off topic scam test by BBC

[medway-lady]

I’ve just done this it’s easy to find on website. I like to think I’m pretty clued up and got 13 out of 15 so good but the ones I tripped up on did look very real. It’s worth doing if you’ve five minutes as it’s helpful in reminding me at least that AI is so clever and entirely believable.

[Stills]

thanks I’ll take a look

[Runrig01]

thanks, got 13/15 👍

[AgedCrone]

I looked at the first two questions & didn’t even know if the people mentioned even existed…let alone what they did for a living..decided not to stress over it!

[Amnesiac3637]

Oops, must try harder. Most of the things I thought were scams were real……….🥴

[medway-lady in reply to Amnesiac3637]

That’s why I got two wrong! It’s just interesting as I’ve been following BBC campaign. My mum got conned a long, long time ago but the difficulty in stopping the these awful people puts so many at risk. She was about to let so called water board employees in when my sister turned up.

[Amnesiac3637]

An elderly friend (94) this Summer was persuaded on the phone by some piece of slime to take £2,000 from her account, wrapped up, to the Post Office and post it to the given ‘bank’s’ address where it would be examined by ‘fraud squad officers’ for signs of forgery…………..

She took a taxi to town, got the money and was only saved from herself and bankruptcy when her cleaner interrupted her wrapping up the money and realised what was going on.

Whoever perpetrates these scams to elderly, vulnerable people (or anyone) should have their balls chopped off with a rusty hacksaw and then be left out in the gutter where they belong.

[medway-lady in reply to Amnesiac3637]

I totally agree and no room in prisons so it’s entirely reasonable.

[Vixen2 in reply to Amnesiac3637]

I totally agree with you. I hate scammers & thieves. I’d love to taser them. Slowly. They’d have a very funny walk after i’d finished with them. (A high pitched voice too!!!)

[AgedCrone in reply to Amnesiac3637]

On the other hand..my bank thinks they are my mother…they refused to transfer a small sum to my doctor because “you have never transferred money to him before” I’m sure it was because he has a very foreign name! A few weeks before they had quit happily transferred thousands to someone with a “good old English name”

They had all my security details including my password & my mother’s maiden name but they would not budge ……obviously glad they had my welfare at heart..but xxxxxx. Irritating!

[MistyDay]

I am ultra cautious now and treat any email offer as a scam. I keep getting ones stating I have won a prize from well known companies. I delete them without opening. I would rather lose a prize than be scammed. I think next time I might contact the company using their customer services number to see if they can help. Sadly our world is changing for the worse in many ways. I feel so sorry for scam victims .

[medway-lady in reply to MistyDay]

I think the 159 phone number to call banks was really helpful info. It might help stop these rotters.

[MistyDay in reply to medway-lady]

Thank you for sharing. I saw this and have shared the number with friends.Sadly many of us have to travel to get to a bank if we have concerns as so many branches are closed. I value my local post office for many services that local banks once provided.

[AgedCrone in reply to MistyDay]

I just found out that Post Offices hold envelopes that you can use to pay cash or a cheque in to your bank account . I think it is probably only the Big Five Banks…but it saves driving into town for most people.

[Boxerlady in reply to AgedCrone]

You can pay in cheques using the envelopes but you're not meant to put cash in them; however, you can pay in cash by handing it in - they ask you to put your bank card into the card machine to approve the deposit and it goes straight into your bank account.

[AgedCrone in reply to Boxerlady]

They don’t seem to advertise the facility very much do they? I only found out when banks started closing Willy Nilly during Covid, then for some unexplained reason continued to close when they felt like it!But it is useful & cheaper than a stamp these days !

[HappykindaGal]

I run a tech company so expected to get 15 and I did and I also took it in my own time. However, these criminals are clever. Very clever. They will always call when you’re busy and your eye is off the ball and it can catch people out. Anyone. I was almost caught by a phishing scam as I receive 200 plus emails a day and I was in a rush. It cost me a fee to my IT support company to check that ransomware wasn’t on our systems.

They’re horrible people and no one needs to feel embarrassed if they’re caught out by these criminals as they’re highly trained in what they do.

