Not to be outdone by their online counterpratts, scamming scum are also at it over the phone knowing that the majority of us are confined to the house. House phone rang just after nine and it was a recorded voice of some burd claiming to be calling from a company called Oriel and 'despite numerous efforts, they have been unable contact us.'
The request then came to ring them quoting a reference that was then read out by a computer generated voice.
A few careful considerations led me to conclude that it's likely to be a scam call:
1. The caller didn't ask for us by name;
2. Numerous attempts, my arse. First call and no written correspondence.
3. They've called our home number which has only been up and running for a month.
4. We have no debts apart from the mortgage, which is paid by direct debit.
Having done a bit of research, they are apparently a legit debt collector. However, their modus operandi raises more questions to me than it answers. When a human actually calls instead of a recorded message, they ask questions like 'who am I speaking to'. To my simple mind, if the call was remotely genuine, on answering the phone Oriel should be 'can I ' or 'am I speaking with Mr N. Nuts' or something. The 'who am I speaking to' approach seems to me to be an information gathering ploy so that they can do a bit of research and call back at a later date better armed.
Anyhoo, if your phone rings and you don't recognise the number, be on your guard and don't give any information away. Some people answer their phone by giving out their number or name; please don't. If the caller asks who they're speaking with, respond by asking them who they're looking for. A genuine caller won't have any problems giving you a name and what the matter is relating to.
The request then came to ring them quoting a reference that was then read out by a computer generated voice.
A few careful considerations led me to conclude that it's likely to be a scam call:
1. The caller didn't ask for us by name;
2. Numerous attempts, my arse. First call and no written correspondence.
3. They've called our home number which has only been up and running for a month.
4. We have no debts apart from the mortgage, which is paid by direct debit.
Having done a bit of research, they are apparently a legit debt collector. However, their modus operandi raises more questions to me than it answers. When a human actually calls instead of a recorded message, they ask questions like 'who am I speaking to'. To my simple mind, if the call was remotely genuine, on answering the phone Oriel should be 'can I ' or 'am I speaking with Mr N. Nuts' or something. The 'who am I speaking to' approach seems to me to be an information gathering ploy so that they can do a bit of research and call back at a later date better armed.
Anyhoo, if your phone rings and you don't recognise the number, be on your guard and don't give any information away. Some people answer their phone by giving out their number or name; please don't. If the caller asks who they're speaking with, respond by asking them who they're looking for. A genuine caller won't have any problems giving you a name and what the matter is relating to.
