Responses to post on ‘Quick Resolve’
I was presently surprised when my post on the scammers “Quick Resolve”, received a lot traffic in the comments. Here they are pasted from the original post along with any replies of mine if relevant. They all show the original posting dates.
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40 responses to “Quick Resolve”
Ivan Berti
March 4, 2011
I have just received a call from these people. As you say their call and their website are extremely plausible, but I gave them no personal or financial information, and rang off saying I would bookmark and investigate their services. As a result of reading this post, I’m pleased I took it no further.
Of course, there is a possibility that you are posing as a friend of scamees in order to ingratiate yourself with people such as myself, and maybe perpertrate your own scam! It’s all very Kafkaesque!
Ivan
HannahApril 8, 2011
My Dad has just been caught out by this scam and I’m trying to clear up any damage they would’ve left on the computer. Could you point me in the right direction?
Thanks
Hannah
computer repair retford
April 8, 2011
Yes you are about spot on with this information. I have just returned from a visit to someone relieved of 130 pounds… although the invoice emailed was for just short of 150 euros. The invoice address was indeed a company in India. No idea why the conversion to euros was necessary?? Payee was Maxsurge Technologies PVT LTD, with payment taken through gogopay.com
In addition to the programs you mentioned above I notice the free version of malware antibytes was also installed.
Best Regards,
Shane
computer repair retford
April 8, 2011
Hi Denis,
Further to my last just thought of another thing… they cleared the event logs too. I guess this is to make it harder to detect what exactly had been done.
According to their terms and conditions they allow the service to be cancelled within 5 days of *purchase* and claim to process the refund within 14 days. In the case of the person I went out to I have passed the information on how they should go about this.
Best Regards,
Shane
Denis
April 9, 2011
Shane,
I didn’t notice Anti-malwarebytes on this installation but I did use the similar sounding Malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/ to scan the system both before and after the system restore. I didn’t look at the event log.
Thanks for your coments
Denis
April 9, 2011
Hannah,
Basically they installed the items mentioned in the main blog. But also note Shane’s comments, they may interfere in different ways. Try Malwarebytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/ ) use add/remove programs to clear any thing installed recently. Also do a ‘system restore’ as I did. Then scan again.
The main problem is what personal data they may have copied, with the aim of identity theft.Finally zattedis
Nigel
April 21, 2011
This scam called here twice and the second time someone was pulled in. He ended up giving away his debit account information and handed over the Ip address, enabling them to have full control over computer. As soon as he got off the phone we told him it was most definitely a scam; no business calls you and ask for your information. So I called microsoft and had a real agent guide me through getting rid of whatever it is was that this “Quick Resolve” company had done. The agent suggested that I install Autoruns.exe to manually remove viruses. Anything that looked unfamiliar or had no publisher/description was most likely a virus. I proceeded by deleting this processes via the autorun program.
My question is, would these people be able to access the computer again.
Would they not still have the info. they needed to get on the pc and redo the damage. Get back to me.
Eve
May 9, 2011
Was called today and told I had many error reports and led me to see that many error reports were in fact on my computer.
he was very repetitive and had an Indian accent. he kept pushing me to buy the software saying that my computer was old and would crash soon. Used this scare tactic that then alerted me to the possibility that thi swas a scam.
Denis
May 10, 2011
It is sad to see that these people are still doing their worst to part people from their money. (I have been busy lately and haven’t been keep this blog up to date -sorry)
In response ro Nigel’s question – it is probably not likely. They will have asked to visit a website and download a piece of software which gave them access. If (by selecting them in Autoruns.exe) you have prevented all ‘foreign’ and unknown programes from starting automatically, then it is probably unlikely. They have got what they wanted money and someones bank details.
Charles Arthur
May 12, 2011
Hi – I’m technology or on The Guardian, and wrote about this Windows support scam in July 2010.
In general these people aren’t after bank details. They do well enough out of the money they get from people. Going into stealing bank details directly is a step too far for them – for which be thankful. The remote access isn’t in itself harmful.
Since then I’ve learnt that they will also try to “sell” you Windows upgrades: the licence key is invalid. (If you were sold one, please forward it to me – charles.arthur@guardian.co.uk : I can get Microsoft to tell me where it was issued.) They also do the same with Kaspersky antivirus. Again, send me the licence key and I can find out who was sold it and follow the money trail to the criminals.
