It was a missed call. So called it back and they claimed to be from BT but the messages was poor quality, which lead me to believe it was a scam call.

I don't know what call it was.

When I called useless BT about it , they did not know if it was one of the numbers they use. That is why I came on here and asked

Why don't you call the number and have a listen yourself.

08000285085 is a pukka # for a call from BT and when you call it back it says "This is BT. We tried to ring you but you didn't answer. We will call you again" on the assumption that you are ringing it because you saw it in your list of unanswered calls. Yes it is grainy, but I just assume that is the quality of the tape recording.

I had one list week when I was in discussion with Customer Service about a complaint query I had made with them and they wanted to discuss it..

This may be a genuine BT department number, but sometimes the dodgy so-and-so's will abuse this by spoofing their calls from Bangalore with the real number in your caller ID. If you then call the number back, you get a real BT department, but no further as they cannot route you to whoever called, even if a genuine call was made.

The scam company rely on this sort of thing to make their claim that they are calling from BT to be true. So they call once, leave a message/or not, you check the number, find it really is BT, then when that number appears in your display you think you're talking to a BT employee - but are you?

Yes, I have had this happen. How did I know it wasn't genuine, despite checking the 0800 number displayed - because they wanted to talk to me about and 'overdue amount' on my BT account, and I'm not with BT... the 0800 028 part rang alarm bells when I saw this thread.

The 'overseas' callers can spoof whatever number they want to appear in your display. The latest I had was what seemed to be a local number at first glance, the area code was OK but then I saw the number - it started with a zero, and you just don't get numbers like 01632 066021, they would be invalid without the dialling code.

That means I was straight on to the caller as a time waster, despite their protest that they were only conducting a survey.

In reply to a post by TMCR:

The scam company rely on this sort of thing to make their claim that they are calling from BT to be true. So they call once, leave a message/or not, you check the number, find it really is BT, then when that number appears in your display you think you're talking to a BT employee - but are you?

EDIT2: Actually I wouldn't remember that that # came from BT previously and would treat each call on its own (de)merit, with suspicion.

Well, obviously you find out what he wants to talk about and whether it is something you are currently involved in. In my case I was querying BT's Line Rental Saver. So unless he mentions LRS w/out my prompting I would not discuss anything further. The probability of a scammer knowing my current discussion with BT is minimal. Nor should you answer any security checks to an incoming call.
EDIT1: Indeed you should really perform security checks in reverse .

I also know that BT (or anyone else) will not phone you about billing matters w/out having written to you 1st.

I do not receive any marketing calls from BT cuz I have opted out of them on their website and I know that BT has adhered to that for years.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Thu 23-Aug-12 02:15:25)

In reply to a post by FRS_Plunderer:

not sure if serious :/

Not sure why you are not sure. This is the way we have operated for about 10 years.

Hi Everyone

I have just seen these posts and though I would clarify things. When we do call anyone the number that does appear is a 0800 number which is fixed to BT and one of those numbers is 08000285085 and would be the most common number to show on peoples caller display.

Regards David

In reply to a post by BT_Care:

Hi Everyone

I have just seen these posts and though I would clarify things. When we do call anyone the number that does appear is a 0800 number which is fixed to BT and one of those numbers is 08000285085 and would be the most common number to show on peoples caller display.

Regards David

Hi David,

Nice to get that clarification, but if what another poster said is true, that the number can be spoofed from overseas, the argument that poster put is quite dangerous.

The claim about spoofing puzzles me though. My caller display shows huge numbers of spam international calls, and I do not recall ever receiving an overseas/spam call with a valid UK number displayed.

I've no doubt that it is possible to spoof calling phone #s just as you can with sending email addys, esp. with the use of VOIP untethered #s.

It just confirms that with any incoming call you have to be on the alert and make sure by suitable interrogation that the caller is who they say they are. If all else fails, ring off and call the firm on a known # and find out if & why they just called you.

Doesn't work if you try to call BT back on 08000285085 though!

You just get a pre-scripted(crackly) message...

Obviously! http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/general/t/4150265-r...

A known contactable number, not the one of which you are suspicious! In the case of BT: 150 e.g.