cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam

maranello
Pro
Posts: 1,267
Thanks: 200
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam


Bear with me, this is a bit vague at the moment.
My mother-in-law, who is with Plusnet, received a phone call about a 'fault on her computer' (her words). The caller asked her to do a number of things to her computer. Details from my MIL are a bit vague, as she doesn't understand much about her computer or internet connection, relying on her daughters and I to show her how to do things or sort out if anything goes wrong.
No fault has been reported to Plusnet, no helplines have been rung. My MIL's connection is very lightly used and the router is powered off when not in use. Under these circumstances, I'm guessing that it is unlikely that anyone at Plusnet would cold call her to ask if she has a problem. There have been no exchange problems reported.
So the question is, is it likely that someone has tried to glean any details that would allow them to gain access to her computer, or hijack her connection?
My other car isn't a Ferrari
6 REPLIES 6
MisterW
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 14,572
Thanks: 5,408
Fixes: 385
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam

Quote
Under these circumstances, I'm guessing that it is unlikely that anyone at Plusnet would cold call her to ask if she has a problem

If they did, I would assume there would be a ticket on her account!.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam

Hi Maranello,
I'm happy to check out her account if you would like to PM me her username.
dvorak
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 29,473
Thanks: 6,623
Fixes: 1,482
Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam

Sounds like a scam to me and would be wary of letting her back online until you've had a good look at it.
Customer / Moderator
If it helped click the thumb
If it fixed it click 'This fixed my problem'
maranello
Pro
Posts: 1,267
Thanks: 200
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam


Thanks for replies. I hope to get more details soon. Will run AV and Antispyware offline, otherwise any advice on other things to check?
@jJameseh - username sent by PM
My other car isn't a Ferrari
paulby
Grafter
Posts: 1,619
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎26-07-2007

Re: Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam

It may be worth changing her account password for peace of mind.
Remember if you do that you'll need to update her router with the new password as well as update her password in her e-mail client.
maranello
Pro
Posts: 1,267
Thanks: 200
Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎11-01-2008

Re: Plusnet Customer Support or possible scam


Further details.
The original call to my MIL came out of the blue, . The first person on the line is described as having an 'indian accent' which my MIL could not understand very well. But the gist of the conversation was that whoever 'they' were, they apparently believed that my MIL's laptop was not working. So my MIL powered up her router and laptop but, coincidently or otherwise, it appeared that there was a problem with her laptop as the screen was too dim to read and flickering intermittently. Another person came on the line to help (gave his name as Kevin somebody or other), suggested checking plugs/cables are all fully attached. MIL thinks that they probably lost a bit of patience with her, once she suggested that it might be better if she asked me to look at it. No account details were asked for, or any personal or security information.
What was strange was that she had not reported any fault or had experienced a fault, but that as there appeared to be one she simply thought that whoever was on the other end of the line had some marvellous systems that could detect the problem, and she didn't think to ask who they were or how they were aware of a problem. They didn't even use her name, so its possible they did not intend to call her.
So could either have been a strange coincidence which made it too much hard work for the scammers to want to pursue further, or possibly a wrong number.
My other car isn't a Ferrari