Please tell friends about this – for once it’s a real warning – so that they don’t fall for it, and note also that they try to get you to pay with your debit card because you can’t charge it back. ALWAYS pay on your cr card – those you can reverse, and it hurts them where it matters.
Get in touch if you’ve been affected. I’m still investigating this story.
Wendy Heyes
May 12, 2011
This is all fantastic information, thank you, Denis. In response to the comment posted in March, I feel I must categorically support Denis and the good public service he is doing here, as well as running a great company. I am a member of the same BNI chapter based in Lymm, and network with Denis EVERY THURSDAY. He is without question genuine and offers a service that most small business need. Wendy
Mike
May 26, 2011
I received a call from an Indian chap today. Told me that there were many examples in my postcode of malicious undetected files on pc,s Even I thought that a bit far fetched. Tried to get him to tell me if he was just a repair company or linked to Microsoft. He did confirm not linked but as I was a registered user of windows? they had a duty to assist. At that point I really smelt a rat. Basically I told him that no way was he having acces to my pc and that he should not have been cold calling me anyway. Asked him for their website and told him I would ring him if I wanted them to help. If he rings again I will happily tell him to take a running jump.
Helen
May 30, 2011
Thank you for the heads up! I just received a call from this Quick Resolve company telling me that I might have some malicious stuff on my PC and asked me to take a look at the event viewer. They claimed that since my event viewer shows some warnings then I need to talk to a “Microsoft Certified Technician” to help me fix my commputer. From the beginning, the whole conversation is too fishy, for one, these callers have heavy Indian accent and obviously reading some some sort of script; but rather than just hang-up, I want to know what these guys are really up to. In the end, the “technician” wants me to go to the Quick Resolve website and request to hook up with my PC so he can help me clean my PC. As he was telling me to go to their website, instead I googled it and saw this post that they are scam. That confirms my suspicion and I immediately asked the guy whether he is an employee of Microsoft and whether he is going to “fix” my PC for FREE. The guy starts to get upset and demands me to tell him what I typed in the address bar. I said to him I typed in Quick Resolve just as being told. He didn’t believe me. Of course he didn’t because I also told him what comes up on my screen – Quick Resolve is a phone scam. So I asked the guy, are you guys a phone scam? Boy, was he mad! And accusing me for calling him a scam! (That actually gives me quite a satisfaction though) I proceed to say that I need to terminate this phone call so I can call Microsoft to verify this whole thing of “being a privileged registered user of WIndows” and that Microsoft would be so thoughtful to phone all their customers up to offer clean up solutions, eh?! Well, guess what the “gentleman’s” response was? He said “I didn’t say I’m calling from Microsoft”. BINGO! I thanked the guy for admitting false advertising “That’s all I needed to know” And then the guy hung up on me!! How interesting that was.
I’m going to tell all the people this so they would be careful. Thanks for the thread!!
With gratitude from Canada
Denis
May 31, 2011
Thanks Helen,
I didn’t know that these guys were targeting people outside of the UK. But, of course, it is the World Wide Web, boundaries are almost meaningless.
On checking I notice that they have updated their website to add Australian and Canadian phone numbers, whilst dropping the Indian phone and address.
david
June 16, 2011
just received an urgent call from these people. nice to know that i had one of the most ‘infected’ computers. i thanked them for showing me the event viewer and hung up.
nice to know i did the right thing. they certainly sound credible although their interpretation of the errors and warnings did not make sense.
Angie
June 22, 2011
I received a call today! Again was suspicious as call number withheld to start with. He was reading from a script with a very strong Indian accent not giving me any confidence. When I questioned him he said to call him back on a Manchester number dictating it without the 0. When I questioned that he said it doesn’t need a 0 at the beginning. mmmm alarm bells ringing!! Then he gave his name as Jack I really was suspicious. He told me I had to call back within the hour for the offer! He called me back 30 mins later & told him I had looked him up on Google & it was a scam so I wasn’t interested said goodbye & hung up!
Nick
July 9, 2011
I just had a conversation similar to those above. The guy led me to the events viewer where, indeed, I have dozens of errors. I didn’t like the sound of what he was saying so terminated the conversation. However, my question concerns his insistance that I didn’t click on any of these errors as this would corrupt my computer. Is this the case, or did he say this to stop me from clearing the errors myself, so not needing to use his services? Can anybody advise me on this?
