Phone scam?

AgainTheTime · 29-10-2005 1:42pm #1

I just received a call to my house phone that said something like:

"Hi there, you have just be selected as a winner for a fantastic prize, in order to claim you prize please press the button 9 now."

Obviously I didn't press the 9 button, but the recorded voice repeated the prompt to "press the button 9 now" a further 3 times before hanging up. There was no caller ID so I don't know where the call originated.

Has anyone else received one of these calls?

Google tells me that there was an email chain letter going around detailing the phone scam but that there was no evidence of any such scam.

MrJoeSoap · 29-10-2005 1:45pm

To be honest, if anyone is stupid enough to push the 9 button they deserve whatever they get. Check this out:

NB - You have to listen to the second file "20 Minute prank on American fools" first. Then listen to the first one (the top one) "Part 2 of American Prank".

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=424327

Click the "hi-fi" links.

radiospan · 29-10-2005 1:45pm

Broken link, Joe

MrJoeSoap · 29-10-2005 1:47pm

plazzTT wrote:

Broken link, Joe

Fixed. Worth a listen!

Rhyme · 29-10-2005 1:58pm

I got that 'press the number 9' call too... as soon as i recognised it as an automated voice i hung up... im not that dumb

JohnK · 29-10-2005 2:03pm

Found one of those on our answering machine before. Cant imagine why anybody would actually get in touch with them.

Tusky · 29-10-2005 2:08pm

Happened to us aswell. Needless to say, we did not press the number 9.

Alvis · 29-10-2005 2:50pm

What would happen if you pressed 9 anyways?

MrJoeSoap · 29-10-2005 2:52pm

Alvis wrote:

What would happen if you pressed 9 anyways?

Try it next time and see...

Alvis · 29-10-2005 2:52pm

But I've never got that call before.

drunkenfool · 29-10-2005 2:54pm

well folks, i pressed the number 9 and i got a plasma screen tv delivered to my door in 2 weeks...
foolish people

TerrorFirmer · 29-10-2005 3:04pm

Seriously though what happens when you press nine?? :eek:

drunkenfool · 29-10-2005 3:08pm

you lose your soul to the foggy misty dew.

Mac daddy · 29-10-2005 3:09pm

drunkenfool wrote:

well folks, i pressed the number 9 and i got a plasma screen tv delivered to my door in 2 weeks...
foolish people

Good for you,

The Rest of us think it is a scam, I have had that call on my work mobile several times a day hung up straight away.

You get never get something for nothing......

Stephen · 29-10-2005 3:47pm

You may have noticed that you never receive these messages by your phone ringing - they only leave voicemail. On most systems, 9 will call them back... Usually the numebr you call back is ultra-premium rate, and you get fleeced for being a complete muppet.

Endurance Man · 29-10-2005 3:52pm

Hahha, i also just got the call. Says iv won a Carribean Cruise

.

Wertz · 29-10-2005 3:54pm

It's all very well for us young'uns who're wise to things like automated callback, premium rate lines etc. but when these bastards hit on someone either too old or not technical enough (or both) to cop on that it's a scam, they make a fool of those people and cream off profits on the backs of those who most likely can't afford it.

There's a special place in hell reserved for scum like that...

whiskeyman · 29-10-2005 4:00pm

Wertz wrote:

It's all very well for us young'uns who're wise to things like automated callback, premium rate lines etc. but when these bastards hit on someone either too old or not technical enough (or both) to cop on that it's a scam, they make a fool of those people and cream off profits on the backs of those who most likely can't afford it.

There's a special place in hell reserved for scum like that...

Agreed.

I posted a thread about these calls a few weeks back.
From someone who posted on it (their Dad was none the wiser), they said they got through to someone in Florida looking for more details.
Clearly a premium rate scam, and a smart one at that... I'm sure many are being caught out.

Wertz · 29-10-2005 4:10pm

Our landline has had 2 calls from what sounded to me like floridians too....it wasn't a machine though.
Usual crap; you've won a holiday sir, we just need some CC details for a small deposit :rolleyes:
I'm exdirectory and don't put the landline no. on any web forms, so they're obviously just running down the list of possible number combos.
The minute you ask them how they got the number or how you're entered in a competition, they get all standoffish...
I toyed with the idea of just giving her a made up card number, but in the end I just settled for telling her to f*ck right off

whiskeyman · 29-10-2005 4:27pm

Wertz wrote:

I'm exdirectory and don't put the landline no. on any web forms, so they're obviously just running down the list of possible number combos.

Yup - seems well organised.
When I posted my thread, I had got the call at just a minute past noon.
A few others on the thread also said they got a similar call around the same time.
Probably autodialers at work...... karma's gonnal get them

The General · 30-10-2005 3:41am

I pressed 9 and someone took my name and address, within 3 hours someone showed up at my front door and gave me a €10,000 check, which was legit cos i cashed it the day after

Our man in Havana · 30-10-2005 11:38am

Pressing 9 will cause you to call them back at premium rates so just don't do it, they are con artists.

vibe666 · 30-10-2005 12:00pm

whiskeyman wrote:

Probably autodialers at work...... karma's gonnal get them

that's assuming the rhythm doesn't get them first.

Capt'n Midnight · 30-10-2005 12:33pm

Wertz wrote:

There's a special place in hell reserved for scum like that...

yeah , they will be fined less than 1c per call, after a years investigation. The owner will not be held liable just the company.

The irish regulator is a complete joke. The maximum fine paid so far by these Con artists is less than 1% of the maximum fine Joe Public could get just for having a camera phone in a cinema.

Also Eircom get a cut of the profits so don't expect any help there either.

And as things like this are made illegal in the UK expect more carpet baggers.

Got one the other day - it hung up after 59 seconds..

Wertz · 30-10-2005 1:12pm

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

The maximum fine paid so far by these Con artists is less than 1% of the maximum fine Joe Public could get just for having a camera phone in a cinema.

But but...we have to protect the precious intellectual rights of rich American film companies and actors...movie piracy funds international terorism you know :rolleyes:

If anything, scams like this on top of the line rental charges in this county and a litany of other offences by the fixed line telecoms sector, is shoving people further away from landlines altogether....the availability of mobiles and the chances that call charges can only fall, or the emergence of VoIP means that ADSL is the only reason to keep the copper...hopefully wireless broadband tech will mean that that's short lived too...

That's a very good point about eircom making a cut no matter who it's from...comreg needs to be given real legislative teeth to help cut this crap out....there's been a version of this scam operating here for at least 6 months IIRC

Phone scam?

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