Crime Protection Initiative phone call. Scam?

[stuart]

Heads Up.

I just received an unsolicited phone call from "Crime Protection Initiative" who are apparently running a campaign in SE26. Sounded official until they started to ask for personal details.

Q. "Are you part of the Met Police?"
A. "No"
Q. "Are you part of Lewisham Council?"
A. "No"
Q. "Who are you?"
A. "...err we are a private company ..."

At this point I made my excuses and terminated the call. At best they were extremely misleading by not making clear who they really were or what they wanted before asking for personal details. At worst it is some sort of scam to gather information or sell me something.

They apparently don't check TPS and they withhold their number. Be careful ...

Stuart

[The Eagle]

Just had same call.
He/they broke all the rules ............

Had silent call first, no answer for about 30 secs
He said his name was Alex (sounded a nine bob note to me)
Told him I was on TPS why is he ringing me?
I asked for his number (he withheld it)
He just stuttered and said they are a call centre and don't have one.
So I just told him we are on to him and ..... off

[Annie]

Well done Eagle

[mosy]

I'm curious as to what pretext they would give for asking for personal details.

My mum received one a month or so ago asking her to confirm details of debts they "have on our records". My mum luckily is all there with her cough drops and gave them short shrift. She did find it unsettling though because, whilst she doesn't have debts, Q: how could they have records showing that she did? My reply was that it's just a line they use since most people will have at least some debt so there's a fair chance they'll reach someone who is daft enough to respond or is more vulnerable and isn't savvy enough not to respond. Unscrupulous people are not nice people.

[Annie]

What worries me is the elderly in scams like this, my mum would have been sure they knew all about her and that she owed money ( she didnt) but because she had great faith in people,and she trusted all.
Its so sad really that life cannot be so simple.

[williamross]

Heads Up.

I just received an unsolicited phone call from "Crime Protection Initiative" who are apparently running a campaign in SE26. Sounded official until they started to ask for personal details.

Q. "Are you part of the Met Police?"
A. "No"
Q. "Are you part of Lewisham Council?"
A. "No"
Q. "Who are you?"
A. "...err we are a private company ..."

At this point I made my excuses and terminated the call. At best they were extremely misleading by not making clear who they really were or what they wanted before asking for personal details. At worst it is some sort of scam to gather information or sell me something.

They apparently don't check TPS and they withhold their number. Be careful ...

Stuart

Probably some low-earning scammers fishing for information so they could sell that to telemarketing companies. They call you, pose as somebody else, and put up a story to make you give out information. Once they have your name, then they'd already have a name, phone number and address. That's one set already.

[williamross]

If you still have the phone number, I strongly recommend you report that to consumer complaint sites such as <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX> and post a warning for everybody. They could be calling somebody else and if they do, your post will help a lot.

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Ahem - Pushing a dodgy US website from the Phillipines. William - you come across as a scammer & spammer too which would be a bit ironic. Prove me wrong.

Admin

[Rachael]

Keep a whistle handy and blow it smartly into the speaker whenever you get a call from one of these off-shore call centres. Doesn't stop the automated systems calling your number, but it makes it much more fun when you do answer the phone to them.

As a rule, if Caller ID on my phone shows 'International', I don't bother answering (or go find my whistle).