Tag: cold callers

How to Answer the Cold Callers

These suggestions are from  users of the Slummy Single Mummy website at https://slummysinglemummy.com/  and are in response to a cold caller telling you that you have been involved in a car accident, but the responses can be applied to most cold callers.

  • ‘Oh my goodness! I thought I was feeling a bit funny today. Am I seriously hurt?’
  • ‘Could you call me back in about ten minutes?’ (grunting) ‘I’m just having a poo and it’s proving stubborn.’
  • ‘Noooo!’ (breaking down in tears), ‘I knew this would catch up with me! I told Frank we shouldn’t have pushed the other car off that bridge, that we should have just owned up and told everyone it was an accident, and NOW SEE WHAT’S HAPPENED??’
  • ‘Well, that’s a funny coincidence as I have just been informed that you have been in an accident? Are you okay?’
  • ‘Well I have been in an accident but it WAS my fault. She had it coming.’
  • ‘Yes I have – it happened just then when I answered the phone to you, so I guess that makes it your fault? Could you give me your insurance details please?’
  • ‘Thanks for calling. I do need to make you aware that this call will be recording for training purposes.’
  • ‘Damn it,’ (in desperate voice), ‘I thought I’d managed to get all the witnesses. Who told you? Was it that snitch Tommo?’
  • ‘I’m so glad you called,’ (whispering), ‘I’ve been trying to tell everyone this for MONTHS but they keep telling me I imagined it. I’ve been in this strange hospital for six weeks now. Can I give you the name of my doctor and then you can call and explain to her that it IS true – you have been informed of it?’

Have fun with cold callers – they called to waste your time, so waste theirs instead.

If you have any better suggestions or answers you have tried, do let me know, by email.

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Nuisance Call Bosses Fined Up to £500,000

Estimates by telecoms regulator Ofcom show British consumers were bombarded with 3.9 billion nuisance phone calls and texts in 2018.

Company directors whose firms make unsolicited nuisance calls are now directly liable and could face fines of up to £500,000 under recent legislation from the Information Commissioner (ICO).

In the past some company directors had avoided company penalties for nuisance calls by going bankrupt and then starting a new firm under a different name. Once a company has been dissolved any penalties cannot be collectable.

Previously, it was only the businesses themselves that were liable for fines of up to £500,000 rather than individuals.

Andy Curry, of the nuisance call enforcement team at the ICO, said “It will mean we can recover the fine more easily and also make it much harder for unscrupulous operators to set up in business again.”

Last year, the ICO issued 26 penalties totalling £3.28 million for breaches of electronic marketing laws relating to nuisance calls and spam text messages, along with 10 enforcement notices.

Minister for digital and creative industries Margot James said: “We are determined to stamp this menace out and this new law is the latest in a series of measures to rid society of the plague of nuisance calls.”

If you have any experiences with nuisance callers – do let me know, by email.

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Barclays Caller ID Service

Barclays has launched a new caller ID service to fight scams in mid phone call.

The new feature is on its app and website and it lets customers check whether callers claiming to be from the bank are genuine – while they are on the phone.

The caller identification service is designed to fight impersonation scams, where fraudsters pretend to be phoning from organisations such as banks to trick victims into transferring money or personal details.

Some scammers are even able to spoof numbers to make it look like they’re calling from a legitimate organisation – but this new feature will confirm whether an incoming call is from a genuine Barclays’ employee.

At the moment, the feature is only available to Barclays Premier customers – who must have £100,000 saved or invested with the bank, or pay in an annual salary of at least £75,000 – but Barclays says it will be rolled out to all customers “over the coming months”.

How Does Caller ID Work?

Eligible customers will be able to use the feature on the Barclays APP. It is also available in online banking when using a browser on your phone.

If you’re unsure if the call is from Barclays, it will check if you have the Barclays app or are registered for online banking.

If you are, Barclays will offer the verification service and send you a notification.

You then log in to either your Barclays app or online banking and open your notification. This confirms the caller’s name and asks if you’d like to continue with the call.

