Warning after Middlewich doctor duped by con artist claiming to be from BT (From Middlewich Guardian)

Warning after Middlewich doctor duped by con artist claiming to be from BT

1:00pm Thursday 25th June 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

A VICTIM of a phone scam is urging Middlewich residents to be careful about who they give details to on the line.

Dr Kate Smith, of Rushton Drive, is worried about who could have her personal information after she was duped by a con artist claiming to be calling from BT.

She is now warning other people in the town to be on their guard.

Dr Smith, 50, said: “People have told me it’s fortunate it happened to me rather than someone who’s elderly and frail.

“If they have your name, address and date of birth they can take your identity.

“It took an awful lot of time sorting things out. I had to phone Barclaycard that evening, I spent a lot of the day with the police to report it there and identity protection is in the process of being done.

“I still don’t know whether anything else has been compromised.”

The imposter called Dr Smith at 7.45pm on Wednesday, June 10, and told her she was late for her BT phone bill payment.

They told her that if she didn’t pay that evening her phone line would be suspended – with a £75 reconnection fee.

The 50-year-old told them she paid by direct debit but the con artist claimed letters had been sent out and the direct debit had been cancelled on May 27.

Dr Smith, who works for St Luke’s Hospice in Winsford, added: “There was a lot of laughing and joking in the background and at first I thought it was a cold calling scheme.”

When Dr Smith asked the culprit to verify their identity, they told her to hang up and pick it up again to hear a dead line as ‘only BT can suspend a line that’.

It was only later that she realised that the imposter was simply staying silent on the other end of the line.

Alarm bells also started ringing when the culprit asked Dr Smith for her date of birth and credit card details – but she didn’t want to risk having her phone cut off.

She said: “I thought: ‘That sounds very strange’. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t trodden on my mobile phone the day before and broken it.

“By the time I finished the call, I realised it was a scam.

“I immediately phoned Barclaycard but in the meantime they’d charged £30.44 to it.

“The worrying thing is it seems a reasonable amount and you wouldn’t question it if you think you’re behind on your payments.”

A spokesman for BT said that the company does call customers when they are behind on their bills but would never threaten to cut their phone off if they do not clear their bill immediately.

“That seems to be the tactic used in Middlewich and other parts of the country,” she said.

“People should be on their guard. Never give out any personal details unless you are absolutely certain who you are talking to.”

BT customers can also call 150 to confirm the phone representative is calling from the company.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)