Slough Borough Council’s trading standards team are warning residents to beware of premium rate competition phone call scams.
The Slough calls target both land lines and mobiles and start by a premium rate number calling people and only ringing once.
A message is left on the phone and when Slough people go to call it back, they are greeted with a pre-recorded message, saying along the lines of ‘you have won a prize, press 9 to continue.’
The call could last ten minutes and by the end of the call, a charge of £15 will be made to people’s phone bills, and no prize would have been won.
Slough Residents are urged that if they hear a message like this, to hang up immediately and report the number to Phone Pay Plus on 0800 500 212, regulators of phone pay services in the UK.
Premium rate phone numbers in the UK start with 0844, 0871 or 09 and can cost up to £1.50 per minute, even more if calling from a mobile phone. If you have a free calls package on your landline, you will still be charged.
There are also 070 numbers, which make people think the call is from a mobile when in fact, it isn’t.
These numbers are a personal forwarding service which diverts the number to anywhere (even abroad) and could cost callers a lot more than expected. These too may not be covered by call packages on landlines or mobiles.
Russell Clarke, technical enforcement officer for Slough Borough Council, said: “If residents have not entered any competitions, they need to ask themselves why they are getting calls saying they’ve won a prize. If they think they’ve received a call from a premium rate company, they should not call it back.
“If, however, the company is a reputable one, for example a bank or insurance company, they will call you back or leave a message.”
Commissioner for Slough community and leisure, Cllr Shafiq Chaudhry, added: “The council is committed to ensuring the well being of residents in the town and trading standards are doing a great job by making people aware of potential scams.
“If anyone receives a call like this, they should not call it back, no matter how tempting the competition sounds, and report the company. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”
Slough Borough Council
