Road Safety GB is urging road safety officers to be on their guard against a publicity scam in which the caller asks for payment of a bogus invoice.
The scam comes in the form of a phone call in which the caller starts by thanking you for helping them out with their latest campaign, and offering a deal on the next one. The caller also apologises for not calling you back and talks as if they have worked with you for some time, a tactic designed to throw you off guard and dupe you into believing that you have dealt with them before. They then ask you to pay the invoice (which you can’t find because you never received it) so they offer to send you a copy of the invoice and ask you to pay it.
The caller will probably have a north west (Manchester) accent and if you ask for a phone number it will be a mobile. If you call them back you will find that the number is non-existent and if they give you a name and address they will be fictitious. And if you really quiz them, they might even get abusive and threatening.
Road safety officers are advised to be careful because these people are very slick.
I just received a call from no Caller ID thanking me for supporting the campaign, ask where to send the box with the equipment and if I would also like a review on social media. Then asked if I would like the invoice to be sent to my address (and read out my address). They insisted I agreed to it last year. When I said I would never do such a thing over the phone, the lady said she would send me a recording of that conversation. I’m wondering if they can create one using AI and the current phone call?
Agnieszka, London
0
Still doing this in August 2023
Telephone number 020 8050 9358
Lady with a Manchester accent
She tried to apologise for not coming back to me sooner after we allegedly spoke last month. she then claimed I had given her the go ahead to sponsor anti-bullying and road safety campaign and the magazine has now been printed. Pretty low to use kids campaign to extort money out of businesses and not use it for the real cause.
Peter Horner, ORMSKIRK
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Still doing this March 2023. Tel 0333 3393691
Asking me to continuing sponsoring for £299 pffttt
My indignant response would result in me dealt with by the Queries team.
Andrew Gallagher, Durham
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Just had a call from 01925500149. Female caller wanting to send an invoice for road safety campaign for schools that we spoke about last year. I said I could not remember this. She said she would send a recording of a previous conversation then hung up.
Philip Scott-Townsend
+2
Just had a call from these people 01439631372 about my company assisting them with their road safety magazine campaign. I didn’t. Female would not identify who her employer was exactly and then threatened to pass this over to a debt collection agency. Don’t be scared by this. Debt Collectors can only act on a Court Order! I hope they do go further, my phone is on the register for ‘no sales calls’ and part of the requirement is that employers are fully identified on telephone sales. £100,000 max fine for companies not complying.
Ian Cutter
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Just received a call (Jan 2013) like this asking for £189. I asked to see paperwork but apparently as it was a telephone campaign there was none. So I asked to hear the voice recording of myself agreeing to the amount and the woman said she would go and find it and then phone me back. Nobody has called yet…
CC
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Be aware of another trick they have. You get a call from the TPS (Telephone Preference Service) to say they have been monitoring call activity and understand you have been receiving lots of calls from a particular company. You tell them everything about it. They say they can stop the calls…but you will have to pay the outstanding invoice first! When I queried the validity of the call the chap got very abusive and the actually threatened to come around to the office and punch me in the face! Lovely people.
Alan Kennedy – Chairman RSGB
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There is nothing new in this scam, its been in existence for decades. I would have a couple every year when I was in shop business in the 90s.
They sometimes ring u re: say, an advertising matter some months before and then u end up with a bill or a phone call suggesting that u have agreed to it. Backed up by the previous communication, and they want payment.
I usually gave them a false name as a reference so when they mention this name I can tell it’s false.
bob craven Lancs
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Receieved one of these calls and I told him to e-mail all the info to me to read as I never pay on the spot over the phone. Surprise surprise he got loud and abusive so I just put the phone down. Never ever make a payment over the phone to anyone you do not know 100%.
Martin West Sussex
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