This morning my husband found a message on the answerphone, apparently recorded yesterday morning at 8 o'clock, though neither of us had heard the phone go then. It said, 'You called 111. For further information press 9.' Neither of us had called 111, so we assumed it was a scam by someone trying to hijack our phone line. I think this is particularly vile, misusing the health service number to entrap some vulnerable person.
Not that I think people on this forum would fall for it, but you might know some-one who just might. xxx
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Alberta56
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When will it ever end ! I’ve reported two scam E mails in recent weeks and yesterday Geoff got a scam message supposedly from postcode lottery , along with multiple scam recorded messages on the landline it’s becoming a full time job dealing with them 😡 x
Grrr! We don't seem to get them on the internet at the moment, thank goodness, apart from the ludicrous ones which the laptop puts into junk, only on the phone.
That sounds really serious Alberta because I had to dial 111 recently and they were excellent. It makes me angry to think scum are pretending to be 111 and scam vulnerable people. We always have to be on our guard. Thank you for posting. Xxxx❤️
I found on a few warnings on medical centre websites giving details of a 111 scam:
SCAM PHONE CALL CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE NHS
Scam phone call claiming to be from the NHS
A resident of a neighbouring town received a call yesterday claiming to be from the NHS in relation to her being on the vulnerable list. The caller said that they needed details of her bank account just in case she needed anyone to go shopping for her.
This is a scam call. You will never be asked for your bank details by any health provider who contacts you to advise that you are either in the group that needs to be shielded or the high risk group.
If you need support with shopping or medication delivery, and don’t have friends or family that can help, phone the Council’s Hotline number (I removed because it is only relevant for this area).
If you or somebody you know has been caught out by a scam or fraud please contact one of our specialist officers, Linda or Sue on (I have removed because it is only relevant for this area), who are already working with people in Halton who have lost thousands of pounds to scams.
"We have been informed that cyber criminals are using ‘NHS 111’ as a cover for a scam.
The cyber criminals are calling in the early hours of the morning (sometimes as early as 3am) claiming to be ‘NHS 111’ and asking to speak to xxxx (patient’s name). The cyber criminal then says they have had a call from them and are calling back to offer assistance.
They will ask questions i.e. the patient’s date of birth, address, if they live alone, etc.
This is called “phishing” so that they may build a profile of a person and then use the details to obtain other information which they can then use to access bank accounts etc.
If any of our patients or their family members receive a call from someone claiming to be from ‘NHS 111’ and have not called ‘NHS111’ you are advised to hang up."
Thank you for that detailed information. I have tried to contact Action Fraud about this, but they only seem interested if someone has actually lost money. Their phone line takes intolerably long to answer and their web site is not set up to enable one to report a scam which did not come off.
Thank you for the warning, where will it all end. Apparently now we also get message warnings from BT even though we do not subscribe to the messaging service . I had a call before 8am the other morning then one another morning around 8am. I am currently trying to get a scam sorted on my credit card supposedly Macafee but they have confirmed it is not them but the charge is still on my card account to spite contacting my card supplier several times , I have had to block my credit card so no more people can scam as if we don't have enough rising bills to pay with out others dumping theirs on us by scam means. Thats besides all the stress it causes to elderly and their families sorting it out plus the card company 's time too. Enjoy your day and fingers crossed for no snow.xx
I hope the card company sort this out soon- what a nuisance. I suppose we all ought to check our card statements very carefully to make sure we haven't been hijacked. We don't usually get much snow in Essex, though the sky looks rather threatening at the moment. xxx
In this day and age of social network and the world wide web, our personal information is out there for all to see and misuse. There have been tv news reports and shows about scams. So I'm always surprised when people are still being scammed out of their hard earned money.
We get emails, which we delete and phone calls which we just hang up.
People go to new websites in which they should be very careful to get involved with, such as dating sites.
Even Facebook. I am Facebook friends with a woman who we belonged to the same church until she moved away. All of a sudden, she was asking me for money (something she would never do). So I asked her a question that only she would know, "where did we meet". That was the last I heard from my 'friend'. Her Facebook page had been stolen.
As well as what others have warned, by pressing '9' you might unknowingly be phoning back on a premium rate number, for which you pay; your phone bill increases and the scammer gets to make a bit of money.
Which.co.uk states the following about reporting Scams:
Report scams to warn others
Reporting fraud is important to help stop criminals, and to prevent others from falling victim to the same scam.
The website provides all the details on how and where to report Scams. Whether email, phone, adverts, junk and scam mail and scam companies. All information listed here:
Because I have business email addresses out on the web, I receive about 5 scam messages a day. I can tell when a certain email address has been sold on the dark web again, as I receive lots of irrelevant and scammy messages on that address. I send them all to report@phishing.gov.uk . I forward scam mobile texts to 7726. We use a call blocking phone now to filter out dodgy landline calls.
Gosh! How do you manage to dodge them all? I'll write down the numbers you mention and the Which site which Gillian mentioned , then I'll be prepared in future. Thanks.
I don’t know if all landline providers are the same, when I get scam phone calls (rarely now!) I can report the scam call and block the number at the same time by dialing a 3 digit number on my phone, it is an automated service and works very well.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Scam warning 
Tour of local hospitals
Don't let this happen to you!
