The Museum of Hoaxes
New mobile phone scam?
Posted By:
Nick
in Merrie Olde Englande
Jun 12, 2005
 I seem to be a magnet for these warnings



MOBILE TELEPHONE SCAM


There is a new kind of mobile phone scam. A missed call will show on your mobile phone. The number begins with 07094! If you call this number back, you will be charged £50.00 per minute. People have complained about their phone bills, once they have realised the cost of the call, but apparently this is completely legal.. One of our Reps has also been affected by this scam, so beware, do not call back numbers beginning with 07094.

Human Resources Department


anyone got any thoughts/experiences (relevant or otherwise) that theyd like to share?
Category: ; Replies: 9

Comments
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA
 Member
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 | 12:51 PM
Umm...I know a friend filled out a form for financial aid for college...Then she got some notice that she would be charged XX dollars for this that and another thing...by the company that was in charge of the financial aid. Basically it charged her for the forms she filled out. I wish I could find her story on another board...but I can't find it. Then, she couldn't call and cancel it right away (b/c it was a weekend), and it kept charging her until she could get in touch with someone when the week began.
Nick
in Merrie Olde Englande
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 | 09:15 AM
update:

POLICE WARNING. PLEASE READ.

Phone Fraud - Warning from the Police
11 May 2005

We have been advised of a telephone fraud currently in operation -this
applies to home and work telephones, landlines and mobiles. If you receive
one of these calls, upon answering the telephone you will hear a
recorded message congratulating you on winning an all expenses trip to an
exotic location You will then be asked to press 9 to hear
further details. If you press 9 you will be connected to a
premium rate line that costs approximately #20 per minute. Even if you
disconnect immediately, it will remain connected for a minimum of 5 minutes
costing around # 100. The final part of the call involves you
being asked to key in your postcode and house number, which has
other serious consequences. After a further 2 minutes you will receive a
message informing you that you are not one of the lucky winners.
The total bill by then will be #100. Since the calls are
originating from outside the UK, BT and other telephone companies are left
relatively powerless to act. The only safe solution is to HANG UP
before the message prompts you to dial 9, even safer HANG UP
on any unsolicited 'free offer calls'.

There is another scam operating on mobile phones as well. A missed
call comes up. The number is 0709 020 3840, the last four
numbers may vary, but certainly the first four will remain the same.
If you call this number back you will be charged #50 per
minute. People have complained about their phone bills, once they have
realised
the cost of the call, but apparently this is completely legal. So
beware, do not call back numbers beginning with '0709'. PLEASE PASS THIS
INFORMATION ONTO YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS.

Sally Justice
Data Protection Officer
David B.
Member
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 | 10:09 AM
Nick, according to ICSTIS, "A
Nick
in Merrie Olde Englande
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 | 11:37 AM
thanks David, you are a source of untold wisdom as ever. I tried snopes- obviously im totally imcapable of searching a site properly...
Wally
in La La Land
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 | 12:45 PM
If anything ends with

PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ONTO YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS

it is almost certainly a hoax...
Rene
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 | 03:31 AM
Found the scam info on the south wales police site.

<a href="http://www.south-wales.police.uk/fe_news/news_details.asp?newsid=165">South Wales Police Warning</a>

Link fixed by Myst
Myst
Member
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 | 05:50 PM
This isn't the first time I have seen a chain e-mail posted on a law enforcement site. It seems they don't even bother to check these out before posting them. Scary.
Cyb3rD0n_Architectus
in The Netherlands
 Member
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 | 04:24 PM
Well, if I'm correct (a hoax on it's own 😉 ) the fee for mobile communication services in Europe is limited to 3 euro's (about $ 4) per minute. Unless you have some sort of data download going on without a data download service subscription. This can go as high as 60 euro's (about $ 75) per MB...
Doogifer
Member
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 | 07:27 PM
aaaa! BAD bad bad things.

Note: This thread is located in the Old Forum of the Museum of Hoaxes.