Earlier this year, the communications regulator, Ofcom, surveyed 2,096 UK adults about scams and fraud, and found that people were less likely to identify calls on their mobiles as suspicious straight away compared to dodgy emails and texts.
It also found that one in five people surveyed said that their most recent experience of suspicious content or activity was a call to their mobile phone.
Below, we warn of the latest scam calls to watch out for.
Sky maintenance call
Recipients of this ‘Sky Maintenance’ call report that you're asked if you’d like to renew or cancel your contract with Sky or that an insurance payment for your Sky equipment is due.
In some calls, recipients have been offered a discount on their Sky services or threatened with a fine for not answering the caller’s questions.
The caller also asks for your account details; giving this information away is likely to result in another scam attempt.
HMRC scam call
Will scammers ever stop impersonating HMRC? Probably not.
These calls are a recorded message telling you that legal action (or a 'lawsuit') is being taken against you and to press one on your keypad to speak to someone or make a payment.
Some recorded messages also threaten you with being arrested for unpaid tax.
These out-of-the-blue calls can be quite concerning and may encourage you to act fast.
You'll be asked to sign in using your Government Gateway user ID or your email address.
Telephone Preference Service scam
A call from scammers impersonating the telephone preference service (TPS) tells you that you need to reactivate your registration with the service to ‘protect you from scammers’.
The TPS is a free service which stops unsolicited sales and marketing calls and you can register online. The scam caller also asks for your bank details to complete the registration.
Passport scam call
Fraudsters have been calling potential victims and leaving recorded messages that claim there's a problem with your passport or visa application and to press one to speak to someone.
Moonpay scam
Scammers have been contacting people over the phone and via social media, claiming to be a cryptocurrency company called Moonpay.
These callers try to scam you by offering returns on your trades and special promotions.
The genuine Moonpay has stated that it will never contact you offering trading returns via phone, text message or through other media.
Avoiding phone scams
You could consider installing a call blocker to avoid spam and scam calls.
You should also be aware that fraudsters can keep your phone line open after you’ve hung up on a scam call. So, if you want to call the genuine company on a legitimate number, use a different phone or wait for at least 10 to 15 minutes before you make a call.
Reporting phone scams
To report a scam call you can text the word ‘call’ followed by the phone number to 7726.
On WhatsApp, open the WhatsApp chat with the dodgy phone number and tap 'block.' You can report the contact by tapping 'report contact' and 'block'.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/5-scam-calls-to-watch-out-for-right-now-aUn3I4y3ZOfX