Reading West MP, Martin Salter, has warned his constituents to be aware of a new phone scam, which tricks you into making a premium rate phonecall under the pretence of taking part in a government survey.
Mr Salter was contacted by his constituent Alan Fleming of Wellfield Close in Tilehurst who received an answerphone message just before Christmas asking him to call 0871 208 9405 as there was a message waiting for him.
Mr Fleming called the number and was placed on hold, with regular messages telling him that they were trying to connect him, for 35 minutes, and was then informed that he was being invited to participate in a government survey.
Once he received his bill, Mr Fleming realised he had been charged £1.75 for the call, and contacted Martin Salter MP to see if he could obtain a refund from the government.
Mr Salter raised the matter with Ministers, and was informed by Margaret Hodge MP, Minister of State at the Department for Trade and Industry that Mr Fleming had, in fact, been a victim of a phone line scam.
In order to avoid anyone else being taken in by this deception, the Minister provided the following advice to Reading residents:
“When undertaking surveys, government departments do not generally ask customers to call back (hence the possibility of them incurring phone charges is avoided) and it is also standard practice to provide customers with an enquiry number which they can call to check that the survey is bona fide. This is generally a free-phone number”
Martin Salter MP said;
“I am worried that more people in Reading will receive the same answerphone message as Mr Fleming and will return the call in good faith, incurring a hefty phone bill. While there are legitimate government surveys, they will not cost you money to take part in, and I would like to warn all my constituents not to be taken in by this scam”.
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