A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

Trackman · 13 Jul 2026

I've had an AI call on Saturday, could have been marketing as it was on about solar panels.
The reason I actually answered the mobile phone number is because I am expecting a phone call from a number I do not know.

The worrying thing about it, it took me a while to figure it was AI.
It makes me think what the future of scam phone calls would bring if this became a standard.
Scam texts, fair enough with basic AI, but when someone is talking to you with a posh voice and you think they are real is another thing.

Ediswan said:
The real McAfee are also pests. In January, I bought an HP laptop with a McAfee trial, which I promptly de-installed. Still getting 'Warning, expired' emails from McAfee.

I've got a new HP laptop as a back-up - its full of bloatware.
This is on my to-do list for a clean installation when I can figure out on how to do it.

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Howardh · 13 Jul 2026

Most spam/scam calls to me are easy to spot, "Am I speaking to Mr XXX"? My reply "Which one? They inevitably reply "Mr X XXX" and that's my father who died nearly eight years ago. Phone down.

John Webb · 13 Jul 2026

Howardh said:
Most spam/scam calls to me are easy to spot, "Am I speaking to Mr XXX"? My reply "Which one? They inevitably reply "Mr X XXX" and that's my father who died nearly eight years ago. Phone down.

On the occasions that I do happen to pick up a scam call and the question is asked, I always reply politely with "Who is calling him, please?" as if I were his secretary or the like. This compels them either to reveal what they are calling about, but usually about half the time it's they who put the phone down rather than me on learning what they purport to be calling about!

Xenophon PCDGS · 13 Jul 2026

A friend of long-standing when receiving similar calls has the habit of stating that their security company now mans the reception desk of the company and have been given explicit instructions to only take messages from callers whose name does not appear on the expected calls list and the telephone number and name of the calling company.

Oxfordblues · 13 Jul 2026

I remember Victor Meldrew answering calls with "4291?". Invetiably it ended with a shouting-match. If I get a call from a number I don't recognise I simply don't answer it. If it's genuine they can text me and I'll call them back.

swt_passenger · 13 Jul 2026

Howardh said:
Most spam/scam calls to me are easy to spot, "Am I speaking to Mr XXX"? My reply "Which one? They inevitably reply "Mr X XXX" and that's my father who died nearly eight years ago. Phone down.

26 years on from my wife’s death, scammers still regularly ask for her on our 50 year old landline number.

Although after all this time I do have quite a lot of fun in response…

Xenophon PCDGS · 13 Jul 2026

swt_passenger said:
26 years on from my wife’s death, scammers still regularly ask for her on our 50 year old landline number.

Although after all this time I do have quite a lot of fun in response…

Like you, I still have my landline telephone line that we first had when we were married in 1975.

Buzby · 13 Jul 2026

Back in 2016 (before BT had the idea to phase out standard landlines) my landline was little used (by me) so I opted for a service that offered to ‘store’ my number as a VOIP-capable service for 75p/month which was much cheaper than a standard landline fee. If I didn’t answer (or was unavailable) it answered and sent me an email with the voice message as a WAV file.

Since I had a ‘nice’ number this meant I could continue to use it and only pay a small service charge. Most calls are now scams, but now take no time and the recordings are a great resource! The best investment since abandoning BT for Localphone

swt_passenger · 13 Jul 2026

Xenophon PCDGS said:
Like you, I still have my landline telephone line that we first had when we were married in 1975.

It‘s the same last 4, but they do keep making it longer…

Jon_jpwh · 13 Jul 2026

I received an email from Spokeo this morning asking me to rejoin. I certainly don't remember using them previously. A search suggests that they try to trick people into expensive subscriptions so their email has been sent to the junk folder.

Howardh · 13 Jul 2026

Xenophon PCDGS said:
Like you, I still have my landline telephone line that we first had when we were married in 1975.

In the 80's our old landline had an "8" added to the front, so it became six digits not five. Wonder if we all had an extra one added these days whether that would stop the number of "Am I speaking to Mr Railway?" calls? As clearly they are from on-line directories from donkey's years ago?

pokemonsuper9 · 13 Jul 2026

Howardh said:
In the 80's our old landline had an "8" added to the front, so it became six digits not five. Wonder if we all had an extra one added these days whether that would stop the number of "Am I speaking to Mr Railway?" calls? As clearly they are from on-line directories from donkey's years ago?

I doubt it would stop them, they would just update all the directories based on the public info about which numbers got added.

Howardh · 13 Jul 2026

pokemonsuper9 said:
I doubt it would stop them, they would just update all the directories based on the public info about which numbers got added.

My number's been x-directory for many years. Dunno if that helps or not; hard to tell! Best way to stop them. other than answerphone, is not to pick up the phone at all; if you don't recognise the number. If someone's genuine, they will ring back. If you pick up a scam call apparently you are placed on a "live" register that's sold on (???).

