In reply to a post by MHC:

Call centre owner has been arrested:

Typical, they have been shamed into doing something. I suspect the authorities over there turn a blind eye as it keeps people off the streets.

Here are the two videos which Panorama based their report.

Tim Browning scamming the scammers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le71yVPh4uk

Karl Rock recon in India https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFwt-_svg_0

I think more attention also needs to be given as to how easy it is for scammers to obtain UK phone numbers.

Absolutely, where do they get the UK numbers from and who is providing them, as there must be a link to their activities in the UK.

Edited by deleted (Wed 04-Mar-20 23:03:45)

In reply to a post by scopio:

Absolutely, where do they get the UK numbers from and who is providing them, as there must be a link to their activities in the UK.

They don't need to "get" any numbers. They use VOIP and enter whatever Caller ID they wish to display as part of the set up. To quote Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing),

"Some VoIP providers allow the user to configure their displayed number as part of the configuration page on the provider's web interface."

For providers that do not allow that facility, there is open source software available to do the same.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

In reply to a post by scopio:

Absolutely, where do they get the UK numbers from and who is providing them, as there must be a link to their activities in the UK.

They don't need to "get" any numbers. They use VOIP and enter whatever Caller ID they wish to display as part of the set up. To quote Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing),

"Some VoIP providers allow the user to configure their displayed number as part of the configuration page on the provider's web interface."

For providers that do not allow that facility, there is open source software available to do the same.

Some of them have offices in the uk

There will be plenty of legitimately purchased telephone directory CDs on the black market. Probably the full UK set already accessible online.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

They don't need to "get" any numbers. They use VOIP and enter whatever Caller ID they wish to display as part of the set up. To quote Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing),

I was referring to the scams which pop-up a deceptive message on the victims' screens scaring them into calling a UK number. Those numbers will obviously need to be obtained from somewhere.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

I was referring to the scams which pop-up a deceptive message on the victims' screens scaring them into calling a UK number. Those numbers will obviously need to be obtained from somewhere.

But that has nothing to do with the phone number. That is something placed on their computer. While either visiting a website or from a email.

Personally at the moment. I'm getting sick of the "Someone has spent £600 overseas" press one to talk. Thankfully never answer the home phone, it just all voicemail.

But if the numbers those adverts give to ring are UK numbers then they are renting them from somewhere.