Yesterday I received a cold call. This was curious in itself as the number is registered with TPS. The woman calling asked about membership of a neighbourhood watch scheme and was I the householder and was I under 80? All the while (as I usually do) I was waiting for the punch line – the sell. Sure enough it came eventually with an offer of a security system for a donation of £1. Yeah, right. My scam alert was whining like a dive bombing Stuka by this time. I said “not interested” and ended the conversation.
Anyway, it seems that these Crime Research people are a front for a company called SAS Fire and Security. The scam – for scam is what it is – is to install the system either for free (or more recently for a donation of £1) and charge thousands for ongoing monitoring.
There is no such thing as a free lunch and cold callers aren’t doing it from a sense of altruism. Cold callers are trying to part you with your money and are becoming ever more devious in their attempts to part the unwary with theirs.
When I broke my arm in April, the thing that annoyed me was, a week or so later, getting cold calls on my home phone from ‘had an accident?’ companies./ The only way they could have got the data on it was from the A&E department or my own GP (who was informed of it, though I never visited, much to her displeasure).
And months later, then I visited my mother & she asked me to check her mobile for charge (which is in my name, as I pay the bills for her). She had the usual automated texts with offers, and notifications of her bill, and…one text message from another of these companies, telling me my accident could be worth £6000!
Here’s the kicker though – I refused to give A&E my mobile number. And if I had done, I would have given them MY mobile number, in any case.
How’d they get hold of this one?
I have had a number of these security company calls this autumn, particularly worrying by the way some introduce themselves as ‘working with the police crime prevenion unit’ or suchlike.
I had always assumed the scam was that they got a free tour of all your locks, doors and windows but maybe I was too paranoid.
Woodsy, the scam in this case is that they are not being clear about what they are selling. The Burglar alarm itself is the loss leader as they make their money with the monitoring contract. But they don’t mention this when calling you. Instead they give you all the guff about crime rates and neighbourhood watches and stuff. Then they slip in the security equipment for free or a £1 donation depending on the variation of the script you get. No mention whatsoever about the thousands of pounds they want you to part with for the ongoing monitoring service. That is deceit, pure and simple.
Julia, I would be very surprised if either your GP or A&E would give out your phone number if you had given it to them, but I’m baffled as to how these sharks got hold of it.
When an unfamiliar voice is on the line, I ask them straight out exactly what it is that they are selling. Usually, I get the answer “Oh no Sir, I’m not trying to sell you anything…..”
“Then find something to sell me and call back when I’ve finished my tea” is my usual response. It’s niether big nor clever, but seems to work.
AND it is ILLEGAL if you are on TPS.
So, either they are breaking the law, or they are operating from outside the EU.
They’re shits, either way.
As they are a UK company, they are breaking the law even if they are using overseas call centres, which in this case, they aren’t.