From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and
received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a
suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have
been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10.9.26 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john

Thank you. I agree that most scams are fairly easy to spot but it is
unlike them to be so persistent. Glad the bank with no name was on the
case with the -u1k.
--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

They are very convincing and patient. Mine was a very nice Scottish chap
that knew lots of my details and seemed pukka. I stupidly authorised 2 payments that were supposedly signing off the refund before I realised
and closed the call down, but Barclaycard was very helpful and refunded
it all eventually (umra passim I think).

Now I try to keep the bastards on the line for as long as possible and eventually fake a heart attack. Another good wheeze (literally) is to to
pant more and more frantically while saying "keep talking, keep talking".
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 15:32, BrritSki wrote:

Another good wheeze (literally) is to to
pant more and more frantically while saying "keep talking, keep talking".

Can't you get put on some sort of register for that?

john
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 15:36, john ashby wrote:

On 10/09/2026 15:32, BrritSki wrote:

Another good wheeze (literally) is to to pant more and more
frantically while saying "keep talking, keep talking".

Can't you get put on some sort of register for that?

Not sure it would ever come to that (pun intended, but if it did,
hopefully the scammer would have to identify themselves when reporting it :) --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john

It's good that you came out of it OK but the scammer is up -u500 (which
is bad) and the bank is down -u500 (which is also bad).

For the benefit of anyone who is unaware: There is Scam Secrets on a
radio or iPlayer (a week later) near you every Thursday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002h2gt
--
Ric
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

john ashby <johnashby20@yahoo.com> wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john

There are numerous scam baiters on YouTube who have featured this type of fraud; some of the scenarios use a screen sharing app (various flavours available) and they persuade victims to open their banking app then start
to ransack the victimsrCO account under the pretence that they are depositing not withdrawing monies. Banks do not need you to open any app to refund a payment to your account.

Though moderating my language (well reasonably well moderating my
language!) I shout at the scammers and suggest they go and find some honest employment; for some unaccountable reason, they tend to drop the line at
this pointrCa
--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 2026/9/10 14:58:26, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it

I take it from the below that this was on your "smartphone".

called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a

Hmm. Most of the scam calls I get - if they get as far as actually
speaking - say they are from "Bank fraud department" or similar.
(Usually not saying _which_ bank.) But I imagine they can be very
convincing, especially on something with a screen.[]

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my

(That's why I deduced you were talking about a smartphone call.)

screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

Appreciated.>

john

(Also John.) Your saying "it had the FCA logo" reminds me of one I had
on my landline - a few months or maybe a year or two ago, so I forget
the details - which also wanted me to hang up and contact an official
body. Which they did by playing me a recording of a dial tone, to make
me think I had successfully hung up. Fortunately for me, it was such a
bad recording that at that point I twigged it wasn't kosher: I think it
was uneven in both level and tone.

I've remembered what it was: someone pretending to be a policeman,
telling me they'd arrested someone who was carrying my credit card
(which of course I checked and still had, but of course they said it
must have been faked/cloned). I forget who they wanted me to "call"
(possibly 101?) to check.

I _had_ given some personal information which I'd rather not have,
before I twigged. Fortunately, I am not _aware_ of that having been
(ab)used so far. (It wasn't any account numbers or anything like that.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Fortunately radio is a forgiving medium.
It hides a multitude of chins ... Vanessa feltz, RT 2014-3/28-4/4
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 17:20, Mike McMillan wrote:

Though moderating my language (well reasonably well moderating my
language!) I shout at the scammers and suggest they go and find some honest employment; for some unaccountable reason, they tend to drop the line at
this pointrCa

I have though of using the response:
"Does your mother know what you're doing? Or is she also on the game?"