Denis
July 11, 2011
Nick,
The evnt viewer is merely a log of things that are happening within your Windows system. It provides information about normal events (such and such a program was started), as well as warnings and errors. An error is telling you that something is not configured properly in your Windows system, or a conflict between two pieces of software. Clicking on the error will tell a techie more about it, and give them some idea about it and what might need to be done to correct it.
Clearing an error is not going to cure it. It is akin to turning off the fire alarm without checking if anything is burning.
On the othe hand, most excursions into the Event Viewer will presnt a small crop of errors, and if one is managing to work normally, one can ignore them. The reals purpose of it is analyse things when one is experiencing problems.
Paul Murray
July 15, 2011
I also know Denis from my (infrequent) visits to BNI Lymm and could have been a victim of this scam today – only for a bit of diligence and some preparation. The first call was from a gentleman explaining that he was calling from the ‘Help & Support Centre for Windows Operating System’. I pretended that I was slightly deaf asking him to spell things out so that I could write them down but his very thick Indian accent was difficult to understand anyway – although he did tell me that his name was ‘Andrew Smith’ [Yeah, right!!]. He confirmed that he was calling from ‘Quick Resolve’ in Manchester and that I could call him back on 0161 381 0003. When I asked him which part of Manchester he was in, he simply said that it was ‘Manchester, England’ and would I please switch my computer on so that we could check together whether my computer had been infected by ‘many malicious junk’! I explained that I could not do so right away so he agreed to call me back at 4.00pm [ thus giving me the opportunity to check them out and discover this blog – forearmed is forewarned!!].
The interesting bit is when he phoned back – and I played along with everything until the bit when he asked me to open up Internet Explorer and type in a website address ( having checked ‘eventvwr’ in Run first and showing me almost 3,000 files listed in there which are all ‘malicious’ and ‘if you click on them they will multiply and spread right across your computer and break your computer’). At his request to open up Internet, I told him that I was not prepared to do so as I believed that this was a scam and his intention was to place malicious software onto my computer and then charge me money to remove or fix it. He got more and more angry especially when I said ‘Your name is NOT Andrew Smith is it ? You are not calling from Manchester are you? You are in India! This is a scam isn’t it! You are a liar!’ Eventually he hung up after telling me to ‘**** off’.
The best bit then followed – my phone rang almost immediately and was answered by my wife and a ‘Nick Perkins’ – again with a heavy Indian accent – explained that he was the Managing Director of Quick Resolve and he wanted to speak with Mr Murray who had been abusive to his staff and had spoken with them using ‘sh*t languages’. He said that the call was being recorded and that Mr Murray should call him back straight away on 0161 381 8833 as he was ‘in big trouble’ and they had evidence that Mr Murray was nasty to his agents. When I was handed the phone, I politely told him that I had not been abusive and had certainly not sworn on the telephone. He assured me that it was being recorded and that it was being given to the FBI who would make sure that I got into ‘real big trouble’.
I am not sure how I kept from bursting into laughter but I did manage to tell him that I was entirely happy with the call being recorded and was looking forward to a visit from the FBI! He was completely flummoxed and hung up! When he calls back again – I will tell him that if he tells the FBI, I will tell the CIA….and then the SAS…..and then the KGB!!!! The sad thing is that they must be getting plenty of victims as they are obviously continuing to call lots of ‘less savvy’ people!! Surely something can be done to stop it!!
Denis
July 15, 2011
Paul,
Thanks for that and good to hear from you.
With regard to your final line “Surely something can be done to stop it” I wonder what can. I am a ‘techie’ not a legal expert. Is the crime being committed in the UK or in India? Even if a crime is be perpetrated, could we extradite ‘Andrew Smith’ or ‘Nick Perkins’? They are almost certainly not real people.
The other approach, as I suggested above, would be to ‘follow the money trail’ … I was a fan of “The Wire”… and attempt to apprehend the people who profit from this scam. But again in what jurisdiction did a crime occur? Until we have supra-national law enforcement agencies and courts, I suspect that little can be done. See ‘The Wild West’
It is time that the major governments of the world woke up to the fact that the environment has changed; people conduct business over the World Wide Web regardless of national boundaries; and are happy to surrender some sovereignty for the greater good.
