Bogus Number

[Andreamay]

if you get a call on your mobile asking you from a 'technical engineer' to press hashkey90 or similiar DONT just end the call immediatly.They can access your sim card and make calls at your expense.

[Guest]

wow, thanks for sharing that- what a world we live in.

[Marion]

Thanks for the warning!

[Susan]

I rarely manage to locate my mobile in time to answer a call but thanks for the warning!!

[Inge]

thanks, must admit unless i know the number tend not to answer... only give it to people who are on contact list.

 

Inge

[hali]

thanks

[Running Bunny]

Thanks for that - it's so easy to fall prey to these things.

 

My husband has come up with a good trick for ignoring people on his mobile that he doesn't want to talk to - he finds the number when they last called, saves it to his phone book and for their name he simply puts 'don't answer'. That way he knows it is a nuisance call, like a rival phone company or his old university trying to find out how successful he has been since he left.... why do they always call at tea time?

[Beau]

Eeek! Can I just be a killjoy here! This is actually from a hoax email, so you can all relax. Taken from hoax-slayer.com

 

Commentary:

There have been a number of versions of this hoax.

 

These emails warn recipients that they may receive a call from a fraudster posing as a phone technician who will advise them to key in "Nine-Zero-Hash" or a similar sequence of numbers. According to the email, once you key in these numbers or similar, the fraudster has immediate access to your phone and can use it for making calls that will be billed to your account.

 

In late 2003, an Australian version of the hoax claimed to be a "police warning" and used the name and contact number of a real Victorian Police Officer. Although the officer did not send the email, he was inundated with calls and emails about the hoax. Australian telecommunications giant, Telstra, denounced the email as a hoax. An earlier US version claimed the supposed scam calls were coming from prisons. Yet another version of the hoax targets mobile phone users.

 

In rare cases, the information in the email can be true. Some business telephone switching equipment that has been configured in a certain way may be vulnerable to the scam. If a particular type of PABX phone system requires users to dial "9" to get an outside line then it is theoretically possible for a scammer to take control of the line. However, since the information is false for the vast majority of home phone users, and certainly for mobile phone users, the email can be dismissed as a pointless hoax and should not be forwarded.

 

I always check out these kinds of things before passing them on and most of them turn out to be hoaxes. There are a number of sites that list them - hoax-slayer is just one of them.

 

hoax-slayer.com

[Sue R]

You never cease to amaze me, Carol!

 

 

Sue

[Andreamay]

Thank you carol

however unfortunatly you have to pass these things on cos how do we know that?

I learnt it from another forum i post on(weightwatchers)