Phone scammers pretending to be from Eircom

_Whimsical_

I'm sure everyone has heard about these Indian call centres that call and tell you they're from Microsoft etc and need you to go on your PC urgently to fix a fault and then install a virus on your PC to mine your financial details.

Well it seems they're now changing their shtick and pretending to be from Eircom and will read a false account number to you in a bid to confirm this. They rang my house this morning and were quite insistent they were from Eircom.

As it's more local and more believable than MS ringing you it might convince some people to follow their orders on the PC. I rang Eircom and it is definitely a scam. The man I spoke to said they seem to target areas of the country at a time so beware people and warn your mums and dads not be taken in as I'd say theyre more vulnerable to these kind of scams.

biko

Did the person you spoke to have an Irish accent?

stampydmonkey

Mam got done by this a month or so ago. It was the microsoft scam. Thankfully (or not!!) her car was broken into a week before that so she had cancelled her credit/bank cards so couldn't actually give them any card details. Bad few weeks.

Anyway cleaned the PC and let the guards know. Its going on the whole time and we still get calls from them.

_Whimsical_

biko wrote: »

Did the person you spoke to have an Irish accent?

No it was an Indian voice. I've spoken to foreign people located in Ireland on Eircom tech support in the past though. Reading out the fake account number made it sound confusingly legit. I told her I would ring eircom myself about and she got quite annoyed as it was "so urgent".

stampydmonkey wrote: »

Mam got done by this a month or so ago. It was the microsoft scam. Thankfully (or not!!) her car was broken into a week before that so she had cancelled her credit/bank cards so couldn't actually give them any card details. Bad few weeks.

Anyway cleaned the PC and let the guards know. Its going on the whole time and we still get calls from them.

I definitely think older people are more at risk of getting stung on this. I hope that your mum will have some Christmas luck to make up for the car break in.

biko

This deserves more than local attention so I'm pushing it over to After Hours.
There is a big thread there on the Microsoft scams already but this is a new and worse twist.

B.A._Baracus

biko wrote: »

This deserves more than local attention so I'm pushing it over to After Hours.
There is a big thread there on the Microsoft scams already but this is a new and worse twist.

Too true.
We can assume they are/will be claiming to be from UPC as well.

DrumSteve

I know the lads from the Eircom online team. I'll send this thread over to them now.

You'd want to be some scumbag to be doing this.

AlanS181824

Oh God... They'd try anything just to get your details. Will definitely be on the lookout thanks.

eircom: Tony

Hi Guys
afraid that these scams are becoming more of an issue. Thanks for posting this and bringing to our attention.. I will pass this on to our online and call centres and make them aware of this current issue.
Tony

Artful_Badger

What exactly are they trying to get from people by pretending to be from Eircom ? Is it the same as the MS scam but just pretending to be from Eircom and get you to install shít on the pc ?

Fighting Irish

these scams will never disappear

the_syco

Fighting Irish wrote: »

these scams will never disappear

When their call centre gets hit by a cruise missile, they'll probably stop.

drunkmonkey

the_syco wrote: »

When their call centre gets hit by a cruise missile, they'll probably stop.

Make sure and save one for the Indian's.

Me?

These scammer's can't be any worse than the Eircom people that are masquerading as customer care.

Fr_Dougal

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Hi Guys
afraid that these scams are becoming more of an issue. Thanks for posting this and bringing to our attention.. I will pass this on to our online and call centres and make them aware of this current issue.
Tony

And what exactly is it that they'll do, Tony? I'd imagine they'd be pretty powerless protecting unsuspecting victims being duped.

thomasm

Had the call Sunday morning. When I said I did not have Eircom the women with an Asian accent hung up

Potential-Monke

Thing is, nothing can be done about them. The call originates from outside of Ireland (normally Nigeria and surrounding countries) and because of that nothing can be done. People just have to be vigilant and be extra careful.

Banjo String

MrBlack93

Best thing to do in the event of getting one of these calls is to waste as much of their time as possible by pretending to be technologically illiterate.
I.e. tell them you're not good with computers and that you'll need help to turn it on etc.
Anything just to waste their time, you'll be surprised how much fun you can have pissing them off. Had one nigerian sounding chap say ''**** you, you cock sucking cnut''
What a charming fellow he was

janiceross

Thanks for the heads up! I'm in Idaho and I haven't received a call like that yet. But as you mentioned, they're targeting one area at a time. So it's possible they'd call me one day, too. Too bad I learned about them already before they even had a chance to call. It sure helps to be aware and vigilant against such calls.

120_Minutes

janiceross wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up! I'm in Idaho and I haven't received a call like that yet.

What's the eircom service like there?

SnitchingBubs

These scammers almost got my parents when they were pretending to be microsoft, I walked in and they were on the phone with this lot turning on all the laptops and giving them access because thats what they had told them to do.. They only got some of their crap uploaded before I disconnected the laptops. Took me about a day to clean the laptops of the virus.

GTDolanator

Rang the house yesterday morning,crazy long phone number and a bit of a time delay,i just slag them when they ring!