[medway-lady in reply to HappykindaGal]

I clicked on something months ago and got the blue screen of death. We emailed Apple who then call back and they reversed the action or something but I nearly fell for the help phone number on screen first that it gave to help as it looked like Apple but wasn’t. Only realised when the person I called on that number referred to Microsoft blue screen so my husband said that not Apple put the phone down ! Plus Apple are usually UK or America. The real Apple company said they knew of the impersonation and follow up each report but the con of the blue screen was getting more prevalent.

[HappykindaGal in reply to medway-lady]

Yes, they're so crafty and it's so easy to get caught out. Particularly when it puts someone into a bit of a panic. Awful people. I sometimes feel a bit sorry for the workers as they're dirt poor and also being exploited by these criminals.

[medway-lady in reply to HappykindaGal]

I'd not thought of that and it's true, do this and eat ?

[HappykindaGal in reply to medway-lady]

Yes. So much exploitation

[AgedCrone in reply to HappykindaGal]

It only happened to me once & I gave them a list of gobble de gook numbers & never heard any more.

[HappykindaGal in reply to AgedCrone]

Good for you!

[Sebastian247]

Thanks for this. Seems I am too suspicious!! But I guess that's the better way to be.

Seb

[Blackberrywine]

I'm quite suspicious of the BBC! 😵‍💫🤣

[Leics]

My father in law sadly died in May and when we were sorting out his direct debits we found he had been scammed numerous times by so called insurance companies. We managed to get rid of them all but then got a phone call a couple of days after his funeral asking my MIL to pay a bill. My hubby took every precaution and even used our account to pay it but it was a scam luckily we got the money back but when you’re vulnerable after such a devastating loss and trying to protect elderly relatives it was an absolute kick in the face. I don’t know how these people can live with themselves and we hope karma catches up with them.

[medway-lady in reply to Leics]

I’m so sorry to read this and it’s a vile thing to do. The thing is as the BBC said it your trustworthy you believe most other people are, so more likely to be a victim.

[Leics in reply to medway-lady]

Yeah hubby was grieving. I would have been inclined to say ‘good luck getting money from a dead man’ but we did all we could rang them back for verification but was an answerphone asked them what their address was checked the aforementioned company was actually there at that address but I guess it’s easy to google. I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else but I know it will. It wasn’t as though it wasn’t a household name hey ho once bitten and all that. We’ve never told MIL about it so she’s none the wiser and don’t intend to.

[medway-lady in reply to Leics]

It's heart breaking for you and I'm glad you've protected the MIL. All the brave people on TV who've gone to warn people how they fell for a scam is very laudable. When its for a dead person though its on another level of cruelty. We have a door bell and camera from Apple only a bit more expensive than Ring which identifies people. So says "Ben the postman is at your door", "you have left the house so going to remote recording" ! That and we've got remote hub control lights which are great. We only changed the doorbell as the Ring kept going wrong and didn't like rain. I think its stopped all the doorstep sellers.

[Leics in reply to medway-lady]

Yeah it’s a shame isn’t it that the leaving the door open for friends and family to come straight in has gone and the sense of community too. I thought during Covid we might as a nation pull together be a little more caring and tolerant and move forward but that initial thought didn’t last long did it ? I’ve never in my life purchased anything on the doorstep and never will and that goes for cold callers too but I guess I’m very suspicious but vulnerable too. In this day and age no one is safe from scammers and fraud or so it seems.

[Otto11]

I will have a go later. 2 weeks ago a lady I know needed to order a new credit card. It hadn’t arrived but she got a call from her bank to tell her that 3 transactions had been taken from her account. One for £900 & £300 & £500 I think. She was on the phone to the bank a while & obviously gave them certain info. When she got home & told her partner it sounded fishy she called her bank who told her they definitely never rang her that day. She said it was so convincing. I’m not sure if she has managed to get her money back yet. It’s really awful what these scammers can do.

[medway-lady in reply to Otto11]

This why the BBC gave this 159 number it connects to banks and is memorable. I really hope she is ok and Im always very concerned when getting invites, and offers. You just never know. x Its worse because most are coming from abroad so not even punishable. xx

[Otto11 in reply to medway-lady]

Hi thanks. I will look at this later. Yes you’re right it’s just awful & getting worse!

[Yellow-mellow1205]

I got 11/15 the one's I got wrong were real and I had them as scams 😂 it's worth doing though as you do learn from it - thanks for posting it x