If the below is true, does this mean we live in a society where we can't
even trust someone to use our telephone?? The bit about not comitting an
offence is rubbish, thats why I'm never sure if these things are true or
just urban myths.

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Below are details of a scam, which unsuspecting people are currently being
duped by. The reason it works so well, is that it plays on your good will!
The police have requested that as many people are alerted as possible.

Picture the scene :-

You are at home and there is a knock at the door. On answering it you are
confronted by a respectable looking woman in a suit, who is distressed.
She explains that her car has broken down further down the road and she
needs to contact her husband to come to her aid. Is it at all possible to
use your phone to call him?

You allow her to use the phone, but being the suspicious type you stand
with her as she makes the call. She dials the number and asks to be put
through to Mr Smith/Brown/Stevens (whatever). She holds the line for about
thirty seconds. She continues "In that case can you ask him to leave the
meeting for a minute I need to speak to him urgently". She apologizes and
explains they are getting him out of a meeting.

A couple of minutes go by and she starts to speak to her husband. She
explains the situation to him, tells him what has happened to the car, is
annoyed because she now can't get to her meeting and asks what she should
do now. She listens for a few seconds and then says, "Well as soon as the
meeting finishes can you come to Cardiff Road/Leicester Road/Surrey Street
(whatever), where the car has broken down. Another few seconds go by,
"O.K. I'll see you in about twenty minutes then".

She puts down the phone and thanks you ever so much for your kind
assistance, even offering you a pound for your trouble, but of course you
decline, its no trouble. She leaves and everything is fine. Or is it?

Prior to knocking on your door, she has set up her own premium rate line
with a telephone company at the cost of about £150, and she has dictated
that the calls to that number should be charged at £50 per minute. She has
dialled that number. The conversation she has had with her "husband" is
entirely fictional, there is a pre-recorded voice message on the other end
to give the impression she is talking to someone. She has been on the
phone for about five minutes, and that call just cost you £250, the
majority of which goes into her pocket and the first you know about it is
who you get your bill.

To rub salt in the wound, she hasn't even committed a criminal offence.
You've given her permission to use your phone.

I seem to remember this being an urban myth. Go to snopes.com to check it out. I can't do it at the moment as my company has blocked access to this and many other popular sites such as friendsreunited.

Well according to BT (I phoned the operator and asked) there's no cap on the amount a premium rate phone line can charge, so this type of scame would seem likely (at least it is now you've told me about it :D )

If you are scammed or worried about it, you can try and phone the governing body for premium rate phone lines on 0800 500 212 (calls charged at £75 a minute (joke -it's freefone))
[edit] - I did - and it's a myth. £1.50/minute is the maximum available tariff.


deleted mobile phone story

Snopes report (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/phone.htm)

She has committed an offence by falsifying the reason for the call. Although she could argue she told you why she was using the phone and you agreed.
Tough one that. Although once BT find out what is going on, they would more than likely withold the money from the scammer.

Also add to that the fact that most people credit limit with BT is set to £150, you would have got a phone call straight afterwards to ask whats going on.

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