FED up with nuisance phone calls? Then beware of a scam that nearly caught out a 90-year-old Redditch man.
Thomas Strong and wife Maisie are plagued with unsolicited phone calls.
At home most of the day, they pay no heed to the patter of most of them, until last week when one caller made their ears prick up.
“I answered the phone and this man with an American accent asked if we were fed up with all the nuisance calls,” said Thomas.
“I said yes, of course we are, and he said, in that case, help is at hand, and we can transfer you to our people who can put a stop to them for you.”
The former garage mechanic was put through to another operator.
“He asked me about the phone and then said, if I gave him my bank details he would put an end to the nuisance calls,” said Thomas.
“Well alarm bells started ringing then, and told him, ‘this isn’t right’ and said I only pay in cash, and he put the phone down on me.
“We nearly got caught it – you see these people they know we’re old, and what worries me is what if someone falls for their tricks – they could lose a lot of money.”
The couple have been receiving up to 100 nuisance calls a week, many from people claiming to work for medical companies offering help – in exchange for bank details.
“I put the phone down on most of them,” said Thomas.
“I’m old fashioned and pay in cash, but someone who pays by debit card could be caught out.”
People wanting to stop the bulk of unsolicited calls should contact the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
This is a free service where people can record their preference not to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls.
To contact TPS visit https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/
