Premium rate call scam -2!

[Pen Simon]

I have just viewed our latest One-Tel (Carphone Warehouse) bill.

It shows a call made to 08448006020 on 6th April 2008 @ 16:14:12hrs and the call duration was 32 seconds.

We made NO such call, but we have been charged £1.82 plus VAT for this call. This comes three days after receiving an unwanted marketing call that originated in the USA and that I commented on here:- Latest telephone scam!

No-one seems to want to admit that these scams exist but the phone company have offered a one off refund to be credited to next months bill.

However, they say that the only way to stop this, is to have premium rate call barring for which they charge you £1.50 + VAT per month for! - why should WE pay to not make calls, and also we may never get another call like this again - seems like the phone companies want to profit from this as much as the scammers!

[turbanator]

Originally Posted by Pen Simon

We made NO such call, but we have been charged £1.82 plus VAT for this call. This comes three days after receiving an unwanted marketing call that originated in the USA and that I commented on here:- Latest telephone scam!

Are you saying that you had to pay to RECEIVE a call?
How can this be?

Re: barring premium rate numbers, if this was an option offered by Virgin, it would have been pointless as their support line was premium rate - they've just stopped that little money spinner though.

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[steve6690]

That phone number appears to be a Packard-Bell customer support number....

08448006020 - Google Search

[Pen Simon]

Originally Posted by steve6690

That phone number appears to be a Packard-Bell customer support number....

08448006020 - Google Search

Well interestingly another search engine brings up a supposed site for "The Tech Guys" but if you go there, umpteen popups appear that can not be shut down without resorting to ctrl, alt, delete and shutting the browser down.....

[wilbo]

BBC's Watchdog might be interested in that one..

[steve6690]

I tried yahoo.com and get a link to "The Tech Guys" which brings up "sextube.com". I didn't have any problems closing the pop-ups down though. There's no visible link there to that phone number though so I wonder if this porn site has just put the number into its website code so their site shows up on searches for the number.

[steve6690]

http://support.thetechguys.com/

looks like the telephone number itself is genuine. On the home page click on "for a list of our contact telephone numbers..."

[chas49]

Yes - that number is a genuine Tech Guys number

if you need help with a product you've bought (from The TechGuys, PC World or Currys) call: 0844 800 60 20

(seen at this website: The TechGuys - Welcome to The TechGuys)

No popups or anything odd experienced when i went on this site either. So the pop-ups thing looks to a diffferent issue.

Do you (Simon) have a PC or other kit bought from PC World, Currys, or the Tech Guys?

What's also odd is that 0844 numbers should cost somewhere in the region of 2p to 5p per minute so I can't understand how the charge of £1.82 for 32 seconds can be right?? What does your tariff say the charge is to an 0844 number?