I’ve recently been contacted by a resident to warn of a scam phone call purporting to be from BT and threatening that their phone line will be cut off. The resident knew this was a scam because they are not a customer of BT but it is quite likely that many residents in No Cold Calling and Good Neighbours schemes are long-standing customers of BT who would be very worried about the prospect of their line being disconnected.
Please spread the word about this hoax. I believe it’s another one asking the residents to press a number to continue/to avoid being cut off, similar to the previous HMRC and Mastercard scams. Please let people know not to feel threatened, not to press any number as instructed but to simply put the phone down. And encourage them to tell others too. Everyone can play a part in keeping others safe.
I would also like to share a link to Action Fraud’s latest alert about a fake PayPal scam which would be worth sharing with people you know to be using the internet. Essentially the scam is targeted at people selling items online by fraudsters who send a fake PayPal e-mail suggesting payment has been made for an item. The fraudsters then follow this up with an e-mail requesting tracking information – the intention being that the victim will feel rushed into dispatching the goods before they have had a chance to verify the payment. Between October and December 2019 more than £1.1million losses were reported to Action Fraud related to fake PayPal e-mails.
Please warn as many people as possible who you think might use a computer.
With thanks for your ongoing support.
Charlotte
Charlotte Homent
Community Protection Manager
Cambridgeshire County Council
