Telephone scams, which target both business and residential customers, are always a nuisance. Here are some top tips to help you stay scam safe:
Don’t trust the number on the display
Scammers are able to present numbers to make it appear like they are calling from the company they are claiming to call from. A legitimate company will always be happy for you to end the call and call them back.
If you answer a call and it is an automated message giving you the option to press a key to call back: don’t!
You have no way of verifying what number you will then be connected to. This leaves you unable to verify if you are being connected to the organisation or company that the call claims to be from. You may also end up with a large bill – many scams use this method to route you on to a premium rate number which generates charges that go straight into the scammers pockets.
If you do decide to call a company back, ideally call from an alternative number
If this is not possible then it is best to wait a while before using your line to dial out. Scammers have been known to keep lines open so you think you are dialing out to the legitimate organisation, but instead are still talking to them. They have even been known to play dummy dial tones down the line.
Never allow these callers to talk you through installing anything on your computer
Deep Blue and many
other companies do, on occasion, use remote desktop facilities to carry out
work on customer’s behalf. We will never contact you out of the blue to do
this. This is only ever done on a prearranged basis. If remote works are
needed we will agree a date and time with you in advance and give you details
of the engineer who will be contacting you.
Deep Blue will never call you asking for immediate payment over the phone
If an invoice should fall overdue we will send notification to the registered accounts contact advising them of this, along with details on how they can pay.
Deep Blue will never threaten to immediately cease your service due to payment or usage issues.
We always endeavour to work with our customers to resolve issues before they reach the point of having their service suspended. On the rare occasions that we do have to suspend a service we always provide written notice of this before it happens, along with details of how to prevent this from happening.
Use the resources available to you to Stay Scam Safe
If you are using a landline: make sure you have registered for TPS. This can’t stop all nuisance calls getting through to you but it can reduce the number. For customers on the Horizon platform, the blacklist can be used to block nuisance numbers. Check with your provider to see what kind of fraud protection services they have in place.
At Deep Blue we work with our carriers to provide a range of added safety services on our lines as standard. These services monitor your call traffic and can alert us to any suspicious activity. They can even automatically apply temporary call barring to limit your exposure should you get hacked or scammed.
To discuss your telecoms, contact us at theteam@deepbluetelecom.co.uk or on 0333 240 9100. If you would like to know more on how to stay scam safe, the Met police have a number of resources available like their Little Booklet of Phone Scams.
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