Scam? or just a wrong number.

[WK1937]

BT keeps telling me that I have messages stored and when I listen in, on a couple of occasions there are voice mails saying in a rather threatening manner that the person they are calling has to pay his fine. There is no such person living in my home although the surname is correct and we do not owe any fines. Another number is given so that the fine can be paid. I have discovered by googling that the original number was a credit collection agency.

Needless to say under no circumstances would I respond to a call like this and each time have deleted the message.

BT have never alerted me before regarding my messages, which seems strange - I listen to them when you hear a certain tone and dial 1571 to retrieve them. Is this a scam, or just a wrong number, and should I report it to someone.

Many thanks, Maureen.

[Neil Wilson]

Seeing that you have deleted the message, there is nothing any agencies can do.
Save the call and report it to BT's Malicious Calls Bureau on 0800 661 441

[pattenwalsh]

BT never ring to say you have messages,you know from the on and off dial tone when you have messages and you then retreive them using 1571.An interesting new scam I think.

[Chris Doran]

I understand that a common ploy by lazy credit collection agencies chasing, say, Joe Smith, is to send letters to every Joe Smith in the book in the hope that the right one (or as many as possible) will pay up. This sounds like a paper-saving variant.

[Barnzzz]

Its possible that a credit collection agency simply has the wrong telephone number.

This happened to me when there was someone at the end of the road with the same surname. When the agency called directory enquiries to get this person's number they kept getting mine, even though the address was slightly different.

Alternatively, the agency might have tried to trace someone who owes them money and has traced them to your address by mistake. This happens occasionally with courts who try to trace people who owe them fines. They end up contacting someone with the same surname who has nothing to do with it!

Sue

[WK1937]

Thank you everyone - I do not feel so worried now. As suggested I will contact the BT number given if I receive any more.

Best wishes, Maureen.