Scam broadband call

[Baileysmum]

I recently ordered the new remote as well. 

[Eleanors+Sky]

I have had exactly the same - starting yesterday.  But about ten phonecalls in a single day.  Today at 8am again!  I have unplugged the phone - most people have my mobile so not too bad but does it stop??  I wish one could decline calls before picking them up but on my cheap landline I have to answer before slamming it down .... 

Where did they get the number?  I have recently applied for planning permission perhaps it came from that.

[Highlinder]

You can put Sky talk shield on your account and it is free to do so. More information about it can be found in the links.

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/sky-talk-shield-getting-started 

and

https://www.sky.com/help/diagnostics/sky-talk-shield/contact-us 

When you call and asked the nature of the call say " Activate talk shield ".

[Bardsley17]

Just ask them for details Sky would have such as address and account holders name then when they say don't have it say it's obviously a scam as Sky would have these. That's when they put phone down .... 

[Chrisee]

@Eleanors+Sky the scammers use a piece of kit called an auto dialler that dials hundreds of possible numbers per second when you pick up it either routes the call to an agent who starts the script or asks you to input a number first. There is nothing you can do yourself to stop them as the phone number they are showing as calling from is always false. In most cases they are calling from overseas commonly from Southern Asian countries.

Some scammers buy lists of likely targets ie if you fall for one  you can expect a lot more calls.

The Sky Talk Shield does filter these calls as it requires the caller to input a number on the keypad and announce who they are and then rings your line plays the recording to you and you can agree to accept the call. You can set up a list of known numbers who get straight through. The system fools most of the autodiallers and frankly is the best protection. Sky bybthe way normaly only call you if you have called them first.

[jerrylee47]

Had exactly the same sort of call. Sky broadband activated the day before the scam call. Call was on Sky landline which was also only activated the day before and was running slow and intermittantly. Also knew all my Sky account details and even quoted what I was paying for each item on my account even though they they had been changed the week before in an upgrade to SKYQ. Also wanted to give me a refund.

I ask the same questions: How did they know ALL the details of my new Sky account? How did they know my new landline number which had only been activated the day before and which only I and Sky knew??

Sounds like an inside job to me. Is some dodgy Sky employee providing them with the information for a cut of the profits? I did report it to Sky but they didn't seem that bothered apart from activating Talk Shield.

[Eleanors+Sky]

I unplugged my phone for about one week.  So in that case it would have been ringing and ringing with no answer.  I have since plugged in my phone again and no more calls fortunately ... Perhaps not a perfect solution but one I am happy with for the moment.  Hope this might be helpful for someone else.

Had it not worked, I would have considered activating the Shield option.  

[Chrisee]

@jerrylee47 if indeed a Sky staff member was leaking data that would be a very serious issue. If you are certain that the caller had information that only Sky could know I would formally complain initiallybto Sky see How to make a Sky complaint | Sky Help | Sky.com

Potentially you could complain the Information Commisioner as leaking of personal data can lead to large fines for Sky. Data protection is taken very seriously by Sky so for example their customer service reps can only access payment information if you answer the security questions otherwise the system wont display anything which is frustrating if you have forgotten your phone password etc.

However before complaining do think through the call as these scammers are quite clever and often imply they know things which they in fact don't. They either guess or use stuff you have told them earlier in the call. The fact it was a new number does not mean anything as auto diallers will dial random numbers.  If the caller definitely did have details only Sky could know then you should take it further.

[Eleanors+Sky]

Perhaps do think about reporting it to the information commissioner or some GDPR body - because if details are being leaked, that could affect a lot of people. 

Anecdotally, I heard similar from a friend when I mentioned my phone calls - who said they knew which package she was on and exactly what she paid for her bills .... so she thought it was entirely genuine, they were offering a better deal upgrade - until they asked for her passport details and she thought that sounded dodgy and put the phone down.  But her scam had taken place over a couple of days .... being called back/or given a legitimate seeming number to call back on etc.  Fortunately, they did not get as far as any bank details (I don't know why they went for the passport before the bank details!  Or why they went for the passport at all really).

[CrusaderMission]

I've had just two calls this year on my Sky number (and a couple in 2020).  I don't use the landline at all that comes with my Sky Broadband so the only calls would ever be from Sky or scammers. And it's always scammers and they ALL seem to know I have Sky. So how do they know that this number is associated with a Sky account? A couple of weeks ago the caller was male and told me that Sky have received complaints from my area about broadband speed and he wanted me to log in to a laptop. That immediately rang alarm bells and I asked him to prove he was from Sky. He quoted some (random) security number at me. I asked him for my account number instead. Of course, he didn't know that and he hung up. Just had another call from a woman claiming to be 'Anna' from Sky Telecom (?). To save time I immediately asked her for my account number. She rang off. 
But this can't be just random dialling. These scammers know I have a Sky account. They are getting Sky numbers from somewhere. 

BTW today's scam call came from 0110737 7515.

[Chnwh]

I got a call today saying my Sky broadband was slow.

It should be, I disconnected it two years ago.

[Wiltshire4242]

Call from number 0042 0569 0671 advising that my SKY broadband was due to be disconnected within the next 24H, because of missuse and illegal activity. It asked me to select 1 to continue - I hung up. 

It was an automated Americanised voice, but obviously a scam. 

[Resarf]

Thats exactly what I have been getting how can this be stopped 

[TimmyBGood]

@Resarf 

Pretty much impossible to 'stop' as the shadow call centres are operating in countries where law enforcement do not regard such things as a priority (and in some cases the activity may not even be criminal under local law as the victims are overseas).  A big step forward would be for the international telecommunication companies to block VOIP calls with spoofed caller ID, but the technology for that isn't currently widespread.  On a personal level, activating Sky Talk Shield on your account may reduce the instances of such calls.

[shopaholic2]

Just had the same call telling me I'll be disconnected in 24 hours, different phone number American accent. Obviously I hung up. Press 1 - I don't think so!