Dreadfully convincing if you didnt know they dont call. I have had this twice in the last 18months or so. I also get similar from banks by email, I had one from nationwide this morning saying they were updating my account - pretty daft as I dont have an account with them.

I just don't open any emails if I don't recognise them and send them to my phishing scam file - it seems to be filled with people wishing to sell me viagra and all sorts of naughty things!

You are both so right!
I haven't yet had the man from India and fairly frequently get emails saying my online account has been frozen....I don't do online banking for that very reason.....

Thanks for the warning Cammomile

Maybe we get these calls and maybe we don't. We have caller recognition on our phone and never answer anything which say International or number withheld.

Good idea. I do have the telephone preference thingy and don't usually get any cold calls - only these.

Yes that Microsoft one is more persuasive and convincing than most of them. An elderly neighbour went virtually all the way through with that one and only stopped when they asked for £60 to fix the non-existant problem. Luckily not her bank details . I have had it too and they are cleverer than most.

We do the same as Boggy. International, withheld, or unrecognised we just lift the phone, or press the green button on the cordless quickly followed by red button or drop back into cradle. If it should be a friend from abroad they know to immediately call back. Scammers don't try twice in 5 minutes. Caller preference doesn't work at all with foreign numbers or with unscrupulous random cold callers.

It does help that one is so utterly phobic about answering the phone that one has not managed it for 20 years. Took 8 years before one could even stay in the same room when the phone rang.
The annoying ones we get most of these days are the missold PPI ones. Especially as we have never actually taken one out.

its the electronic recorded voices usually but not always an 08 number, I've found that if I don't answer it keeps ringing back until I do...grrrr

Oh, the b...y PPI and have you had an accident one appear daily, not on my computer so much (screened to junk automatically) but on my mobile phone. Its got so bad I don't even bother to check when I hear that bip bip to announce a text - I just wipe them all out when I use the phone. Trouble is, I miss texts that aren't from them quite frequently.

Owdb my heart goes out to you, there are some rotters out there.

Thanks for the warning, hadn't heard about this,have had the PPI one and the "your recent accident" thing.

Actually, now I think about it, I do remember 2 calls about a 'recent accident' on my landline last year, I suspect from India. I'm afraid I was so rude the second time that they've never rung back, lol...

I am so fed up with all these calls! We have the call preference thingy too and it would seem to be as much use as a chocolate fireguard... The computer problem one I answer with "Which computer are you referring to, we have three two of which are macs"

Cant emphasis enough use TPS & MPS. If you then get a call just shout TPS down the phone and put it down : ) Its a breach of the legislation if you get any cold calling from within the UK. often its just random from outside the UK.

However also worth noting that companies that you 'do' deal with eg phone/internet consider they have an 'implied' right to contact you, but if you write to them removing any such implied consent for cold calling or using your data for anything other than only for the service you have contract with then they to cannot call or post you either. Just state in writing you dont consent to any third party calling or anything else or your detail put on any dialers.

I work for the Metropolitan Poice in London taking emergency and non-emergency calls, and I think you should be aware of another scam that we have taken hundreds of calls about.

For no apparent reason, a message will appear on your computer screen, with what appears to be the logo of your local Police telling you that they have locked your computer due to innappropraite content and you need to pay a £100 fine to a bank account to have it unlocked. (If you pay the computer will NOT be unlocked.)

If you experienece this, call your local Police on the non-emergency number to report it, so they can record it. (most can be contacted by dialling 101).

Then, you will need to take the computer to a repair shop to be unlocked.

We are aware that this has apparently happened in other countries in Europe.

Oh lord, that's a new one on me Alextb, sounds like a right pain. How on earth are they 'locking' your computer I wonder.

Thanks Alex thats a new one on me

The ones I love to argue with are those from the energy company wanting me to have their gas.....so I say yes please.....the nearest gas pipeline is two miles away with no plans to bring it nearer......so it amuses me for a couple of minutes......some are shocked that there are places without..... :0)

Hells bells, not another one.

Am I ever glad I have a mac they tend not to get scammed...

The only way a computer can be locked from outside is if you have no Virus or Security provision on your machine. We use a thing called Winpatrol which prevents any alterations to our machine without permission.

The way I once dealt with one that I *did* answer though I knew it was 'International' was thus:-

Caller: Good morning. Is this Dr. Turner? (no pause for reply) How are you today?

Me: (no confirmation of my identity) Well I had a sausage for breakfast and I'm still alive so I reckon I am well. (Stolen from Cleggie in Last of the Summer Wine)

Caller: This is just a courtesy call from '****' we are doing a survey to see if you have a conservatory or an orangery.

Me: (In Sgt. Wilson voice) It really is fantastically kind of you to show an interest in such a lonely old man. Of course both my wives left me when I went broke and I haven't been able to find another one yet. Maybe if I bought an orangery then some rich young lady in her thirties would show an interest in me. What have you got? I have up to £200 to spend.