Dunno if they understand:your bleeedin ma's a durty tramp

elstingeo

They rang a former employer of mine.. My employer was an Indian man, he completely lost they head with them calling them idiots etc Kept asking what they thought they were doing, why they were doing it etc. These scams will always be around, you just have to be vigilant and inform those who you would perceive as technologically vulnerable. It's all about money with these guys, once they get your account details or gain remote access to your pc then that's it. It's possible to remove the viruses but then you have to ring your bank and inform them of what happened and cancel further transactions.

fl4pj4ck

I treat everyone who rings my landline like a scammer.

my friend

eircom: Tony wrote: »

Hi Guys
afraid that these scams are becoming more of an issue. Thanks for posting this and bringing to our attention.. I will pass this on to our online and call centres and make them aware of this current issue.
Tony

I think it's time that Ireland refuse to 'communicate' with rogue nations such as India
Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
When India deals with their scumbag 'IT Corps' we may provisionally reopen our networks.

It's time for consequences.

Mince Pie

my friend wrote: »

I think it's time that Ireland refuse to 'communicate' with rogue nations such as India
Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
When India deals with their scumbag 'IT Corps' we may provisionally reopen our networks.

It's time for consequences.

How can they do that when Eircom use centres based there?

freevoice

my friend wrote: »

Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
It's time for consequences.

Can't Eircom set up a filtering option for it's customers to block calls from that region, if the customer wished to ?, would limit these scammers a bit

Menas

my friend wrote: »

I think it's time that Ireland refuse to 'communicate' with rogue nations such as India
Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
When India deals with their scumbag 'IT Corps' we may provisionally reopen our networks.

It's time for consequences.

Eh...no. How would multinationals based in Ireland who also have offices in india communicate?

How would all those companies who have genuine customer service centers dealing with irish clients make callback to those irish clients?

How would indian people living here get calls from home?

And is it really a good idea that Ireland refuses to have any telecommunication connection with the 2nd most populous country in the world?
India is also the 9th largest economy and moving up that ladder fast.

RangeR

my friend wrote: »

I think it's time that Ireland refuse to 'communicate' with rogue nations such as India
Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
When India deals with their scumbag 'IT Corps' we may provisionally reopen our networks.

It's time for consequences.

You never know where the call originates from. You only know the last hop before you. It could even be a compromised PBX the next county over, but going through two or three PBX's around the world.

IT's pretty mush impossible to stop.

tricky D

my friend wrote: »

I think it's time that Ireland refuse to 'communicate' with rogue nations such as India
Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
When India deals with their scumbag 'IT Corps' we may provisionally reopen our networks.

They often route through other countries, so unfortunately that would have little effect.

the_syco wrote: »

When their call centre gets hit by a cruise missile, they'll probably stop.

There's hundreds of these centres popping up all the time, so it's a 'whack a mole' thing.


Best thing is to waste their time as much as possible and laugh at them becoming irate.

DrumSteve

Mince Pie wrote: »

How can they do that when Eircom use centres based there?

Eircom don't.

Three do.

Menas

RangeR wrote: »

You never know where the call originates from. You only know the last hop before you. It could even be a compromised PBX the next county over, but going through two or three PBX's around the world.

IT's pretty mush impossible to stop.

True, and VOIP further complicates matters as the hub can be anywhere.

my friend

Trigger Happy wrote: »

Eh...no. How would multinationals based in Ireland who also have offices in india communicate?

How would all those companies who have genuine customer service centers dealing with irish clients make callback to those irish clients?

How would indian people living here get calls from home?

And is it really a good idea that Ireland refuses to have any telecommunication connection with the 2nd most populous country in the world?
India is also the 9th largest economy and moving up that ladder fast.

If an organisation in Ireland were conducting their business as these scammers do they would be up on racketeering charges.

I could care less about their population size, our obligation is with regard to our population and reducing exposure to blatant scams and time wasting

These ops are being ran from call centres in India.

Companies intra office Comms can be done via VoIP

The average joe in Ireland should not have to endure these idiots anymore.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

my friend wrote: »

I think it's time that Ireland refuse to 'communicate' with rogue nations such as India
Simply put, calls originating in India should be automatically rejected by our networks.
When India deals with their scumbag 'IT Corps' we may provisionally reopen our networks.

It's time for consequences.

That's not a bad idea in some ways. Maybe if we made all telephone communications with India and Nigeria an 'opt-in' service for Ireland rather than the way it is currently.

It seems like a big enough issue now to approach the problem with a bit of proactivity.

Mince Pie

Sorry just had to post something cos ^^^^ username is moving the layout and its totally messing with my OCD.

RoboRat

Just shout Chicken Vindaloo, Pilau Rice and some Onion Bhajis

Menas

my friend wrote: »

If an organisation in Ireland were conducting their business as these scammers do they would be up on racketeering charges.

I could care less about their population size, our obligation is with regard to our population and reducing exposure to blatant scams and time wasting

These ops are being ran from call centres in India.

