topic Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested. in Plusnet Feedback

Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

zippyzappy — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 13:57:12 GMT

I sent a question yesterday and I got an email today saying they can't answer the question any more and I should go on chat to have it attended to. So I did just that and here's a transcript .... When reading this please remember I have genuine concerns about my trust in Plusnet being used by scammers to try and fleece me ... But apparently Plusnet are not interested since it has nothing to do with them (so Ryan says). I find this quite unbelieveable because if I were running Plusnet I'd be very concerned about anyone using the Plusnet logo to try and fleece the general public.
Me:
Hiya Ryan!
I sent a query (question) yesterday and the reply I got said to go on chat .. In other words my query didn't get answered. The following is the contents of that query.
Is this a scam?
Today I got a popup with a header on the page I assumed was from PlusNet. It offered stuff for £1. Unbelieveable I know, but I felt safe seeing the PlusNet header so I paid the pound. Now they have my credit card number and the £1 allows me to enter their competitions for 3 days. The site in question is funkyclock.com.
Have I been taken in and what do PlusNet have to say about this?
I took a screen image, see below.

http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac101/saturnsid/PlusNetSurvey_zpsthbxsplw.jpg
Anne Henwood
Ryan:
You are now chatting with Ryan.
Me:
Hiya Ryan! I sent a query (question) yesterday and the reply I got said to go on chat .. In other words my query didn't get answered. The following is the contents of that query. Is this a scam? Today I got a popup with a header on the page I assumed was from PlusNet. It offered stuff for £1. Unbelieveable I know, but I felt safe seeing the PlusNet header so I paid the pound. Now they have my credit card number and the £1 allows me to enter their competitions for 3 days. The site in question is funkyclock.com. Have I been taken in and what do PlusNet have to say about this? I took a screen image, see below
http://i890.photobucket.com/albums/ac101/saturnsid/PlusNetSurvey_zpsthbxsplw.jpg Anne Henwood
Ryan:
Good afternoon, I'm Ryan. How can I help?
Ryan:
Ok that has nothing to do with us.
Me:
They are using your logo etc so I thought it was from you. If it's nothing to do with you how came the logo is being usde
Ryan:
I imagine they just change they're page based on the connection your using
Ryan:
Hence why it says Wilmslow GB next to it
Me:
Listen, this is fraud annd I don't know how or why they do it and for you to say it's nothing to do with you is totally out of order since they are after all using your logo pretending to be PlusNet and due to my trustworthy experience with plusnet I got taken in by it. If you are just going to fob me off I'm disgusted. I also got an email from plusnet today asking me to complete a satisfaction survey and won't be doing that now in case I lead on to a hookey site that tries to scam me.
Me:
Are you still there?
Ryan:
I'm here
Ryan:
Ok so as I say that hasn't got anything to do with us.
Ryan:
I'm not sure what you might want to do in regards to that.
Me:
I'l take it up with your superiors, Im not happy with your answers.
Ryan:
No problem
Ryan:
Can I help with anything else?
Ryan:
I'm sorry we couldn't finish our chat. I haven't heard from you for some time, so I'm going to close this chat. If you need any help in future, please feel free to chat with us again.
Ryan:
Thank you for chatting with us. Please click the "End Conversation" button on the top right of the chat window to tell us how we did today.
End.

Today I got an email from plusnet asking me to complete a survey due to my recent contact with plusnet support, needless to say I didn't click on the link within the email just in case the scammers got me again.

If plusnet are not bothered about who uses there logo to con people I do wonder about the safety of my personal data they hold on their servers.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

jem16 — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:18:47 GMT

Quote from: zippyzappy
]If plusnet are not bothered about who uses there logo to con people I do wonder about the safety of my personal data they hold on their servers.[

Not a great response by PlusNet as he could at least have said that it would be passed onto a fraud department.
However it really is nothing to do with them and nothing they can do if someone spoofs a website/popup using their details or logo. That really is up to you to ensure you have appropriate virus/malware protection for your PC.
It will also not have any bearing on the safety of your data on their servers. The risk seems to be coming via your PC as it's obviously been attacked so I would suggest you need to get that looked at asap. Try Malwarebytes and run a full scan as well as running a scan on your anti virus programme. Also probably be worth cancelling your credit card.
However I really have to ask - why on earth did you think PlusNet would be offering you an iphone 6s for £1. One they don't sell mobiles and two it would never, ever be that price.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

HarryB — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:34:04 GMT

While I appreciate the response you got via webchat isn't ideal, this has also been discussed on the forums Here and has been flagged with the necessary people.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

w23 — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:37:47 GMT

The trouble is it's so easy to display anyone's logo on a webpage or wherever...