Meanwhile I wil raise the matter with Cheshire Constabulary (fraud squad) next week and see if they are able to do anything, or if anyone is already on to it. This post and associated comments are proof that crime is being attempted
Ian M Cooke
July 21, 2011
Just had a similar experience with a Mady Foster of ‘Windows Maintenance Department’. Gave two contact phone numbers (which I haven’t bothered trying out) – 020 70 999 847 and 020 70 999 848. Indian accented chap who soon handed me on to his manger called Marcus (also Indian accented). Marcus tried to tell me how electrial items have warranties and once elapsed require renewing but software warranties just elapse. I said that, as I take automatic updates from Microsoft for my Windows system, I guess I was maintaining warranty as the warranty must apply to the updates as it had to the original operating system. I asked if he was employed by Microsoft and he responded that he was a ‘Certified Windows Engineer’ and that he worked for Windows. I said that I didn’t know that Microsoft had sold off Windows to a separate company and he responded that Mirosoft make computers and hardware and that Windows was separate software. I then disclosed to him that my job at retirement had been Head of IT Security for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and that no, he had it wrong, Microsoft make software and operating systems not the hardware of computers and that if he cared to go to Microsoft’s web site he would see that there is a statement of what data is collected when error reports are generated and that it does not include the identity of my computer and if, inadvertantly Microsoft do collect private information they have a privacy statement which precludes sharing such data with third parties so how did he know that I was getting error reports? He got very irrate and said I didn’t know what I was talking about and was I going to let him attach to my computer and show me what was wrong or not. So, after having kept them busy on the phone for 20 minutes booting my computer, waiting for all my virus checks etc. to conclude and then looking at the ‘My Computer’ management screen and feigning misunderstanding of what they waned me to look at,I said NO and terminated the call with a polite goodbye!!!!
Linda Stubbs
August 16, 2011
I have just had a similar call from a man with heavy Indian accent saying that serious and very dangerous viruses were affecting computers in my area. I couldn’t see how that would happen but went along with him to see what he was after. I went into the ‘event viewer’ as requested, he asked if I had eight or more red or yellow danger signs, I was a bit concerned as I had dozens of them. He insisted that whatever I did, I must not go near them as terrible things would happen to my computer.
He asked me to open Internet Explorer, directed me to the Quick Resolve website which seemed ok. He then asked for access to my computer so his manager could assess the damage and tell me the best way to resolve the problems. Stupidly I went along at first, It then became clear that they would want to be paid for this. I panicked, said someone was knocking at my door and would he wait while I answered it. This gave me time to go into Firefox, google Quick Resolve which confirmed it was a scam. During this time he was speaking to someone in his own language. I closed everything down then told him I had to go as there was an emergency I had to attend to.
All along I was saying that I was unsure about who I was speaking to and that he could be anybody, he kept reassuring me that the team worked alongside Microsoft and he was phoning because the problem was very serious. Next time I will just say no!
Becki
October 1, 2011
We have just had a phone call from a company called quick pc help my partner unfortunately fell for there scam, they told him we had virus’s and that all our details were on show they asked for remote access which my partner did he then got asked for a payment which fortunately wevhad no money in our account so even tho he gave them our details they couldn’t take no money but they said they would set up a direct debit ,after telling me what happen and a few sharp words we were straight on to the bank and they are setting up an I’d aware so they can try and stop anything from happening,we also got on to our Internet provider as the quick pc help told my partner they were in conjunction with them…more lies,,after this the phone rang and it was the same Indian man telling my partner he had already deleted 100s if corrupt files the cheek of him to phone back..needless to say I do not let my partner answer the phone from now on :)..if anyone has any advice on how to clean my computer it would be much appreciated many thanks Becky x
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Windows Service Centre
October 4, 2011
[…] Asian accent. This was not their first call to me and I that they were an outfit similar to “Quick Resolve”. I allowed the conversation to continue and pretended to be […]
David
November 20, 2011
Also got conned by QuickPCHelp, thankfully was able to cancel cr card before any money was taken.
They are very convincing, telling me that my computer was running slow (it was and has been for a few weeks), McAfee was not compatible with my laptop and could not resolve or remove all of the problems, they were approved by government to sort problems with broadband etc…
They gave me a contact number so I could phone them back 0208 819 3989 (Jennifer Thompson staff ID EX037)which I did phone back and got through to her, she then asked me to end the call and phoned me back.
The conversation with their ‘engineer’ went on for half an hour, sounding very plausible, before they dropped the £199 for 9 years protection!!!! and I would never need to upgrade my antivirus software again.
