SCAM !

Thanks for the warning, Gill, and I'm so glad that your bank were sympathetic . . . what a nightmare it must have been. Yes - lovely rose!

Oh I am so pleased that you got all the money back. what an ordeal for you both.
and that is a beautiful rose too.

People will stoop as low as they can, in order to steal your property/money etc. It's very sad indeed to think that a fellow human being can be so pathetic as that :o((( What a disgrace :o(

I feel angry on your behalf Grandmage, and also disgusted at the scum that did it. And I am very sorry for the anguish and distress the situation has caused you.
I am also happy you were refunded the money ...you were very lucky !

I never answer the phone, but I did a few nights ago, because I was expecting my aunt to call.
Anyway, the other person said she was from Talk Talk, and wanted to access my account, so that she could see if there was a better deal that I could have.
I felt suspicious at once, and told her I was not interested ... and I put the receiver down.
Maybe she was from Talk Talk, but I had no real proof of that, so I steered clear of her.

Be ware folks ! We don't know who's who these days ... even our 'friends' on GoY ... how do we know they are who they say they are ???

lol I got carried away there ! :D and forgot to say how much I like your rose :o)) It's lovely ...

Nightmare indeed we have been warned about similar scams in the Bristol area by Neighborhood Watch.
Love the Rose where did you purchase.

We get calls like that quite often, Mum answers the phone, so quite truthfully tells them she has no computer! Sorry to hear of all the stress you were put through.

Gorgeous rose.

I am very sorry about the scam played out on you, If I answer the phone to people asking me about things the first thing I say is what are you trying to sell be, if they say they are not trying to sell me anything I turn around and say,(if you are not selling anything and I am not buying anything then this phone call is a waste of time GOODBYE), that seems to put them of very quickly.

thanks for the warning and glad it's all sorted. these people will stop at nothing, they are disgusting leeches.

My goodness how awful for you both, pleased all ended well. Beautiful rose, thanks for the warning.

Hi all, just off to beddy byes and thought I would look in, thanks all for your support, so much appreciated, you are all so kind. Sheila, Sbg. Hywel, Bjs. Louisa, John, Lijemc, Dd, I always thought these things happened to others so think I am doubly shocked and annoyed, I love my computer but realise it can be a dangerous place too. My lovely rose Bjs. was purchased at our local garden centre, I really wanted a climber or two and thought it best to purchase when in bloom so I could see it at its best I have also bought 'Albertine' too. :)

What a very nasty experience for you both - I'm so glad it had a happy ending. Thanks for the warning. I do normally put the phone down on such calls, but I'll tell OH in case we get one as well.

Lovely rose to finish your blog off! :-)))

lovely picture:))))

So sorry to hear of your horrible experience but we are glad everything is sorted now.We always tend to put the phone down straight away on these low lifes.They will try anything nowadays.

Gill have herd of this so often .. Thank god u ggot it all back .. You need to pop this on f.b too .. To warn every one , did u tell the police x

Hi Crissie, I did put it on my FB and yes we went to the police too and have a 'crime'number for it. It wasn't til we went through our accounts at the bank we discovered that OH's ISA & savings had been plundered too!
Thanks Spritz & Mark.....it was indeed a nasty experience and one I would not like to repeat, I will be quite rude to anyone who phones from now on, friends will be an exception though LOL. :) (I'm can laugh now) :)
PS. glad you like my rose.

We had our computer hacked last year grandmage, turns out they were watching me through the built in webcam as well, (prob to get my bank password in conversation) turned off my antivirus too but made it look like it was active) I check it every day now and i also put an elastoplast over the camera even tho i disabled it, i felt sick but the good news is they couldn,t get into our bank account! I wonder how they got into yours, the thief would have a different IP address and the bank should of got onto that even if they had your password, Anyway im happy you got sorted but all the stress (and anger) beforehand must of been awfull for you both X

PS the lad who sorted it all out for us said, They could live anywhere in any country, they will have a roomfull of computers going 24/7 to hack people anywhere in the world, so its not Personnal. They dont know YOU. That made me feel better and as a result i wont let kids use my laptop as they click on anything, esp flashing games which send you a virus!
Lovely Rose Grandmage :)

Glad you got everything sorted Gm, what a nightmare for you though.Makes you wonder just what is going on out there!!! Take care. Lovely rose :-)

I'm so sorry you had to go through this terrible experience Gmage , My OH's card No. was taken at a petrol station we didn't know about it until we had a phone call from the bank warning us that 1p had been taken out of our a/c apparently this is what the crooks do they take 1p and if nobody notices they carry on using the card No. when we checked the statement there was loads of stuff on it bought in the London area .. it did get sorted out but like yours it was such a worry and you never know it could happen again !

