Scams via telephone, email 2026

[Vivienne14]

This is a new thread for this current year 2026

Grateful if you could keep posts when reporting scams etc to the basic facts so that other members can quickly access information about them. Hopefully by so doing, we can help prevent members falling into the many online and phone scams out there.

Thanks for your cooperation,

 

[Dionysius//88]

About 30 mins ago we had a call supposedly from Sky telephone number 03334439830 , they have your name and how long you've had your Sky account which has been leaked by someone within Sky . They offer to upgrade your Sky connection from wire to fibre and want to run through your Sky account details for security . If you check the number it will tell you it's knoown for Scams

 

[Mark Tooze]

Remember folks - every time you hear of a company's data being "hacked" this can be one of the results. Data is sold on the open market to scammers who operate scams like the one above. If in doubt tell them you will ring back and immediately hang up - you can find the correct contact numbers on any of your own personal documentation from the company concerned. If they try to pressure you into a deal that "has to end today, etc" it is almost certainly a scam - drop the call. If they tell you the world will end if you do not participate - drop the call. If the person at the other end of the phone has about 6 words of English in their vocabulary - drop the call. NEVER GIVE ANY BANK DETAILS unless you are 110% sure it is genuine!!!
2 golden rules - if it is too good to be true it almost certainly is, and there is no such thing as a "free lunch".
If you get persistent calls from the same number, particularly someone who "needs to speak to you urgently" remember it is easy to block individual numbers.
And - don't say too much to them either - they can record your voice and an AI engine can use it to create a conversation allegedly from you.