[Goosegirl]

Yesterday I got a call from my bank saying I'd just had two purchases from Amazon that morning (no) and to "press 1" to cancel them. Hmmm. Pressed 1 out of interest and, as soon as I heard a very strong Eastern accent, I put the phone down then dialled 1471 which gave me a number that started with our area code. Doing this also cancelled any chance of them remaining on the end of the phone. I called my bank via the number on the back of my bank card and reported it plus gave them the number I got from 1471. They said what I'd done was perfect and they added this number to their fraud log. It's bad enough to get these phone scams when you're reasonably savvy, but I so fear for some folks. I think that the phone number for Action Fraud is 579 which can be used for various circumstances.

[Hampshire Hog]

This explains why we need to ensure all towns have physical bank branches!
Both telephone banking and internet banking are not enough on their own.
Most of the current wave of frauds rely on the fact that customers can’t easily access their high street branch.

[wighty]

I keep getting automated messages 'from my bank' asking if I really meant  to spend £270 on my car this morning followed by another spend of £1,800 somewhere else.  I've apparently spent this amount of money four times now.  Seeing as I'm housebound, I don't think so somehow, just put the phone down and ignore it.

[Christine]

Having disconnected the land line phone from the phone line years back due to a continuing stream of such calls, I'm content to continue with the mobile phone.

If I don't recognise a number they can leave a message or if i'ts really "out of area" then it's ignored. I find it easy to suggest to the powers that be that a number is "spam" and calls are often disconnected and marked as spam. Calls sometimes go through to answer and don't leave a message.

[GraciesGran]

Its a never ending problem.  I only respond to phone numbers I recognise whether it's my mobile or the land line. If people are genuine they leave a message otherwise they get ignored.