The disconnection robocall
The recording is brief and unattributed: your broadband has been used for illegal activity, or a fault has been detected, and engineers will disconnect the line within 24 hours unless you press 1 to speak to an adviser. It may name BT, Sky, Virgin Media or TalkTalk, or name nobody so that it fits whoever answers.
Pressing 1 puts you through to a call centre. The adviser confirms the fault, quotes a router or line reference that means nothing, and says diagnostics must be run — which means installing remote-access software or visiting a website that gives them control of your computer.
After that the pattern is familiar: a payment for a “security package”, a refund that requires your online banking to be open, or an overpayment you are asked to send back. The threat of losing your line for days is what stops people hanging up to check with their provider.
The compensation and refund version
A softer script offers money instead of taking your service away. You are owed compensation for an outage, a billing error or months of slow speeds, and it can be paid straight into your account — provided you log in to online banking so the transfer can be “confirmed” while the adviser watches.
What you then see on screen is controlled by them: the refund appears far larger than agreed, and you are asked to return the difference by transfer or in gift cards. Nothing was ever paid in, and the money you send is your own. Genuine compensation arrives as a credit on your bill or an automatic payment, with no phone call needed.
What providers actually do
Broadband companies do not disconnect customers by recorded message, do not need remote access to your computer to test a line, and never ask you to open online banking. Genuine faults, and cut-offs for non-payment, are handled through your account and in writing, with notice.
If you are unsure, hang up and ring the number on your bill or on the provider’s own website. A real problem will be recorded on your account, and any credit you are owed will still be there whether or not you speak to the caller.
If you pressed 1 or gave access
Pressing 1 by itself does no harm to your line, but it marks your number as answered and will bring more calls. If you installed software, disconnect the device from the internet, remove the program and change passwords for email and banking from a different device.
If you logged in to online banking during the call, or sent any money, ring your bank on 159 immediately and explain that you were talked into it. Report the call to Action Fraud (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or Police Scotland on 101, tell your provider its name was used, and log the number on cislo.info.
How to spot it
- A recorded voice threatening disconnection within hours, with an instruction to press 1.
- The message quotes no account details, and often names no provider at all.
- An adviser who wants remote access to your computer to run “diagnostics” on a broadband fault.
- Compensation or a refund that requires you to log in to online banking during the call.
- A request to return an overpayment by transfer or in gift cards.
What to do
- Hang up without pressing anything, then check your account or ring the number on your bill.
- Never install remote-access software or open online banking at a caller’s request.
- If you installed something, disconnect the device, remove the program and change your passwords from another device.
- If money has moved, call your bank on 159 straight away.
- Report the call to Action Fraud or Police Scotland on 101 and record the number on cislo.info.
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