Ooooooh folks it seems I am not alone in all of this, I very naively thought it would never happen to us.............. :( how silly eh?
Youngd. who knows how? It is an invasion of privacy isn't it and as we speak I have a post-it note over my web cam!! Lol thanks for that tip. Thanks Gralew, it is a worry and makes you not want to trust people anymore which goes against our grain. Amy I have heard of the 1d routine, blasted cheek of them, our money was moved in and out of our account in a flash and usually the bank query largeish transactions but this was so fast I suppose they didnt even notice. It's all a blur now but keeps popping into my mind, I know it's not personal but it sure feels like it. Bless you all.

What a salutary tale that is , Grandmage !
Truly shocking .

What a horrible experience, Grandmage, I had a similar one a couple of years ago but my bank spotted that small odd amounts had been taken from my account. I remembered later that, when paying at a restaurant, the young girl on the till took my card out of the machine and said it wasn't reading and wiped it across her body. I told the bank and the police but nothing could be proved. Now I never let anyone take my card from me and, like others, I don't take phone calls unless I know the person. I will be even more aware now, thanks for the warning. Glad all your funds were reinbursed, as were mine.

What a dreadful experience for you GM its so sad as this will always stay with you and make you feel so vunerable, I try to be very careful and usually put the phone down straight away if its a cold caller. There are some very evil and dispicable people out there!

Thank goodness your bank were so understanding and refunded your money, hope you are able to put this behind you now, take care .x
I love your new Rose !

There really is little else I can add (without getting flagged) - what a nightmare you both been through. Luckily the bank were understanding. Good to read that it was all sorted out by them.
Lovely rose - a nice addition to your garden.

Truly awful for you and your OH ,G.mage..Any phone calls I get,show who is calling,if it's on my list,but any I don't recognise ,or having an area code I don't know,doesn't get answered ,so they usually hang up..I then I look to see what the number is,which is usually either unavailable,or a lot of noughts..scum of the earth,aren't they? mind you,I once put the phone down on a poor guy who wanted to speak to OH..I asked who was calling please,I'm his wife..he said he couldn't say,as it was private and confidential...a few minutes later,he rang again,and as Russell hadn't heard it the first time, he picked up in the kitchen..he was only calling from the Hospital to give him some info :o) I had to mouth to him to apologise on my behalf,but the man just laughed,and said it happens all the time:o)
I am so sorry this has happened to you,but glad it had a happy ending..I will heed your advice and take extra care..but it is very scary what they can do,,
and your Rose is wonderful xxx

Ah thanks Driad, Gee, Pp, Scottie & B. the more I talk to folk the more I know that it was not only us that were taken in! It seems to have affected many. B. our phone has the numbers come up but whilst we search for our glasses to read the bloomin number it's then too late and the phone stops ringing, Lol. We will be extra vigilant from now on, hopefully but these people have a way of speaking that draws you in and then you are hooked, Scottie I can imagine what you were trying to say Lol, I could easily have said a few choice words but chose not to. :) believe me the air has been blue in our house but we seem to be getting back to normal, the laughter is coming back. Glad you all like my rose, what a beauty isn't it? Thanks all for your lovely kind comments. x

I have recently heard of a scam where the voice pretends to be from the police, and if you are wary suggests you put the phone down an call them back....

The thing is they are able to "hold" your phone so when you call back you think its a genuine police office......I can't remember all the details but it involves your bank cards.......and they send a courier (possibly genuine?). for them......and a pin number I think, can't remember the details

The important thing is not to ring the police back on the land line.....but your mobile......

Thanks for the warning, Grandmage. We have recently started banking online , but fortunately for me, my hubby doesn't understand computers and wouldn't touch it. My son in Leicester is my team viewer and I think I would have checked with him first if I got this phone call, but there is a chance I may have done the same !

Lol Pam......would you believe I had one of those 'police' calls and he was so convincing that i cut up my card and waited for this courier to arrive, I twigged after I cut my card up and thought 'what am I doing', this person had done their job and was probably laughing at the end of the phone!! It's awful isn't it?
Rose, I love my online banking it's so easy to use and I will continue just never open your account after one of those phone calls!!! Take care now.

Oh we've had so many of these calls Grandmage no matter what you say or how rude you are they just don't take the hint!!!!, we're on the telephone preference list and did report them but because most phone from abroad there's nothing that can be done,now I just don't pick the phone up if its a number I don't know the answer phones always on so I think if its something important they'll leave a message.
Glad you got it sorted and got your money back.

Its all been said G'mage, they are scum, pleased you did get your money back, we get lots of cold calls, depending on our mood as to the reaction they get, lol....We had one a few weeks back supposedly from a firm in Glasgow whereby the girl said that she had received our complaint about all the cold calls, she wanted our bank details for our monthly payment so that she could set inline the means guaranteed to block all such calls in the future !!!!!!!!! we HAD NOT put in a complaint to any company at all......