My doctor used to call under "anonymous" but realised that wasn't being answered so changed it to "doctor".

pokemonsuper9 · 13 Jul 2026

Howardh said:
Best way to stop them. other than answerphone, is not to pick up the phone at all; if you don't recognise the number.

Yes, I've ignored calls for so long (phone always on do not disturb) that no-one who knows me calls me, I automatically know it's a scam by the fact they're calling me!

Usually the first I know of a scam call is when I pick up my phone and find out I missed one.
Not had any for a while though, maybe they've finally given up on me.

Dave61 · 13 Jul 2026

d9009alycidon said:
I have been absolutely pestered with emails like these, they are some variation in content and format and appear to come from legitimate email address, have tried replying with remove but they keep on coming, any suggestions how to get rid.

Hi There,

I'm reaching out to see if there are things you'd like to change or update on your site www.######.##.co.uk or if you'd like to build a new site completely.

I'm an excellent web developer capable of just about anything you can come up with and my fees are reasonable for nearly everyone.

Let me know if you are interested then I will share our past work details, references and company information etc.

Thanks
Lauren White

Not interested? No problem—just drop us a quick reply at with Remove, and we'll take you off our list.

I run the website for a riding club and the main email address gets 5-10 emails a day like this and other obvious scams and phishing attempts, that and the SEO offers to push us up the google ranking.

For the last 3 months we have had emails asking us to verify our SumUp account (we don't have one !), each one having a deadline that slowly keeps on extending. Also support desk/sales enquirey emails that come to our address but are not in the visible "to" parts of the emails.

You just have to engage paranoid mode and hit the delete button until they are gone, and treat everything as if it is a live bomb.

Viewing the message source can be interesting seeing where it has really come from

As for phone calls at home, we just let unknown numbers go to the answering machine - if they really want us they will leave a message. On my iPhone I can do something similar that asks them to state a reason for the call which is then sent as a message to me without ever ringing out.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Jul 2026 ==

Howardh said:
My number's been x-directory for many years. Dunno if that helps or not; hard to tell! Best way to stop them. other than answerphone, is not to pick up the phone at all; if you don't recognise the number. If someone's genuine, they will ring back. If you pick up a scam call apparently you are placed on a "live" register that's sold on (???).

My doctor used to call under "anonymous" but realised that wasn't being answered so changed it to "doctor".

We are x-directory for ages as well but still get phone calls, it only takes one place where somewhere insists on your landline phone number for it to be leaked (or sold). These days I always use my mobile.

TPS is useless as well as they are either overseas with fake numbers or they just ignore it

najaB · 13 Jul 2026

Dave61 said:
We are x-directory for ages as well but still get phone calls, it only takes one place where somewhere insists on your landline phone number for it to be leaked (or sold).

It doesn't even take that - mass diallers just blind dial numbers, it costs nothing if the call isn't answered or the number doesn't exist.

Jon_jpwh · 14 Jul 2026

Jon_jpwh said:
Unusual phone call today which displayed as from a mobile number. When I answered there was a recorded message about a new direct debit on a Barclays bank account. I don't have a Barclays account. The message told me to press numbers if I wanted to challenge the direct debit and also if I didn't have a Barclays account and wished to stop the alerts. Obviously I didn't do anything except end the call. Presumably it is an attempt to get you to respond so they can obtain access to your bank details.

Similar phone call today, except that the bank is now Nat West. I don't bank with them either.

swt_passenger · 14 Jul 2026

Jon_jpwh said:
Similar phone call today, except that the bank is now Nat West. I don't bank with them either.

They’re trying a process of elimination. Of course the regular ‘this is a call from bank security’ scammers learned to drop the bank name in the hope you’d just think you’d missed it…

Jon_jpwh · 14 Jul 2026

swt_passenger said:
They’re trying a process of elimination. Of course the regular ‘this is a call from bank security’ scammers learned to drop the bank name in the hope you’d just think you’d missed it…

If they did happen to choose the bank which I do use I would just log on to my online banking. It is very easy to manage direct debits as I have cancelled them in the past when they are no longer required.

Rab Smith · 15 Jul 2026

Jon_jpwh said:
If they did happen to choose the bank which I do use I would just log on to my online banking. It is very easy to manage direct debits as I have cancelled them in the past when they are no longer required.

Banks are getting more and more stepped security when it comes to contacting them. I had to speak to Chase recently as a suspicious transaction was flagged on my account. It wasn't suspicious, I was trying to pay for medicine but hadn't used that account before.
When I was put through to an advisor, I had to confirm through my app a number that was generated by the person on the phone. That gave me total confidence in the process to the point that if it wasn't done that way, I would find it suspicious and hang up the call.

