South Ayrshire Council News

South Ayrshire Council is warning local consumers to avoid being taken in by two of the latest telephone scams that could be costly and upsetting.

In the first scam you may get a call from someone who says they are from British Telecom. The caller claims the account is in arrears, demands payment and threatens to cut off the telephone unless payment is made on the spot using a credit card. If you refuse to pay the bogus caller apparently 'demonstrates' that you will be cut off by temporarily disconnecting the line preventing the householder from making calls. The 'disconnection' involves nothing more than the caller staying on the line with the mute button on after he or she has apparently rung off keeping the line engaged. To the person receiving the call it appears that their line has been disconnected and this is enough to make some people pay up.

A simple scam yet one that has been fooling some people into giving financial details to a stranger – something you should never do.

The second scam targets residents who for a period of time are bombarded with automated 'silent' telephone calls. This can continue for days or weeks before the scammers call the consumer claiming to want to help them stop the unwanted calls through a one off £19 subscription to a 'telephone preference service.' The calls are made from outside the United Kingdom.

Councillor Peter Convery, Sustainability and the Environment Portfolio Holder said: "This is a calculated and heartless scam to obtain financial information, and could be especially distressing for older people. The scam has nothing to do with the official Telephone Preference Service which is free of charge for consumers and registers your number to stop unsolicited calls. Since the 'silent calls' originate from abroad, unfortunately there is nothing that you can do to stop them other than change your number. However in most cases the silent calls stop once the attempt to obtain financial details has been made."

When dealing with cold callers you should always ensure that if you have a problem with any goods or services, you can contact the trader again. Never deal with anyone on the basis of only a telephone or mobile phone number to contact them and never give your bank details to a stranger.

As most scams originate from outside the United Kingdom the Council is working with their colleagues from Scottish Scambusters and the Office of Fair Trading to try and stem the flow of scams targeting consumers.

Councillor Convery added: "We don't want to alarm our residents unnecessarily but neither do we want to hear of anyone losing money to scams. We urge anyone who has any doubts or requires advice and assistance to contact us on 01292 616060."

You can reduce the amount of unwanted calls and junk mail you receive by registering for free with http://stayprivate.org/. This and the Telephone Preference Service website carry warnings about the scam.