Blog-Ed

I've got people in my office well trained. Any mass-forward mail like that gets a reply-to-all with a link to Snopes confirming that it's all bollocks. Nothing like public humiliation to make people think twice :-)

There are two particular bits of comedy in that one:
1) "The final part of the call asks you to key in your postcode..."
My postcode is half composed of letters. My phone keypad isn't. This could well be a translated mail from the USA where zip codes are all numbers.

2) "The only safe solution is to hang up before the message prompts you to press 9."
How do you know that it's going to prompt you??

Very good points Joe :)

Russ says there were people in the pub on Sunday handing out flyers warning of this scam. Sweet.

I couldn't find any mention of it on snopes - the closest was this...I suppose it could have started off as the same thing - although there seem to be too many diffences really.
Oh, guliable (sp!?) me...!

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/jailcall.htm

We used to get hoaxes just like this one when I did support for BASF.... Not really a new concept.

I'll forward things like this if I believe in them, but I've not seen one yet, and I'd probably run it past someone competent as a sanity check as well. I don't think I've ever spammed a list in this style (I normally spam it back with the obligatory "no, it's only a hoax" email)

This mail got distributed around our offices a couple of days ago, and I too found it pretty unbelievable - I couldn't understand how they would begin billing me on a call they initiated?

However, at twenty to one this m morning I received a call telling me I'd won "an £800 pound prize". I was instructed I'd have to claim it within 24 hours and to press 1 to accept or 2 to reject the prize - the message stated that it was very important I pressed 2 if I didn't want the prize. It also read out my telephone number at the start of the call, and when I tried doing 1471 it said they did not have the number, rather than the usual "caller witheld", which does normally indicate an international caller.

I dropped the line, and although it rang back 20 minutes later it did not ring again after that. Perhaps this uses some sort of reverse charging scam, and the keytone indicates acceptance of charges?

Anyway, I've been searching for conclusive info on it (that's how I arrived here :) ), but given my experience either it isn't a hoax or someone is pranking me.

Deano

I've also had quite a few scam calls, either missed calls that ring once (hoping you will call back), of text messages saying that I've won something wonderful (call back to claim) and a few other weird calls. There are scams out there but the above isn't one of them. Scams are easy to avoid by not being gullible and/or stupid.

I got this hoax from someone in the finance department, the idiot just gets them and passes them on to feel all important and useful. Can everyone make it their business publicly to tear them down when they do! :-)

Think about it, investigate it, delete it!

Just been thinking about the possibility of reverse charging after being called by a random. How does 0800 REVERSE work? You know the thing advertised by Holly Valance. I don't actually know... but even if it is possible, there's still a load of bullshit in the hoax.

From http://www.icstis.org.uk/icstis2002/default.asp?node=-1

£20 Per Minute Telephone 'Scam' - An Urban Myth

Over the last few days ICSTIS has received hundreds of enquiries about the above 'scam', which is being widely publicised by e-mail. To help us put an end to the current spate of enquiries, please pass this information on to all contacts.

The apparent 'deception' takes place when people receive a recorded message informing them that they have won an all-expenses paid holiday and are asked to press 9 to hear further details. It is then claimed that callers are connected to a £20.00 per minute premium rate line that will still charge them for a minimum of five minutes even if they disconnect immediately. It is also claimed that, if callers stay connected, the entire message lasts for approximately 11 minutes, costing £220.00. Please note this is not true.

A £20.00 per minute premium rate tariff does not exist - the highest premium rate tariff available is £1.50 per minute. Despite the hundreds of enquiries received by ICSTIS about this 'scam' (and most have heard about it second or third-hand), not one person who claims that it has actually happened to them has been able to produce a phone bill to support their story.

ICSTIS urges any individual or organisation that receives an e-mail about this scam to delete it immediately. Please do not forward it on to others.

I thought that it'd only be fair to link back to these people:

http://www.hintsandthings.com/livingroom/hoax.htm

This kind of thing pisses me off. A lot. I could be downloading at twice the speed if it wasn't for the internet being clogged up with all useless crap e-mails. Particularly the ones with a word doc attached, they're the worst.

I just got this very phone call tonight. v. odd.

i was trying to find some cool forwards while i was at school, but i cant seem to find anything!! well i guess i will talk to yall later~

The idea of email forwards isn't that you find them. It's that you get emailed them... and then you forward them on.

But email forwards are evil. So why you'd want to find them in the 1st place I don't know!

I've only get email forwards from one source now, which is quite cool. Haven't worked on converting him yet.

Oh, here is the best email forward I've ever got...

PERSONALITY TEST

First, get a pen and paper.

Second, write the numbers one through six.

Next to number one, write any number.

Next to number two, write the name of anyone to which you are really attracted.

Next to three, write down the first color you can think of.

Next to number four, write the name of your first pet.

Next to numbers five and six write down the name of a family member.

Remember...no cheating...keep scrolling down...

Don't cheat, or you'll be upset...

Here's the answers...

The number next to number one show how many times you should be smacked over the head with a baseball bat for thinking that stupid e-mails like this actually mean anything. You are probably the same idiot who forwards e-mails from the Microsoft/Disney e-mail tracking project.

The person named next to number two is someone who will never sleep with you because you're stupid enough to waste your time on something like this.

The colour you picked means nothing. It's a fucking colour for Christ sake.

Number four is the name of a dead animal.

Numbers five and six represent family members who are embarrassed to be related to you.

Pass this on to everyone you know, so they can feel like a twat too.

Dude, that is so going to the next person that sends me a personality test forward....usually people like Face. Hey man, you've met him! :)

I had a spate of calls telling me I had won such and such. I dialed the operator to see if I could get them blocked from my line, and was told that there was no way that they could charge me for the call *unless* I responded to the prompts they gave me (i.e. pressing x digit now). So, I don't think it is a hoax, personally.

im wondering where you got the 20 minute crash - sunshine song from i cant get it anywhere. Do u have the website url possibly thanks josh

i live in the uk and i did get a call asking me to press 9 and i had won a prize i hung up straight away because i had read the "hoax" email that i now know to be true