Click.

It is the only time a salesman has ever hung up on me. Lol.

Hee hee, sometimes its fun to muck around with these people, isn't it... I don't always have the time, but just occasionally, I indulge myself in letting them rant on and lead themselves up the garden path. Hmm, I think that's a mild version of a psychological game called 'I've got you now, you b.....rd' Pam and Sarra; nothing wrong with that, I constantly amuse myself with that game given half a chance...
But, if you really want rid of sales people quickly (double glazing, house insurance etc) there is a simple, quick solution - just say 'I'm a tenant'. The phone will go down in a flash... and they won't ring back either.

I'm afraid we did get caught :( My hubb answered the phone and he happened to be on the computer at the time and they said to him that our computer had viruses & threats etc. and then the computer screen moved and a new window showed how many things were going wrong and they could fix it!! Well guess what my hubb said Ok.! It cost us a lot and he paid :( This screen then showed them 'fixing' the problem and voila, virus free and us out of pocket. Of course nothing was wrong in the first place but they are so convincing.

They did ring back, would you believe a year later to re-new our subs and I told them where to go and that I was on to them! Haven't heard from them since.
So thanks Cam. its good to be reminded.

I do comisserate Gran....

through my giggles at Sarra.....

Never again, once caught....................Lol

ive been getting them phone calls for over a year . at first i was friendly but now definatly not so nice but i wont repeat lol . they must have thick skin as they still try there luck .

I just say "can you hold please" and put the reciever down (sometimes by the radio so they can listen to music) it costs them money then to annoy me,then just replace the phone when one of us gets fed up

thats not nice jenfren lol i like it xx .

Nice one Jenfren - I used to have a 'heavy breather' who called in the evenings years ago, before the days of 1471 - I took to leaving the line open and putting the phone on top of the washing machine (which was constantly in use in those days). He got fed up after a couple of weeks.

Sorry Jenfren, apart from the salespersons wage, which is usually about 60p an hour, the call doesn't actually cost them anything. Leased line. But I still like it.

I have had this phone call several times, in fact one of them was taken quite aback when I told him I didn't have a computer. I always work on the principal did I approach them first.

i always say if theres any doubt theres know doubt and dont mend something that isnt broken .

And if an offer is too good to be true........it probably is.........

here here lets go out on strike lol .

Cammomile - (fellow West Sussex resident!) - Just to let you know that the "I'm calling from Microsoft" calls have resumed ... my OH just took a call on the landline from a guy with a pronounced Indian accent ... when OH said our daughter deals with any of our computer issues - I'll give you her number ... the caller hung up ... and 1471 said "We do not have the callers number" ... really???

Here we go again! A lady called yesterday with an Indian accent, who couldn't pronounce my name so I told her there was no-one here by that name. There must be something we can do to stop this - any ideas out there??

Even with call preference half the calls we get are either scams or someone trying to sell us something... I've recently had someone with a broad Glaswegian accent on the phone - still not sure what he is trying to sell us!

wea theres an opertunity theres an opertunist infact thats natures way .if in doubt chuck it out.

I have caller i.d. so I am prepared and I now have a large, shrill whistle, Cammomile. Whistle between lips and answer. Soon as the Indian voice says something like 'Hello, this is a courtesy call from the wombats' protection league', I let rip and just keep blowing. It doesn't stop the calls but does give me, as a trainee sadist, a certain sense of satisfaction. 'You have been rude enough to disturb my peace and quiet, so I'll disturb yours.'

That made me laugh Sarra - my family and friends think I am batty enough without having a whistle to hand - but a good idea nevertheless!

Depending on what it is I do the senile old bat bit 'what, sorry, don't know what your talking about - speak up' or say something like 'how odd I have a macbook' and hang up.

I've just been re reading this whole thread - its clear that at least 2 of us get a fair amount of pleasure (at times) from winding up cold callers. Seems to me that those of us who take the time to indulge in this sport are wasted - no longer fully in the world of work, but still with fully functioning brain cells which require entertainment or activity. For myself, maybe its time I found a couple of 'protest' groups to join, lol!

Oh still working part-time but can't resist the urge to wind the callers up at times...

if they cant beat you beat them lol .

When they ask for Mrs G.... I ask who's calling and often they clear down, the one the other day who asked for Pamela was told in no uncertain terms that I do not speak to people calling me by my christian name unless we had been formally introduced. :0)))

Lol, Pam - when I think of some of the things I've said over the years to cold callers, even my hair stands on end a bit... but these days, a lot of it is wasted. If English isn't their first language, then my carefully crafted, heavily sarcastic, or shocking responses are meaningless to them, they simply don't understand what I'm saying. Sigh... what a waste... much less fun than it used to be, dealing with them.

My hair would stand on end too, Bamboo. If I could only get it back.

LOL!

ditto lol