive, from far far away.

Now I am not daft, but quite how elderly non tech. savvy unconnected trusting people are expected to cope is a puzzle. And the scammers will continue to prey on them.

Even my bank has a website where you can check the incoming call number to see if it's legit. Never has been. I have to use a one time code device to log in, that's reassuring, but I can still do it over the 'phone and be instantly, I mean instantly, connected to a UK employee, not an outsourced service from who knows where with a barely intelligible accent and not a clue. And they are smart,

Try for example going onto EDF Energy's website and engaging in a live chat, you will get nowhere, I have a copy of the last time I tried, probably an hour wasted, I only kept going because I couldn't believe how bad it was. Basically I want to pay my bill, please tell me the number to call because the old one I have doesn't work. How simple could that be ?
 
Sharpie said:
Putting down the 'phone then trying to call the utility company directly is not an option for many.

For example try EDF Energy. There is absolutely no way to talk to a person. All contact has been cut off. You can either log into your online account, if you have the details to hand, and try to fumble through, or call their automated line and punch away starting with say your customer reference number (that's 12 digits for me) then a load of other stuff. That maybe you actually have with you. Meanwhile paying for the 'phone call, which in my case might be rather expensive, from far far away.

Now I am not daft, but quite how elderly non tech. savvy unconnected trusting people are expected to cope is a puzzle. And the scammers will continue to prey on them.

Even my bank has a website where you can check the incoming call number to see if it's legit. Never has been. I have to use a one time code device to log in, that's reassuring, but I can still do it over the 'phone and be instantly, I mean instantly, connected to a UK employee, not an outsourced service from who knows where with a barely intelligible accent and not a clue. And they are smart,

Try for example going onto EDF Energy's website and engaging in a live chat, you will get nowhere, I have a copy of the last time I tried, probably an hour wasted, I only kept going because I couldn't believe how bad it was. Basically I want to pay my bill, please tell me the number to call because the old one I have doesn't work. How simple could that be ?
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We've got a couple of edf accounts. On the back ofthebill there's a payment phone number, ring thatwith a debit card and the account number off the bill and they'll give an instant balance and take payment. Simple enough or you can hang up after getting the balance and send a cheque.
A few months ago we got the reminder letter on one account, which we hadn't had the bill for, can't remember how but I got through to a real person, turned out they had decided to go paperless but sent everything to a an old email address thatwe nolonger use.
 
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how savvy you are, these conmen are very clever and persuasive. I haven’t been caught but know some that have and they thought they switched on.
I like to waste their time by ‘following’ instructions (got IT background) so convince them that I am falling for it! Other ones get the ‘yes I’ve had an accident’ and see how long it takes for them to hang up when I say it was the blue flashing lights on the car chasing me that blinded me.
It is no use swearing at them - they are well used to it. They are far unhappier if you take them for a ride!
 
ricc said:
We've got a couple of edf accounts. On the back ofthebill there's a payment phone number, ring thatwith a debit card and the account number off the bill and they'll give an instant balance and take payment. Simple enough or you can hang up after getting the balance and send a cheque.
A few months ago we got the reminder letter on one account, which we hadn't had the bill for, can't remember how but I got through to a real person, turned out they had decided to go paperless but sent everything to a an old email address thatwe nolonger use.
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Not in my case. I'm not talking about their automated payment line, I mean talking to a real person.

Please could you tell me that 'phone number, because EDF themselves don't seem to know it. PM me if you wish.

They too decided to go paperless, without my permission, the first thing I knew about it was a snotty e-mail. And no they are not going to be allowed a direct debit, after an experience when the meter reader got it wrong by a factor of ten and they pursued me relentlessly for a supposed bill of over £2000, that took several months to sort out.

Oh we'll come round and check again. Yes you can anytime Saturday morning. No we don't do appointments. Well tough, because that's the only time I can guarantee to be in. And only this Saturday coming, after that I'll be away for three weeks. And so on and so forth. At least I could actually ring them up then.

Apparently they now try to bill monthly rather than quarterly too, well that's not going to happen either, they can wait. They are on their last chance and I may finally switch to another less user hostile outfit if I can find one. Any recommendations ?
 
Try Octopus Energy. Jays moved to them and they seem pretty efficient. You just send them tradings each month and you can even adjust you direct debit amount yourself.
 
iandsm said:
Try Octopus Energy. Jays moved to them and they seem pretty efficient. You just send them tradings each month and you can even adjust you direct debit amount yourself.
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Watch they may crab you by the tenticals.
 
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