Is this normal practice?

[trublue]

Just had a call from a person claiming to be from Virgin,saying that my computer was being bombarded with Trojans and malaware and was I experiencing any slow downs/speed ups on my computer.As soon as I said no,the line went dead.Any clues to what just happened.

[weesteev]

Sounds like a scam to me. Avoid this type of call, our Internet security team communicate by letter and email to confirm issues like this.

[trublue]

Thanks for that.How come he knew my number,it is new and I have only had it a week or so and how come he knew I was with Virgin?

[RainmakerRaw]

Originally Posted by trublue

Thanks for that.How come he knew my number,it is new and I have only had it a week or so and how come he knew I was with Virgin?

This type of call, and variations of it, are quite 'popular' lately. If you ring enough people in a day, at least some of them are going to be your target audience. For however many people say 'No.' or 'WTF?' and are hung up on, at least some will be more accepting, and the scam can commence.

A "We're from Microsoft and noticed you're infected" call was doing the rounds a few weeks ago too.

[trublue]

Many thanks for that RainmakerRaw.

[Chris]

I had one of these recently. I managed to string the scammer along on the phone for about 5 minutes before he got bored and hung up.

[trublue]

It just seems strange,that in all my years on the internet nothing like this has happened before.But as soon as I signed up with Virgin I've had cold callers and now this.It could be pure coincidence,but I'm a bit sceptical.

[Chris]

Have you taken a Virgin phone line? The number could already be on several scammer calling lists.

My own phone line has been in the TPS for years but there is definitely an increased number of unwanted calls over the past 18 months, first from tatty little UK operations who either don't care about the TPS or who somehow think I'll be delighted to hear from them so long as they are legitimately 'marketing' rather than 'sales' calls. Then there's the increased number of calls from overseas which are pretty hard to stop without a blanket block on calls with no CLI.

[trublue]

I have.I kept my old 10 digit phone number originally but Virgins voice mail doesn't like 10 digit numbers,so I had to have Virgin allocate me an 11 digit one.I have just signed up for TPS,but it will take at least 28 days to become active.

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by trublue

It just seems strange,that in all my years on the internet nothing like this has happened before.But as soon as I signed up with Virgin I've had cold callers and now this.It could be pure coincidence,but I'm a bit sceptical.

Just because the number is new to yourself it doesn;t mean to say that it's never been in circulation. Also although a VM number has the correct local prefix the number will be in a group dedicated to VM (unless a number is ported in/out of that group) For example the local VM numbers here all start with a 5 for VM and a 4 for BT

[trublue]

Just because the number is new to yourself it doesn;t mean to say that it's never been in circulation

Makes sense.I didn't know about the local VM numbers differing from BT.Thanks for that .

[Peter_]

You can report calls like this on the Action Fraud website or phone line just click the link below.

http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/

Action Fraud is the place for you to find out about fraud.

We’re the UK’s national fraud reporting centre. If you’ve been scammed, ripped off or conned, there is something you can do about it - get in touch with us.

[trublue]

Thanks.I've bookmarked that site.

[tweedie]

TBH I usually play along with it then hurl abuse at them down the phone near the end.

Waste my time and Ill waste yours.

[trublue]