Scambusters - Personal Numbers Scam

As part of an occasional service we have decided to reveal scams that are going around so that our readers do not fall victim to them. Here is one I found on the internet but I am not sure how current it is - PolPop

Personal numbers are known as 'find me anywhere' numbers. They always begin with the prefix 070. They are an important service, as users can forward calls to specified telephone numbers, including mobile phone numbers. The charge for calling personal numbers can be higher than the cost of a normal call.

The most common scam is to induce people to call a personal number where the tariff has been set at a higher rate. Businesses have been asked to fax documents to an 070 number e.g. Estate Agents have been asked for details of houses on their books, and individuals have returned a missed call logged on a mobile phone. When the caller faxes the papers requested or returns the missed call they unknowingly run up a large bill, much of which goes to the company owning the number.

Five telephone numbers logged on work mobile phones recently were:

07044 670726
07044 665943
07044 665610
07044 665074
07044 668924

Colleagues have received these as missed calls and when they have returned the call, they have heard the message "We are trying to connect you, please hold." The phone then appears to be being connected but we think the callers are in fact listening to a recording and being charged premium rate for the privilege.

Oftel, the Office of Telecommunications, have informed us that all five of these numbers have been allocated to the same company as they all begin with 07044 6. Oftel will contact the company to explain that what they are doing is in breach of regulations. Oftel now have powers to fine these offenders which they will implement with repeat offenders.

Oftel is taking action to stop the growing numbers of cases where people use personal numbers to run scams and the message from Oftel is…if you don't recognise the caller…don't return the call… especially on a mobile…think before you dial!

Our advice is:

If your work or personal mobile phone shows a missed call and the number begins with 070, do not return the call.
If you receive a missed call that begins with 070 but the next numbers are not 446, this number may have been allocated to a different company to the one we have identified.