Amazon Prime scam call

I don't have Amazon Prime but so far today 3 automated calls telling me my renewal is due and to press 1 if I wish to cancel. I'd heard of the scam so I put the phone down and put the number in my blacklist on BT Call Protect. But all three calls have been from different numbers (2 looking like mobile numbers, the other showing as International but listed on Call Protect as another mobile).  Ruddy nuisance!

Unfortunately my friends mum had this Prime scam and hit the button to cancel. They kept her on the phone for ages on what I would imagine was premium phone charges.
Sadly, more than a ruddy nuisance in her case.

Same here - I get them in bursts. I'll usually get one every day for a week or so and then they will move on (or perhaps have been temporarily shut down).

I suspect that they are all initiated outside the UK (i.e. generated on an Internet-connected computer in India or similar, and "breaking out" onto the phone network somewhere in the UK) but I have no proof. Annoying, and pretty much impossible to stop, because as you say, the calling number changes on a regular basis...

Get CallGuard on your phone. It intercepts every number not on your approved list and to get through the caller has to say who they are. You then have the option to reject (or indeed accept) the call. Stops all dodgy calls, especially if automated.

I unplugged my home phone about 3 years ago as I realised that the only people calling it were cold callers, all my friends had already moved over to calling on the mobile due to the ‘unlimited call‘ contracts that are in abundance these days and I’ve surprisingly found having the mobile as my only phone not an issue at all.

Obviously I realise this doesn’t work for everyone including my parents so I bought them a BT nuisance call blocking phone about 2 years ago which just plugs into the phone socket.
I had my reservations because it was only about £35 but it stopped virtually all of the cold callers overnight.

Paulmold wrote:I don't have Amazon Prime but so far today 3 automated calls telling me my renewal is due and to press 1 if I wish to cancel. I'd heard of the scam so I put the phone down and put the number in my blacklist on BT Call Protect. But all three calls have been from different numbers (2 looking like mobile numbers, the other showing as International but listed on Call Protect as another mobile).  Ruddy nuisance!

Thanks Paul for the information. This week I accidentally agreed [I think] to have Amazon Prime when I purchased a few items from Amazon. Once I became aware I had agreed to a contract with Prime I immediately cancelled it, on-line. Later I received an email from Amazon affirming the cancellation. I suspect I might now have a few automated bogus calls claiming to be Amazon Prime, but with your warning I will definitely not press 1.

I had a different recorded call purporting to be from Amazon. I was told my card was being debited with £399 In respect of my recent order which would be despatched within 24 hours. If I didn’t place the order I should press button 1 now.....

I’d placed no such order, no mention was made of what the goods were and I hung up. Amazon just don’t do that.

I understand the scammers are after your bank details on the pretence of refunding money or they try to get remote access to your computer.

Yes, it’ll be something like that. They were out of luck.

I thought about it and remembered the number of times I’ve spotted my phone number on the address label of a parcel so the carrier could make contact if needed. I see that as a weak link.

I'm pretty sure that they have no inside knowledge - they just call whole numbering ranges at random. The calls cost nothing internationally (because they just tunnel them through the internet) with just the breakout onto the phone network here in the UK - which they probably don't pay for anyway in the end.

As you say, mine are all computer-generated (Amazaaan Prime) and are a mix of telling me my non-existent Amazon account is about to be suspended, or confirming the shipping of a non-existent purchase on my non-existent account. As with most other phone scams, the majority of calls are wasted but they don't care, as each call costs them (almost) nothing, once the computer scripts have been set up.

Hi,
We get them quite regularly, I don't have prime either, how can you press one when it's a message on your answerphone? lol
Pete

Dbvwt wrote:Unfortunately my friends mum had this Prime scam and hit the button to cancel. They kept her on the phone for ages on what I would imagine was premium phone charges.
Sadly, more than a ruddy nuisance in her case.

Absolutely no chance that it was a "premium phone charge".  It was clearly an incoming call and you cannot be charged for that.

Blimey, I posted that in August last year Steve! Good news, you are correct, she didn’t get charged 

Our latest scam today was a call from a Newcastle number which my wife answered. The caller said he was from Openreach at which point she said - hold on, I'll get my husband. I said hello whereupon the caller hung up. I was able to return the call - to be greeted with "The number you have dialled is not recognised .....  The caller actually had a Northern accent, from what I could hear.
We get lots of Amazon Prime calls  Today my wife also had.a call on her mobile warning her of impending legal action and a court summons. Press 1 for further information ..... !