So grateful for this blog GM. It made me realise that I was being taken in myself for a bogus membership of something or other, with the carrot of free vouchers. It was possible to cancel by the end of the week on line or by phone, otherwise they would take £79 subscription. The website didn't appear so I cancelled my card straight away - they might try but they won't be lucky. Your horrible experience made all the difference to acting straight away. So if anyone gets a call from a company called Sapphire, put the phone down. Your experience was awful - thank you again for sharing it.
Neither of us will touch on line banking, but they manage to think of ways to con you anyway. What a world we live in.

Simbad, you are so right, they will not take a hint and when I spoke to this guy I was very rude and if he ever phones again I will be ready, it certainly brings out the worst in us.
Lincs. will there be no end to all of this? Wonder what we can do to end it all? Scum is the word and to think that they are doing it to someone else right now.
Stera, am really glad that you found this blog helpful, truly I am, I know it's not anything about gardening, but it is nevertheless serious. If you find this company have already taken that cash you can tell the bank it is unauthorised and they should help. Anyone who phones from now on will get the sharp side of my tongue and I am normally a very placid person ! Lol. Glad you were able to discover your scam too. Thanks all. :) and take care.

Poor u Gm...some people are disgusting...
its so easy for us to get conned.
my email was hacked recently ..all my contacts gone, all my emails gone...with this info they figured out my ebay password and tried to order£1500 worth of phones to nigeria....but fortunately my bank password is not the same as any of my others and they couldn't pay for them. as for computer scams from your bank,

one tip i have learn't is, your bank will always address you by name as they already know it...so if you get e mails from your bank addressed DEAR CUSTOMER dont answer them...
glad you got it all sorted out...x

Oh Sandra how awful for you, it makes me want to swear!! Our bank did tell me to change my passwords and I have yet to do it although I have removed my visa card number from pay pal. How do they con us ? and how did they con you? It's a disgrace, thank you for your tip I will remember that and my junk mail box works overtime these days, I am glad to say :)

i have no idea how they hacked me...but as i used to have the same password for so many things i think i made it easy for them.....but its hard to remember all these different pass words. I now have a little book with them written in and they are all different for any site i spend money on. I have also learnt to ask the caller to prove who THEY are...i was,
and still am in dispute with the tax man. this information was in my emails..i received a call supposedly from the taxman saying i had to pay the disputed amount in full today or they would send a debt collector. as i had just found out about the hacking i asked THEM what MY tax reference code was. they put the phone down.

we have to make it a little harder for them.

I'm glad all this extra information has come to light,from your experience,G.mage so although awful,it has made us all more aware..
I also bank online,and thankfully,my passwords for all sites I use,are different..as advised from the start of me using a Computer,..so they are all stored in a little book too..I have never bought anything online,so I haven't used my cards..mainly because I'm not really interested,and still not confident enough to trust them..Daft ,I know,as most are reputable and secure..but I'm happy going shopping :o) Just hope my little book doesn't go astray,or I'm doomed,I tell you,Doomed ! Lol

B. snap, mine are all written down too, cannot remember a single one!! I agree with you, this page makes horrid reading doesn't it? I am so sorry that other people have been affected, but as you say it is a good thing to air it all then we are all forewarned. I do shop online B and I also hit the shops too Lol, I love doing both. Maybe you should have a back up, little book, B and pop it somewhere safe!! (then you will forget where you put it Lol) :)
Sandra, it sounds as if they will stop at nothing and they know how to get us to part with information we wouldn't even give to our granny! Lol You sound like Bloomer & I with our little books, but it is the only way. :)

Ive had those sort of calls before, I just put the phone down, its like the scam emails you get about your bank account or paypal, I just delete them all
glad you managed to get it all sorted, it musf have been very worrying.... lovely rose..

Thank you Holly, feeling much better now but keep wondering how & why?? I always said ''I wouldn't get caught'', ha ha.....never say never eh? Glad you like my rose. :)

Credit cards are better to use online than debit cards, one of the staff at the bank advised that, You don't pay until the statement comes so the money doesn't leave your account..........

I was in the bank today ordering a new credit card to use on line (never had one before) and the chap told me about the new cards that don't need a PIN. Apparently its possible for someone to pass you in the street with a small hand held scanner, swipe past your pocket and if lucky (for him) can then empty your account.It has happened already. So beware if you live in an area where these are being trialled.Should be able to protect cards against these by keeping them in a little metal case, making sure the card doesn't touch the metal, but what a nuisance.

Pam, we were told about this last week, when we get our replacement cards we might just use our CC. instead, think it might be safer.
Stera, I already use a metal case because I have one of those pinless cards !! Have heard about that scam too, it's not safe to go out these days is it ;) Lol

Can you buy purpose made ones then GM?

Sorry you were put through it, but well done your bank for being so good.

the prob is that thse predators have practice at sounding plausible, and innocent people often don't suspect; we wouldn't do it, so we can't imagine anyone else doing it.