Barclays checks the response and you then complete the typical identification checks and the call continues as usual.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

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Cold Callers Selling Call Blockers

Elderly homeowners are being targeted by cold callers selling expensive gadgets that supposedly block cold callers.

Sometimes the scammers have no product and the whole thing is just a con to get the victim’s credit card details but there appear to be several companies actually selling products they claim can block cold callers.

But, they are contacting people registered on the Telephone Preference Service who should not be called so they are operating illegally. These companies sell expensive products that turn out to be cheap and ineffective – either stopping all calls or are incompatible with most people’s home phones or are too complicated for the end user to understand.

One such company was Telecom Protection Service which was stopped in 2017 after being found guilty of defrauding hundreds of people. Also, a company named  IT Protect Ltd was fined £400,000 for cold calling to sell call blockers more recently.

Other companies have since sprung up to continue this scam.

If you want a call blocking service, first try your phone provider as most have call blocking feature available and quite often these are free or at a modest charge.

If you do want or need a gadget to plug into your phone line for blocking callers then research what’s available and pick one that is recommended by experts and by its customers. Do not ever respond to cold callers trying to sell anything as it will never be value for money.

If you have any experiences with cold callers do let me know, by email.

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Car Accident Cold Callers

The Fightback Ninja says:-

I have been receiving car accident cold calls recently.

I haven’t had any accidents – Ninja’s never do.

So, my mobile number must have got onto a scammers call list, sadly.

Katie phoned me. Probably a fake name.

“My name is Katie and I’m calling about your recent car accident”.

It’s nice to talk with you Katie. So, which accident was that then Katie?

“The car accident”.

Yes. So, which one was that?

She obviously didn’t like my response and put the phone down.

Then there was Abbey.

“Hello. My name is Abbey and I’m calling from Sunshine Advisors. We’re calling about your recent car accident”

Right. Hello Abbey. Sunshine Advisors – that’s a good name.

“About your accident which was not your fault.”

That accident?

“If you give me the details of your car and when the accident happened we can start the recovery process to get you damages.”

Right. That sounds good.

She didn’t respond.

What accident are we talking about then Abbey?

She put the phone down. They recognise when you know it’s a scam and believe it’s better to move onto a new victim than play a dead hand.

If you have the time, it’s fun to play along and waste their time – make up answers. There’s no need to be truthful as they called you to lie to you.

  1. What do they want?
  2. Usually these are for fake insurance claims for something like whiplash which is very difficult to disprove. Sometimes they are just phishing for your personal details to sell on.

Whatever they want – do not tell them anything personal as you may regret it.

Do you have an opinion on this matter? Please comment in the box below.

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Who Makes the Cold Calls

Claims management companies (CMCs) are the ones that make most of the cold calls – PPI, accident claims etc.

The insurance company AXA surveyed people to ask about the cold calls they receive.

The biggest subjects for cold calls are PPI, accidents in public places, accidents in the workplace and motor insurance claims. Between them, these account for most of the cold calls.

An estimated 12 million Britons are cold called per day – despite stricter rules and the recent Government crackdown.

These companies are ‘bombarding people with cold calls, emails, letters and text messages’ and ‘clearly contributing to be the bane of many people’s lives,’ according to the new report from AXA.

Around half of the 2,131 consumers asked by AXA said they think the regulations around CMCs need to be significantly tightened up.

Possible changes with significant support include:-

  • Cold calls from CMCs to be made illegal
  • A cap of between six and 10 per cent on the fees that CMCs can make, compared with about 30% that they currently charge.
  • Make it mandatory for calling companies to show the numbers they are calling from
  • A time limit on when consumers can claim back compensation after an event (most people think this should be 12 months).
  • A ban on automated calling

A quarter of people surveyed said they felt stressed by these calls from CMCs and 44 per cent were concerned about how the companies had got their details.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport, is looking into how these regulations can be tightened.

Between April 2014 and December 2015, the Claims Management Regulator issued 459 warnings, carried out 685 audits, started more than 150 investigations into specific firms and suspended 159 company licences.

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