I have just been subject to the most sophisticated scam attempt I've ever come across. I had a call apparently from BT (my broadband provider) to say that my internet had been hacked. To confirm that it was really them, they sent an email and a text with a PIN. There was admittedly something fishy about it. They weren't able to specify exactly what they meant by my account being hacked, and I was confused about the PIN aspect (more on that in a moment) - so I hung up and called BT myself.  They confirmed that it wasn't them who had been in touch. It was, indeed, a scam. Not only was there not a problem, and they had not contacted me in the last 3 months, the BT operative also confirmed my suspicion about the PIN - the point of a PIN is for me to confirm who I am, not for them to prove who they are. Anyone can send you a PIN and ask you to read it back. BT won't do this when they contact you, only when you contact them. However, it's easy to see how the text and emai...

Have we got good enough protection against unscrupulous online phone sales? The phone call came at 8:40 this morning. 'Hello,' I was told, 'I'm calling from your telephone provider, offering reduced rates.' She started waffling on about reducing the line rental and even owing us some money. I interrupted. 'Who is my provider?' Long pause. 'Sorry?' I might have started sounding a bit aggressive at this point: 'You must know who you are!' 'This is BT. Do you have broadband?' Whoa, now. I went into attack mode: 'If you were BT, you'd know.' The response is a long pause. 'You must know if I've got broadband. You tell me.' Another pause. 'Sorry, I said I'm from EE...' I told her this was a fraudulent call and hung up. Now I have no idea if she was really from EE or if this was an out-and-out scam - she certainly wasn't from the UK - but either way, this was a clear attempt to fraudulently per...