Hi Everyone,
I have been browsing through the get out of debt info online. I have just had a worrying unsolicited phone call. Worrying because as soon as I answered an automated message came on stating "Are you worried about debt etc... and then went on to ask you to press 5 to speak to someone who can write off 75% of your debt". I am concerned because if any of my children picked up the phone they would have heard the message and it would have upset them needlessly.
I dialed 1471, and the number give was 08447739922. On cacalling this number I was again put onto an automated system.. The man identified himself as Tom Reynolds of the Consumer Saving Panel, and asked for answers to a survey, which would give me a £50 voucher of something.. but the questions I was asked to answer were my full name, address, date of birth etc.
I did not give any details ! Has anyone come across this.. and have any advice on what action to take if any.

Regards
S

Googling for "Consumer Saving Panel" produces nothing... not good news!

Have you signed up to the Telephone Preference Service, see http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/tps/. That stops most cold calling.

But it sounds as though you could do with some specific advice on getting out of debt - why not post a SOA here?

manzanilla

Thanks Manzanilla ! I thought I was registered with the TPS service.

I will post an SOA on here... thanks again for the advice.

I've just had the very same automated call about half an hour ago.

I'm registered with the Telephone Preference Service but on calling them was told that complaints about automated calls are dealt with by the Information Commisioners Office:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/privacy_and_electronic_comm...

Gave them a call and now need to download a Word document from their site, fill it in and email it back to them. Easy enough but at this stage I'm curious if many others have had calls from the above number.

And no, I'm not in debt either .........

I have recieved the same call a few mins ago to my mobile - which is also registered with the TPS.

I had one about 20 mins ago.

Put the phone down as soon as I heard the automated message and did 1471.

Didn't recognize the number , so I typed it in Google and it lead me to this thread.

Not in debt either.

Also I'm registered with the Telephone Preference Service

Called me this morning. I'm not in debt but as soon as an automated voice came through my second word was 'off'.

I received one of these calls this afternoon and got the same number from 1471 (0844 77 39 922), but the person I talked to gave me an entirely different company name (The Information Team) and claimed to be based in Hampshire one minute and the U.S. the next. I pressed them for valid company details and the best I could get out of them was a U.S. number (00 1 26 77 65 143) which I have yet to try. They refused to give me any local details, even though the people I spoke to were clearly British.

In fact, they appeared to let slip that - for operators who take the calls from those who respond from the automated fishing calls - this is a 'work from home' situation.

I'm also registerd with the TPS (not that it matters in this case), and will be filing a complaint with the ICO first thing tomorrow. I don't think their survey angle is enough to keep them in line with the law.

ukmanic,

I wouldn't bother trying that US phone number. It doesn't have sufficient digits. US phone numbers (after the international dialing code 00 and country code 1) require a 3 digit area code and a seven digit phone number (usually split into 3 followed by 4 digits).

Rob

I have just received three calls from 08447739922. I answered the first two and hung up as soon as i heard the recorded message "are you in debt....." (im not).

By the time i received the third i was fuming as i have been registered with TPS for the last 3 years. The recorded message asked me to press 5 if i wanted to speak to someone about my debt so i pressed 5. As soon as i got to a human being I asked the man where he had my number from, he said he didnt know.

I told him that i wanted to make an official complaint and wanted the company name and address, he continues to tell me that the company name was the Information Team, and the address was Suite 620, 1 Commerce Way, Orange Street, Dellaware, USA. I knew this wasnt a proper address and told him so. He said that it was the registered address.

The man had a British accent so i asked him if he was calling from the USA, to which he said he was. He told me he was British but lived in America.

I just hung up, i knew he was just having me on.

It is so frustrating knowing that they can get away with this.

After the call, i googled the number and was brought to this site.

What a bizarre thread with a lot of new people making the same claim. I've brought it to the attention of TMF Towers to seeif they can shedany light...

I ahve had 2 of these over the last couple of days - where on earth are they getting our numbers from ??

I have just had this call a couple of minutes ago and too checked 1471 which gave me the 08447 739922 number, which like many of you when I typed into google brought me here.

I only heard the `Hello, are you worried about debt...... ` before hanging up, You hear so much about these automated calls that charge you for the call so wasn't going to risk being charged! (Not sure if this one is one of those or not though? )

I am registered to stop these calls as we were harrassed last year by several similar kind of calls who were getting silly and calling sometimes upto 3 times per day so am rather annoyed that this one's managed to somehow still get hold of my number and squeeze their call through the loop hole :(

x x x

They can get your number by typing your name and a few other details like general area, try it yourself look for people finder od 152.com I think.
Its bloody scary

I think that people are posting as new users because googling brings them to this thread, rather than anything sinister.

I also got one of these automated messages about debt, and am also registered with the TPS. I selected the option to talk to someone so I could complain. They gave me their phone number (US !) 001 2677 651 437 and the company name "The Information Team"

A bit of googling got me the parent US company http://www.theinformationteam.net/

"We specialise in the collection of ...consumer data across the world ... with over 78 call centers worldwide ..."

Like one of the previous posters the lady that answered the call had a british accent. So I assume they must have a UK call center.
After the call a 1471 just got me a "You were called .." and no number.

I just had one of these calls and did what I always do.

- If I have time on my hands, I speak to the advisor and waste their time as long as possible without divulging personal details.
- If I don't have time, I speak to the advisor, say "one moment" and leave the phone off the hook, preferably next to a noise source, e.g. TV, crying baby, washing machine, etc.

Hopefully by wasting their "advisors'" time, I'm helping make their venture a little less profitable. And more fun than just hanging up or getting all stressed by it all.

I registered specially to note that I have received this same call three times today, none of which got answered but all showing the same calling number. I have also registered with the TPS and would am wondering if these people aren't specifically targeting numbers which should be out of bounds as these will believe themselves "safe" from cold caller scams.

Hi,

I just had another one of these, but it came from a different number so I thought I'd reply and add it to this thread so that more people can find it through Google.

They still come through with an automated message about writing off debt, and give some spiel about "a new government initiative" to help. Press 5 to speak to an advisor.

The advisor introduced himself as being from The Information Team and stated they were based in Hampshire. When I pressed for an address I was put on hold and then hung up on. Very classy!

According to 1471, the call came from 0871 572 4910.

I've been on TPS for yonks, and I'm off to file a complaint ( http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/cgi-bin/tps_complaints.pl ) against these jokers right now.

Don't let them get away with it!

Cheers.

Hi,

My parents received a similar call which was on their voicemail, however they are not in debt either!!

Smudge

Similar things are on:

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/08715722434 (v. interesting trawling through this thread)

and

http://www.iva.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5636


And if it is Financial Services Data Management, it could be getting worse:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7176712.stm

cazza