Once they had finished my computer was faster for 10 minutes then slowed again, I called them back unsuccessfully, the number rang out for a few minutes then went dead. That is when I contacted my cr card company and stopped the payment, luckily it was a Saturday and they had not claimed any money.
Peter Wylie
November 28, 2011
I too got scammed by getting caught while in a hurry and them sounding plausible. I then found this blog and talked to my Cr Card company- The Cooperative Bank- who were incredibly helpful in advising what to do. I followed their advice and notified quickresolve twice by mail that I wanted to stop the transaction and once by phone. As I had cancelled the payment within the specified period, if quickresolve didn’t respond the Bank were going to pursue it. But within 6 days the money had been refunded. So quick action can sometimes get your money back.
I then had ‘Geeks on wheels’ our local IT experts come and have a look at the machine to see if any hooks had been left in- which there hadn’t- and they did a health check and anti virus upgrade as well.
Peter Wylie
Helen
December 5, 2011
Have just had an Asian bloke, named “Andrew” saying the same thing as listed above. Saying they are certified with Microsoft certainly sounds plausible, but these guys have used a variety of fraudulent identities. Had one claiming to be from BT offering to stop overseas fraud ….the cheek of it ! All for a price of course. I’ve had so many of these that now, anyone with an Asian voice, being it Indian/Pakistani is almost certainly suspicious, and it’s laughable when they use an anglicised name like Andrew Jones…..are we really that stupid? Tell them to take a running jump!
Denis
December 21, 2011
I always find when I get calls out of the blue – despite being on the Telephone Preference Service – from anyone English, American or Asian is to ask them some questions, like ‘What is you business address’. After all they start asking for personal data from the outset. Either they suddenly hang up, or if they are a genuine UK company I mention the TPS and they appologise and then hang up.
anne moule
December 5, 2011
I am a quick resolve victim who has had their money taken and not repaid into the Bank as promised. My computer has been left completely empty meaning I cannot use it at all.
What do I do, I feel trapped
Denis
December 21, 2011
Contact your local computer support people. They may get Windows re-instaled, although your data will be lost
k moore
December 13, 2011
i have just had over an hour long conversation with an Indian sounding man, who passed me onto various people stating that i had serious errors and viruses on my computer , i stupidly went along with it questioning him all the way as to how they knew their were viruses etc, he then connected me to a technical support ‘Neil Harris’ who gained access to my computer and started doing things to ‘fix’ it , I asked about why would anyone do this for free , they then started telling me about ‘one off payments and plans i could go with i said no i was not going to pay for this and he got very funny and was quite threatening ,I asked them to shut down whatever they were doing and they did , i did not give my bank details but they did have my name, email and phone number access to my computer for half an hour …..do you think they would have been able to obtain any information remotely ?? i am now worried that i have been hacked and daren’t open any files such as my bank or facebook…please help does anyone know what i should do?? many thanks
Denis
December 21, 2011
I am afraid that I haven’t been checking my comments recently and have only just seen this.
You would do best to have your PC completely checked by a reputable local support person (get refreneces etc.) He should be able to tell if they have planted any malicious software on it.
However, the real damage may already have occured in that they may have copied information fom it.
Judy Scott
January 6, 2012
Just had a cal from the same Indian chap. Told him to call back later and had my daughter with me. She asked him some questions regarding his location and a telephone number along with some questions to identify his location to which he became unnerved and hung up.
So glad she was here and has a knowledge of call centers or I would have fallen victim to this terrible scam as well!
Shouldn’t the police be called? Isn’t this fraud??
Denis
January 6, 2012
You are quite right Judy, it is fraud. But the perpetrators are outside of UK jurisdiction, so the actions our police can take is limited. There is uncertainty as to where the crime occurred (In the UK or India); they could issue an international arrest warrant …. if only we had a name!
The banks could do more by blocking some accounts
It will be years before our legal system and International law catch up with the World Wide Web. The web doesn’t recognise any boundaries, but national governments jealously guard their independence and sovereignty.
‘Action Fraud’ (see update section in main post), will allow you to make an online report, but will only be able to provide a small amount of the information they seek.
Your daughter did the right thing – asking questions scares them off.
