Masters of Dis-Gas? Tricksters Pose as National Energy Provider in New Phone Scam

Nov. 18, 2013 - PRLog -- The calls reported to us came from 01132989000 and 01132989890. In the majority of cases, the person receiving the call will be informed that they have an outstanding payment on their account with British Gas. This is normally via a recorded message that instructs the customer to press any number to hear important information about their bill. The customer would then be led through a procedure that meant giving all-important payment details to the person on the other end.

What has aroused suspicion on the part of many potential victims, however, is that they are not British Gas customers at all, and have not been for several years. User Rupert states:

"I have had more than 10 calls from this number about non-payment of my latest bill... mighty strange as i have never given them my mobile number and left British Gas several years ago."

Indeed, one user tells us that his remote village does not use British Gas at all, yet he received a call nonetheless. (For more information, please see http://www.tellows.co.uk/num/01132989000 and http://www.tellows.co.uk/num/01132989890).

Reports on the origins of these calls vary: whilst the area code is for Leeds, some users have been told that the number is an offshore call centre for British Gas. Attempts to caller the number back are fruitless, as it is not recognised.

Many large corporations in the UK now provide a 'Did We Call You' facility on their websites, enabling their customers to quickly assess whether or not a phone call is in fact legitimate. Typing each of these numbers into this search tool on the British Gas website brought back no results, leading us to conclude that this number should be treated with suspicion.

We strongly encourage users to use these 'Did We Call You' tools, or to phone a company back directly if they are in any doubt as to the authenticity of the caller and never to provide personal information over the phone unless they are absolutely sure of the caller's identity.

Nuisance callers can be reported on the tellows website. Our ever-expanding database of number 'profiles' provides users worldwide with vital information about an unknown number before they take the call.

About Tellows:

The Tellows anti-spam website is available in over 40 countries in their respective languages, providing a platform upon which users worldwide can share information about fraudulent phone activity, cons and coldcalling. Within this huge online 'database', users can rate and enter comments on numbers. Find us at www.tellows.co.uk and help to protect other users from phone scamming.