Bills for my home phone - specialised number scam

Hi folks

The last two 3 month bills for my home phone have had a bunch of calls to 'specialised numbers' I did not make. I have been charged over £32 extra thanks to these weird calls and I know that nobody in the household has dialed them. I can't think what this might be. It's not premium numbers as I have had those barred by my provider. We have used discount dial in the past if this makes any difference, but could it? I really don't know what to do and have called Post Off [my provider[ and they say there is not a lot they can do, they can't ban specilised numbers and have only offered my to change my number.

Have you found out whose numbers they are? Before paying the bill I would certainly want to know who I am supposed to have called and whereabouts in the country/abroad they are. You may be able to find out whose it is by entering it into Google if you get no joy from your phone provider. I've done this myself a few times. Business numbers usually show up.


0870/0845 numbers are expensive but not premium rate and are often used for customer service departments and banks these days. Is it possible anyone may have dialled them without remembering perhaps? It's unusual to find numbers on your bill you really can't account for.


I've not heard of this, but I would closely check terms and conditions for hidden charges, you might well find that this service is the culprit.

Thanks for getting back to me Pam


One of the numbers seems to be a charity in Uganda, so I suspect it is some sort of scam already, but I can't work out how somebody is using my number to call another number. I know that nobody is doing this in the household.


No because I have looked at the bill and these numbers (there are about 4 or 5 of them and calls have been made to them a bunch of times). I can give you some of them. 08717541212, 08444537443, 08437130100, 08442009898, 08442009595, 08432162910, 08712460000, 08717544121. As you can see most of them start the same. It is either 087 or 084. The destination for all of them is specialised numbers and most of them have been called 7 or 8 times in the last 3 months. I think it is some kind of fraud. My lines is not crossed with anybody elses. I checked this.


The only reason I thought it might be discount dial is because somebody told me your number can be caught by someone else when you ring one number to put you through to another, but I'm not sure it is to do with them. This is the site for them by the way

discountdial.co.uk/rates.php
I used to use it to call Poland but not I am too scared to do it, in case it is linked with them somehow.

Yeah this whole thing is actually causing me a lot of distress. I am going to send a written letter to the Post Office [my phone provider] as I have already called the customer service team and they cannot do anything. They say they can't ban specialised numbers and all they have offered is for me to change my number, but I want to do that as a last resort, as it would complicate things a lot.

I found a link to a Ugandan charity too using the above number, BUT the number is just the access number, a further number within Uganda has to be dialled after it.


Yodel parcel delivery service.


I found a site listing complaints about this number. Messages given to users advertised calls to India at 1p per minute, but on receipt of the phone bills, 15p per minute was charged.


Ryanair.


I don't like the look of this site to be honest. I don't think it's something I would use. If you only use it to call Poland, I'm sure there must be a better alternative. Plus, in the FAQ section under overcharging, it says the rates which you are actually charged on your bill depend on the prices your service provider has configured on their billing system. So I would check what prices the Post Office are charging, presuming of course that some of these calls were made through discount dial. They also say that any disputes with your bill must be taken up with your service provider and not them.

I certainly wouldn't try and use it again until you have found out if this company is the culprit or you may end up with further charges.


I'm not sure what they can actually do in this situation but definitely worth a try. The numbers dialled are just the access numbers for the country required, a further home number for whoever you want to speak to has to be dialled after. I would want to know if they can tell you the location of the call to start with, but I really don't know how you could prove you didn't make the calls.

If you don't get a result from them, then I would contact Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator.
consumers.ofcom.org.uk/complain
Their phone number is 0845 456 3000.
Hope you manage to get it sorted out.

Okay thanks again for all of your help

Oh they can but since it is making them a ton of money why would they.
Here in the U.S.A. your provider can and will block area codes at your request.
In fact you can even buy a number blocker to hook up to your home phone. digitone.com
I don't know if this will help however I don't understand how your phone provider can FORCE you
to be responsible for something that you have no control over.
It's THEIR negligence, not yours.
To solve that problem here in the U.S. I would change my telephone provider while keeping my same phone number.
Also most telephone company customer service reps get evaluated on the amount of calls that they handle in a month.
They will blow you off with pat answers to get on to their next call.
That is why I ALWAYS ask for a supervisor, tell them that you are recording the call for better customer service and
then ask them for their first name and their company id. number.
You will be amazed how their manners to make you feel like a valued customer changes.
Stay persistant, write down times, dates, who you talked to, what they did to help you so you can prove in a court of
law that you did everything in your power to make a concerted effort to correct the problem.
This is your providers problem, not yours in which a honest court would find you not responsible for those tolls.
Once EVERYONE started doing this your provider would fix this money making scam for THEIR company.
Your telephone provider is VERY AWARE what is going on and it is making them a ton of revenue.
Good luck.