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

zippyzappy — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:38:10 GMT

Hiya jem16.
The first page to come up was a survey asking some questions about satisfaction with plusnet, the phone for a pound bit came up after I'd answered the 4 questions and pressed the continue button. Since I have been very happy with plusnet and trusted them I saw no reason to doubt.
I already did a malwarebytes scan and it found nothing and I have adblock plus on Firefox which didn't stop it either.
I know it's my own fault but I thought plusnet would be interested in scammers using their logo to fleece the public but quite obviously they are not. I even got an email from them today asking me to complete a survey due to my recent contact with their support, but I dumped that rather quickly without clickin on th link to do the survey.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

jem16 — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 14:42:38 GMT

Quote from: zippyzappy
Hiya jem16.
The first page to come up was a survey asking some questions about satisfaction with plusnet, the phone for a pound bit came up after I'd answered the 4 questions and pressed the continue button. Since I have been very happy with plusnet and trusted them I saw no reason to doubt.

I could understand the survey bit. However iphone 6 for a £1 and you saw no reason to doubt it - really?

Quote
I know it's my own fault but I thought plusnet would be interested in scammers using their logo to fleece the public but quite obviously they are not.

They are obviously interested as there is a whole thread about it and warning people.
I think you just got a poor rep on Web Chat unfortunately.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

zippyzappy — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 15:01:36 GMT

I still have the original Technicolor router I was supplied with from plusnet when I started with them a couple of years ago. I don't know if that is supposed to prevent anything but when I log into it it says:
Firewall set to Standard
Intrusion detection is enabled and it shows all 0 (zeros) apart from
tcp_port_scan 1
udp_flood 1
Internet ping responder is disabled

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

pwatson — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 15:16:53 GMT

The firewall is their primarily to stop unsolicited access to your network. In this case, a pop-up ad running code on your PC has requested the popup content so the firewall won't do anything.
Did you read the T&Cs when you paid your pound by the way? It's quite possible that you've also signed up for £74/month in order to play their games...

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

NedLudd — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 15:36:07 GMT

The old adage comes in to play here.
"If it sounds too good to be true, then it is too good to be true!"
An iPhone for a £1 is a bit of a give-away!

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

HarryB — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 16:50:09 GMT

Quote from: zippyzappy
... I thought plusnet would be interested in scammers using their logo to fleece the public but quite obviously they are not....

As per my previous post....

Quote from: HarryB
While I appreciate the response you got via webchat isn't ideal, this has also been discussed on the forums Here and has been flagged with the necessary people.

We do care and this has been flagged to the necessary people. Unfortunately it's not as easy to stop as you may think it is.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

spraxyt — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 17:39:55 GMT

Reporting this to Action Fraud (http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/contact-us) seems the appropriate action to take. I wouldn't expect Plusnet to make public statements on what action the company might be taking.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

Mayfly — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 19:52:42 GMT

There was a similar item on Rip off Britain this morning with a national womens' magazine logo being illegally used to promote counterfeit cosmetics that are not only fake but contain harmful ingredients.
The publicist was saying they can't get near the scammers - every time they do they shut the website down and open another and the whole process starts again.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

Luzern — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 22:41:33 GMT

^^ saw that too, and worse the number of fakes, sometimes dangerous, is horrendous: a great deal are sold through a business named similarly to Yabe.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

zippyzappy — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 11:13:50 GMT

Thanks for all your comments.
I cancelled the subscription the next day and sent them an email cancelling. I also got in touch with my bank (they took out the £1) to stop any future attempts to take money.
& NedLudd .... That laughing dog of yours is doing my head in ... Yep! I know, I'm a dumb ass .... I wouldn't mind but I've been on the internet since it first came into existence and I've never fallen for anything like this before. I definitely must have had an off day but it was my trust in PlusNet that drew me in.

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

Luzern — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 18:21:45 GMT

Quote from: zippyzappy
my trust in PlusNet that drew me in.

Truer is that fraudulent misuse of your trust drew you in!

Re: Scammers using Plusnet logo and they are not interested.

NedLudd — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 21:13:44 GMT

Quote from: zippyzappy

& NedLudd .... That laughing dog of yours is doing my head in ... Yep! I know, I'm a dumb ass .... I wouldn't mind but I've been on the internet since it first came into existence and I've never fallen for anything like this before. I definitely must have had an off day but it was my trust in PlusNet that drew me in.

Me too zippy! I was on CompuServe for 6 years before the www!
And, I have been caught out too!