M burton
January 8, 2012
Hi
I’ve just had a very distressed call from my pensioner mum who has been the victim of this fraud. They said they were calling from BT and that they were aware that people in her vicinity had a slow connection. He then persuaded her to log on (even asked if the light was flashing on her modem) and pointed her to the Quick Resolve website. The caller was Indian and his name was Shaun Williams. He also gave her a London and an 0113 contact number. Mentioned BT, AVG and windows many times in reference to where he was calling from. He then accessed her PC remotely mentioned the words crash, virus and lots of other scary words before relieving her of £144 on her debit cards. My mum said she felt violated after receiving this call – my dad has dementia and she has had several nights of disturbed sleep. I’ve contacted all her banks which have not been accessed to change passcodes etc. I’m quite angry that my mum has been put through this distress and will contact the police tomorrow. If anyone knows what else I can do to prevent it happening to anyone else please let me know.
Alison
January 19, 2012
Just had the same call, for the 3rd time – have told them every time that i am not interested. Indian man said his name was Harry, and that i should look the company up on the internet, they were very reputible etc..This is a scam, and i want to know where the hell they got my information from!! Now i will just tell them that i don’t have a PC, there is no way they can know…
Maggie
January 29, 2012
I was scammed out of about £132 last week by this same company. They woke me up, telling me they were from Microsoft and that they had discovered that I had some serious threats to my computer. They led me through the process to see all the ERROR messages and told me their technician would fix it. They talked me through giving remote access….. I didn’t really understand what I was doing. It was only well after an hour that they told nme I had to pay them. I was worried about what they would do to my computer if I didn’t agree and they kept telling me I had to buy whatever it was they were putting on to be allowed to use Windows (“If you drive a car you have to pay for car tax don’t you”). I don’t know how I was stupid enough to believe them, but they wore me down. When they had finished my computer didn’t even work properly and I couldn’t connect to the internet at all. A very nice man from the real Microsoft spent over 3 hours on the phone with me sorting it out. He said they were nothing to do with Microsoft. I had the free programmes installed on my computer too, though have now uninstalled them. Went to an earlier restore date and changed all my passwords. Hope that is all okay now. When Quick Response rang me “to see if everything was okay” I cancelled any arrangement I’d made with them and then confirmed it in an e-mail. I have had an e-mail back to say they will give me a full refund within 21 days, but I won’t hold my breath! I contacted my bank to try to cancel the payment, but they said they had to wait until the payment showed up on the statement before they could try to get the money back. Don’t know why and to date they have done nothing. A very expensive lesson to learn!!
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Marfie
February 11, 2012
I have had 2 similar calls now. The last one being today – from Edward of Quick Resolve. I was aware of the nature of the call (I work in IT and read about such things) During the first call I asked who his manager was so I could report him for wasting time. He wondered why I laughed when he said “Barack Obama” (he had previously tried to convince me he was from some US government organisation). On the second call he rather rudely hung up on me when I told him he was lying.
Quick Resolve. Another attempt at a scam | The Marfell Blog
February 11, 2012
[…] the call I Googled “Quick Resolve” and came across this Coras blog page, this saves me the bother of going into more detail about how the conversation could have gone […]
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Denis
February 12, 2012
I have been busy with clients and then abroad, so sorry for the slow delay in replying to some people….
From the comments that come in to this post on a fairly regular basis, these guys are still out there lifting the money from honest vulnerable people. I get calls myself about every fortnight – they usually use a variety of business names. I might tell them to get lost right away, or challenge them. On one occasion when I asked where did they get my phone and how they could associate that with my IP address? The guy got very angry and what gave me the right has I to ask him that? (a similar experience to Marfie above) On another occasion when I deliberately pretended to be dumb and strung them along for some 10 minutes, before revealing my knowledge, he accused me of ‘wasting his time’. Well he was right there – that had been my intention, less time for him to cyber-mug elderly ladies.
The comment from M. Burton whose mum was conned is especially distressing. I am afraid that there is little that we can do to prevent this, until as I mentioned earlier, national governments are prepared to shed some of their precious sovereignty and we get some international law enforcement. Also the banks could block the accounts that these funds are siphoned towards – “and why don’t they?” I hear you scream. I don’t know either. Ultimately it is down to us to be vigilant. Should a stranger phones you up; be immediately suspicious, and if they begin by asking for personal information right away; ask them about their bono fides? Like where their head office is and where they are based. Don’t take his word for it; get him to prove it to you – that generally scares them off.
The problem is a lack of public awareness – whatever happened to the public information films of yesteryear which told us how to protect our cars and home from theft? We need a set producing for the internet generation.
Finally
Maggie, I hope that you did get your refund – let us all know