But whilst I do get phishing emails, the only unwanted phone calls I
receive seem put off when they only get an answerphone.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 21:26, Sam Plusnet wrote:

On 10/09/2026 17:20, Mike McMillan wrote:

Though moderating my language (well reasonably well moderating my
language!) I shout at the scammers and suggest they go and find some
honest
employment; for some unaccountable reason, they tend to drop the line at
this pointrCa

I have though of using the response:
"Does your mother know what you're doing?-a Or is she also on the game?"

But whilst I do get phishing emails, the only unwanted phone calls I
receive seem put off when they only get an answerphone.

I simply say 'FOAD scammer' (using the unexpurgated version).
--
Steveski
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john

One further thing that came out of this is that after a discussion with
<name of bank>'s genuine (I hope) fraud team I now have a safeword set
up, though I'm not sure which of us is the dom and which the sub.

john
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com> wrote:

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this
morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical
practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a
little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and
received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a
suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have
been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john

It's good that you came out of it OK but the scammer is up -u500 (which
is bad) and the bank is down -u500 (which is also bad).

For the benefit of anyone who is unaware: There is Scam Secrets on a
radio or iPlayer (a week later) near you every Thursday. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002h2gt

Definitely worth listening to.

Mrs McT

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On Thu, 10 Sep 2026 14:58:26 +0100, john ashby <johnashby20@yahoo.com>
wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this >morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical >practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a >little bit true. Allegedly there was a u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and >received a refund of the u500 (the other u1000 had been flagged a
suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have >been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

Thanks for the PSA, John. I'm relieved to learn that, apart from a
probable adrenaline boost and (from your post earlier today) a
new-found interest in BDSM the worst thing seems to be the hours spent
chasing the problem when you might have liked to be doing something
else.

Nick
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

Thank you very much for the warning.
I don't like businesses offering to "take this enquiry to WhatsApp" at
all and nearly always refuse.
--
Jane
The Amethyst Artist
BTME

http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/cookbook.htm - Umrats' recipes








--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:10:38 +0100, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
wrote:

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this
morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical
practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a
little bit true. Allegedly there was a u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and
received a refund of the u500 (the other u1000 had been flagged a
suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have
been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

john

It's good that you came out of it OK but the scammer is up u500 (which
is bad) and the bank is down u500 (which is also bad).

For the benefit of anyone who is unaware: There is Scam Secrets on a
radio or iPlayer (a week later) near you every Thursday. >https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002h2gt

Despite the way that they seem to pitch their delivery at
five-year-olds and punctuate the different sections with a snatch of
their theme tune to try and keep one from falling asleep, I was
actually relistening to the recent episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002h2gt about email when I came
across this umra thread.

One of my credit card issuers has just informed me via its website
that it is going to end website access in favour of its mobile app and
I was starting to research whether I could put together enough
material to punt a query on mobile banking apps to More Or Less.

I wonder how much banking fraud is facilitated by the use of banking
apps rather than other ways of managing ones money? The late professor
of Security Engineering at Cambridge University, Ross Anderson, seemed
to think so: I don't know if he ever changed his mind but the last
thing I remember reading from him on banking apps was about how he
didn't and wouldn't use them himself.

The so-called "Anderson's Rule" about ever more complex technology
leading to ever more human error in operations was ringing alarm bells
when I heard, in that programme (about 21.00 in from the start), talk
about passcodes reducing friction in transactions and the presenter
then saying "Friction is something we really like on this programme"
but going on to add, "but in this case..."

But WHY in this case? Because the public demand, easy, friction-free
services?

The public also demand the facility to send nude pictures to one
another, to browse terrorist and suicide sites, to harass and be
harassed by anonymous characters, to pass off fantasy as fact but our government - like others, worldwide - is in the process of making the technology companies take responsibility for the harms that they
cause. Why shouldn't the technology companies be forced in the same
way to deal with the gaping holes in banking security rather than
passing the problems down to the consumer in ever more complex
personal requirements (see Anderson's Rule, above)?

This has not so much been a PSA as a little rant.

I feel better now.