Companies intra office Comms can be done via VoIP

The average joe in Ireland should not have to endure these idiots anymore.

Ah shure we will ban the internet whilst we are at it to prevent us from going on to scam websites.

my friend

Trigger Happy wrote: »

Ah shure we will ban the internet whilst we are at it to prevent us from going on to scam websites.

That would be idiotic, but then you aren't interested in a solution.

Menas

my friend wrote: »

That would be idiotic, but then you aren't interested in a solution.

And banning phone calls from india is not idiotic in the least.

The solution is simple, publicise the problem to help people stop been daft enough to fall for these scams, then there is no money in them and then they stop.

Ms.Sunshine

My poor parents fell for the Microsoft scam. Had to cancel all the credit cards, that was about 4 years ago and since then we keep getting calls from them on all different numbers. We no longer pick up the phone but it is very annoying.

lynski

These guys are on today calling Kildare area numbers. They ask you as a windows user to hit windows key and R and they have a 'senior support' for linux users who tries to re-direct you to a website.
Calling for 0041 number, had my name too. cheeky f-ers rang me back after i hung up.

fryup

there's only one thing to do with those damn injians

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Got a call this morning from an Indian phone number. Guy said he was from Eircom internet support and there was a blockage on our internet (which did happen to be dropping lately) sounded more convincing than the previous MS scam. I just was suspicious so told him I'd call eircom directly as there were many spam callers and I was not comfortable with the call. I rang eircom and low and behold a chap with an Indian accent answered. Crap, I thought! The call was genuine. But no he confirmed that there were bogus callers and it was not a call from them.
It's about time something was done about these shisters phoning from India.

RangeR

Elaina Teeny Sugarcane wrote: »

Got a call this morning from an Indian phone number. Guy said he was from Eircom internet support and there was a blockage on our internet (which did happen to be dropping lately) sounded more convincing than the previous MS scam. I just was suspicious so told him I'd call eircom directly as there were many spam callers and I was not comfortable with the call. I rang eircom and low and behold a chap with an Indian accent answered. Crap, I thought! The call was genuine. But no he confirmed that there were bogus callers and it was not a call from them.
It's about time something was done about these shisters phoning from India.

Nothing can be done. You [nor anyone] will never trace their call. Internal whistle blowers would be my best bet but that's just not going to happen either.

lynski

Elaina Teeny Sugarcane wrote: »

Got a call this morning from an Indian phone number. Guy said he was from Eircom internet support and there was a blockage on our internet (which did happen to be dropping lately) sounded more convincing than the previous MS scam. I just was suspicious so told him I'd call eircom directly as there were many spam callers and I was not comfortable with the call. I rang eircom and low and behold a chap with an Indian accent answered. Crap, I thought! The call was genuine. But no he confirmed that there were bogus callers and it was not a call from them.
It's about time something was done about these shisters phoning from India.

did they know your name? and are you by any chance a vodafone customer? who recently call their support?

ollaetta

Got a call about tea time yesterday and it was actually Eircom.

lynski

ollaetta wrote: »

Got a call about tea time yesterday and it was actually Eircom.

trying to sell you somehting i bet?

_Chaos

My parents are receiving LOADS of these calls lately, even though they never really entertained them. All different numbers, but they wrote every single call down. Tonight, one number rang every 5-10 mins (9 times) until we answered and hung up straight away.
Strange thing is, they have their names. One day they asked for '(fathers name) and Marge (Last name)'. My mother's name is Margaret, so I asked her what bills/anything she signed up to with the name Marge, and she said the Eircom bill is the ONLY bill with both her and my father's name on it, where she has it shortened to Marg! Didn't surprise me in the slightest with the joke of a company they are.
Rang Eircom after that, and (after waiting 25mins for a customer services agent) was advised they could do nothing, and were unsure how they got my parent's names.

Sulla Felix

_Chaos wrote: »

My parents are receiving LOADS of these calls lately, even though they never really entertained them. All different numbers, but they wrote every single call down. Tonight, one number rang every 5-10 mins (9 times) until we answered and hung up straight away.
Strange thing is, they have their names. One day they asked for '(fathers name) and Marge (Last name)'. My mother's name is Margaret, so I asked her what bills/anything she signed up to with the name Marge, and she said the Eircom bill is the ONLY bill with both her and my father's name on it, where she has it shortened to Marg! Didn't surprise me in the slightest with the joke of a company they are.
Rang Eircom after that, and (after waiting 25mins for a customer services agent) was advised they could do nothing, and were unsure how they got my parent's names.

Pretty sure eircom used to outsource at least some of their sales team, so I'd imagine the numbers came from the contractor rather than eircom itself.

eircom: Tony

Hi there,

Unfortunately this is something that we can't control. However it always helps to be aware of this as it enables our staff to be able to inform other customers that we have had reports of this and to be cautious when necessary. We do also provide a call blocker that you can purchase which allows you to block nuisance or unwanted calls.

http://www.eircom.net/accessories/phones/cordless/callblocker/

Tony