This is one Lewisham Pensioner’s story that needs to be told...

I was alone at home and preparing to leave for an appointment when I received a telephone call. The man on the other end of the line had an Oriental accent and said that he was from the company that provides my telephone service.  He told me that his name was Peter Williams and that his phone number was 01576 860 705. He told me that I was having problems with my computer’s security system and that I had 809 junk and malicious files on my computer because my “browsing and software” warrante had expired.  He went on to explain that my router was not compatible with my system and that I would be eligible to receive £200 compensation because my internet had not been working.  He continued to talk and I made notes….. He gave me an ID number: - 297605332 and a password:  —1572 — and he said that to resolve the problem he would need to do a running security scan.  At this point I told him that I was going out and he said that he would phone back at 11:00 the next day.

He called at 11:15.   He told me that a technician called Adam Charley — ID: 786 — would visit on the following Monday to ensure that the problem was resolved. I was aware of his inpatients of having to wait while I wrote things down.  He then said that in order for me to receive the refund he would need my bank details, before  asking me for my debit card number, account type and PIN.  I flatly refused to give the PIN.  He then asked for my previous address.  I did not give him that information either, but he listed some addresses, one of which was right. He said that he would send the refund via Western Union.  He told me to press this and that on the keyboard which gave him remote control of my computer.  He asked questions so that he could complete what he said was a registration form and he told me that he would send the form to me via email.  It was then that he told me about £256 that I would need to add to my bank account. He gave me telephone numbers 0802 349 168 and 1800 173 833. He then told me to phone one of the numbers using my mobile phone and what I would need to say.  He told me that I would need to tell the people I got through to that I was making a transaction to pay a friend, that my transaction was in review and that I wanted them to put the transaction through using  the tracking number 2678692559, receiving city Bangkok, Thailand. I could not get through on either telephone number, so he suggested that I make the call to 0808 234 9168. I was answered by a Western Union staff member and I told her what I was told to say.  The lady staff member paused and then said ‘this is a scam’ and my reaction was audible to the person calling himself Peter Williams because he was still on my landline while I had been making the mobile phone call.  He immediately hung up.

The Western Union staff member told me to inform my bank immediately, which I did, and the bank told me that no money had been moved from my account. She also suggested that I reported this to the Police, who issued me with a CAD number. On her suggestion I checked the next day to make sure that no transactions were made.

LPG comment

Scammers come in all shapes and sizes and use all kinds of ploys to catch people out.  Our reader told us that the reference numbers, telephone numbers and technical talk sucked her in and if it was not for the lady from Western Union she would have surely lost her money.

Please click here to find some pointers about those things that could have been perceived as ‘give-away factors’ during what happened here.

Click here to link you to more information about reporting scamming.