Nick
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On Fri, 11 Sep 2026 09:49:18 +0100, Jane Vernon
<jane@clothandclay.co.uk> wrote:

On 10/09/2026 14:58, john ashby wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this
morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical
practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a
little bit true. Allegedly there was a u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and
received a refund of the u500 (the other u1000 had been flagged a
suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have
been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

Thank you very much for the warning.
I don't like businesses offering to "take this enquiry to WhatsApp" at
all and nearly always refuse.

I don't and won't use WhatsApp because of the business ethics of the
company that owns it.

Nick
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 11/09/2026 09:41, Nick Odell wrote:

On Thu, 10 Sep 2026 14:58:26 +0100, john ashby <johnashby20@yahoo.com>
wrote:

I consider myself (who doesn't) fairly scam savvy but I got caught this
morning. Consider this a warning.

Last night I had three missed calls from "Private Number". When it
called again today one thought was "scam", another was perhaps a medical
practice. Whoever it was was making a serious effort to get in touch so
when the caller claimed to be Martin Howard (just in case he always uses
the same name) from the fraud prevention department of my bank it rang a
little bit true. Allegedly there was a -u500 payment to a taxi firm
several hundred miles from my location (which the caller knew) that I
had not made and they wanted me to use my app to authorise the refund. I
did that, querying that it looked very much like I was authorising a
payment but being reassured that it was really a refund, Then the
payment had been set up as a subscription so I needed to authorise a
refund for a further two payments (which in retrospect should have rung
a red flag (to mix a metaphor or two) since why would they need to
refund payments that hadn't been taken yet.

They then shifted to a WhatsApp call allegedly with or on behalf of the
FCA (it had the FCA logo and everything) and wanted me to share my
screen. I started but then my suspicions increasd, I googled "fca
whatsapp <name of bank>" and found a recent Which page saying it was a
scam and on no account to share my screen. I closed down the call, shut
down my phone, restarted it and rang my bank to report it. I seem to
have spoken to just about every helpful person in <name of bank> and
received a refund of the -u500 (the other -u1000 had been flagged a
suspicious and stopped), so no harm done other than time that could have
been spent on other things.

THBAPSA

Thanks for the PSA, John. I'm relieved to learn that, apart from a
probable adrenaline boost and (from your post earlier today) a
new-found interest in BDSM the worst thing seems to be the hours spent

You clearly haven't seen my browser history.

chasing the problem when you might have liked to be doing something
else.

Thanks,

john (aka Mr Whippy)
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 11.9.26 10:30, Nick Odell wrote:

I don't and won't use WhatsApp because of the business ethics of the
company that owns it.

Does any major IT company actually admit to having any ethics (see
Fujitsu / Post Office; Amazon / High Street; Capita / Civil Service
Pensions; X / anything; Google / what happened to not being evil)?
--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 11/09/2026 06:27, john ashby wrote:

<snip>>

One further thing that came out of this is that after a discussion with <name of bank>'s genuine (I hope) fraud team I now have a safeword set
up, though I'm not sure which of us is the dom and which the sub.

john

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/crawl
--
Cheers
Clive
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.media.radio.archers

On 2026/9/11 11:26:21, Kosmo wrote:

On 11.9.26 10:30, Nick Odell wrote:

I don't and won't use WhatsApp because of the business ethics of the
company that owns it.

Does any major IT company actually admit to having any ethics (see
Fujitsu / Post Office; Amazon / High Street; Capita / Civil Service Pensions; X / anything; Google / what happened to not being evil)?

All excellent examples.

I don't use WhatsApp (or Instagram, FaceBook, ...) because no-one has
/clearly/ explained to me what any of them give me that email (including mailing lists) don't.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

We're done for the night. I'm off for a cup of tea and some crystal
meth. Only joking. I've had quite enough tea for one day.
- Victoria Coren Mitchell, quoted in RT 2017/10/7013
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2