Tetchytyke · 15 Jul 2026

Rab Smith said:
When I was put through to an advisor, I had to confirm through my app a number that was generated by the person on the phone.

Clever, but the risk there is that this process is very similar to how fraudsters manage to trick people into push authorisation fraud. "You'll get a text message from me and you need to read the numbers back to me..."

najaB · 15 Jul 2026

Tetchytyke said:
Clever, but the risk there is that this process is very similar to how fraudsters manage to trick people into push authorisation fraud. "You'll get a text message from me and you need to read the numbers back to me..."

It's usually the other way around, they provide a number that you enter into the app.

Rab Smith · 15 Jul 2026

najaB said:
It's usually the other way around, they provide a number that you enter into the app.

Yes, that was it. He generated the number and I confirmed it through the actual app. Also, I didn't use any links for the number. I direct dialled from my mobile to Chase customer service.
If fraudsters were able to corrupt this process it would be game over for everyone and as Jim Bowen used to say, I'd give them the money myself!

Tetchytyke · 15 Jul 2026

najaB said:
It's usually the other way around, they provide a number that you enter into the app.

Rab Smith said:
Yes, that was it. He generated the number and I confirmed it through the actual app.

I figured that would be how it worked, it's not a bad idea. I presume its similar technology to the old card readers you used to get before 2FA.

My only slight worry was just that it is similar to how push authorisation frauds work. It's the same steps- get a number, input a number. Obviously it's the other way around with a fraudster, it's you giving the number to them and not them giving the number to you.

Lucan · 16 Jul 2026

I love to wind them up. Had this phone call yesterday :

Scammer : You are entitled to a £700 refund in connection with a past car purchase finance. Can I confirm your name and bank details for the transfer?

Me : Wow, good news! I'm John Smith, but just refund me cash.

Scammer : We will consider cash, but first I must take an admin fee of £50.

Me : Just deduct it from the cash and give me £650. I'll be outside Halfords in Cardiff tomorrow wearing a red carnation ....

Scammer : I'm sorry sir, but our procedures ...

Me : OK, let's deal, don't tell your manager but bring the cash and we'll split, I'll take £300, sign for £700 and you keep the rest. Halfords, 11 am tomorrow ....

Line went dead

swt_passenger · 20 Aug 2026

Just had a text from a RINGO scammer saying I needed to pay an outstanding amount on my account or further action would be taken, blah blah. That’s a new one for me. As far as I know, all RINGO bookings are paid in advance, but all I ever use it for is to register the free hour I get at my local shopping town…

3141 · 20 Aug 2026

My wife has had two phone calls this week. The first claimed to be from Amazon, and the caller said that two gift cards totalling £750 had been bought on her account. He wanted her to log in on her iphone (which she doesn't actually have). She tried to follow his instructions on her Samsung, but decided she couldn't do it, and he told her that she would therefore lose the money. We've checked her Amazon account and there are no such transactions. We've reported the incident to Amazon.

In the second call, which was this afternoon, the caller said he was "from your bank". Two transactions had "come up" which were from sites she had not previously used. They were for about £600. "Press 1 to cancel", so she did. The line cut off. She has reported the call to her bank. There are no such transactions on her account.

I think that possibly the caller's system malfunctioned and pressing 1 should have connected to someone who would have asked for her bank details.

My wife is unfortunately a good potential victim as she is inclined to believe what these callers tell her. I've pointed out that "from your bank" means they don't know what her bank is and are just hoping she won't ask them to confirm it. In both cases, a deep breath and a check on one's account will help to show that it's all a scam.

It seems to me that this may be the latest approach being used by some group to try to scam people. Both calls were from mobile numbers.

Dave61 · 20 Aug 2026

Had 3 automated calls on the landline this week with the usual "£99 on Amazon and one thousand and something on Zoom (Zoo? - can't quite make that one out), apparently we have never used our "card" (err which card? which bank ??) with any of those
companies before. Options were 1 to approve, 2 to talk to our representive I think as I had tuned out by that point.

Yeah, right....went straight to answerphone.

They must be getting desperate to try that 3 times (and different mobile numbers)

gg1 · 20 Aug 2026

swt_passenger said:
Just had a text from a RINGO scammer saying I needed to pay an outstanding amount on my account or further action would be taken, blah blah. That’s a new one for me. As far as I know, all RINGO bookings are paid in advance, but all I ever use it for is to register the free hour I get at my local shopping town…

I had one of those last week, a new one for me too.

The big giveaway it was a scam was it was sent to my work phone.

EyeKay · 20 Aug 2026

gg1 said:
I had one of those last week, a new one for me too.

The big giveaway it was a scam was it was sent to my work phone.

I’ve had one of these in the last few days. It seems to be doing the rounds.

A scam phone calls and emails discussion.

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