Sadly it pays to be suspicious these days, even when it feels like it goes against the grain, but remembering to be careful at all times is a hard habit to get into; one only needs to forget once.

I have a separate debit card just for online shopping, with an assoicated account; i top it up from my current account now and then, but it's totally stand-alone, so if it does get hacked, all they get is what's in there, never more than maybe a hundred.

I've heard of the no-pin, wave-your-card-at-the-machine type card, but don't eant anything to do wiht it - I'd rather take a few seconds to put the PIN in

i have spam-reporting email addresses for PayPal, Amazon, and such; if I get an email I'm not sure about, I forward it to them (I used to do this for all phish bank emails, but found I had more phish-reporting addresses in my contqct list than friends and family!)

You can set filters on email: anything addressed to "undisclosed recipients" goes straight in, as does anytihng to do with viagra, medication, winning the lottery and "find a hot slut in your area".

It's a shame we hve to be so cynical, but the criminals are usually one step ahead of the law, and now they can operate internationally.

I did get phished once; the "sign in to eBay" looked exactly like the real thing, it wsa only when I'd put in my password three times and it kept coming up that I looked really closely at the email and saw it didn't have my name in it. I immeditaely changed my eBay, PayPal and online banking passords, just to make sure.

Using a standard password makes life easier, also makes it riskier. I keep my passowrds in a Word file, which is itself passworded, so I only have to remember one password to get at the rest. As an added security measure, I kep it on a USB stick and only connect it to the PC when I actually need to change or be reminded of a password; there's nothing on the PC itlsef that can be hacked. Of course, i need to use the USB stick when I'm connected, so that might leave a trail ...

and if you copy and paste a password, that remains on your clipboard, and can be hacked. there's a way to check what's on your clipboard, and delete it - when I find the link I'll post it, but ifyou search for "clipboard viewer" or "clipboard security" you should be able to find something: I didn't install any software, just found out where it lives ont he PC and put a shortcut on the Quick Start menu so I can get at it any time.

http://www.growsonyou.com/franl155/blog/17829-protect-your-clipboard

Barclays do this text thing, each week you get a final balance text on the debit card you use regularly, at least you know regularly

Stera, yes, we found ours at our local garden centre, you know they have demo. tv's showing you how to use something, ie. potatoe peeler etc well this tv had for sale these metal boxes so we purchased one each and all our cards fit in nicely, Verdict sell them too.
Fran....you are more computer savvy than me, I have changed all passwords to my accounts as I used the same one all the time but now have changed them around, also this has confused me somewhat!! Lol Never mind better safe this way, hopefully. thank you for all your info. though & Pam. :)

I generally use the same password for casual sites, the ones where you have to join up before you're allowed to even look at their precious pages! some sites where there's no money involved keep that password, but others I try to have speficic ones for: obviously, the more you use them, the easier it gets to remember them.

I keep some hints in with the link on favourites list to remind me - these should mean nothing to any h acker! (one hint for a password I don't use now was "pc-2", which was my standard password plus a postcode where I used to live, but go down two numbers).

annoyingly, some sites won't let me use my standard password because it's too long, so I have to remember to leave off x characters; not very secure to my mind!

Ouch! Hadn't realised that you had been caught on this scam Grandmage..It has been running for some time now over the last couple of years..and keeps resurfacing.
It is dreadful that we have to be so cautious and wary now of phonecalls coming into our own homes.
I was so glad to read that you were fully recompense though.. A painful and difficult lesson that we all need to take on board in today's scam hacking techno world.

Flori.....indeed ouch ! But lesson learned now, well and truly and we thought we would never get caught!!

I just had an email re a job application, needless to say I haven't applied for a job! Permanently deleted it.
How low can they get :0 (

Pam, do you have a junk file? If so put these emails in the junk file and then they will always be filtered into that file. :)

I use a tablet and haven't yet found a junk file so I put them in the trash can!

They can get pretty low, Pam - a few days after the Boxing Day tsunami I got an email from a "survivor" asking for money tbecause they'd lost their entire family in the disaster.

And I've had several supposed to be from UK troops in Afghanistan (but using US spelling) who've come into a fortune but need to hide it in someone else's account. I generally write back, hoping that they'll run into a real UK soldier ...

I have so many filters on my spam folder - anthing addressed to "undisclosed recipients" goes straight in, as does anything containing "lottery", "viagra" and "meds"

The new one is to tell me that I've been elected to join the "business of the year" index, it'll only cost ££££££ to get my (non-existent) company listed

Usually, if I don't recognise who it's from, I open it with cuatioun - if it's got an attachemnt it goes straight into spam.

And I never click on links in emails unless I know who sent it - even if it's apparently from PayPal, for eg, I open my own link to the site and check what they want