Hi {!firstname}

There was an item on the BBC radio at lunchtime today about a
telephone scam

You get a call on your mobile - it only rings once or twice then
cuts off - your mobile will show a missed call - even if you do try
to answer immediately you do not get connected to anyone - if you
try to ring back, thinking it’s a missed call, you only get a
ringing tone and no-one answers

the number of the caller will be something like 07016 and you think
it’s a mobile

in fact 070 is what they call “follow me” numbers - it’s a number
which you can ring and the person can redirect the call to their
home, their mobile, their office, or wherever they are - the number
in itself should not cost you any extra to ring and there is
nothing in itself suspicious about an 070 number

However, the scam is that, if you listen carefully when you try to
ring a scam call, it rings once or twice, then there’s a gap of
silence, followed by more ringing - what they think the scammers
are doing is letting the call be answered by a answering machine
and instead of you getting a message they play back to you the
sound of a telephone ringing so you don’t realise it has been
answered

The authorities are not sure how the scammers are making money out
of this, but the reality is that people are being charged for calls
they don’t realise they are making - because all they’ve heard is a
ringing tone they don’t realise they’ve been connected - when they
get their mobile phone bills they are very surprised to see they’ve
been charged

so the advice is, if you get a missed call and it’s an 070 number,
don’t ring back unless you’re absolutely sure you know the person
who’s rung you,

If you have scams you wish to share be sure to let us know