I had a phone call today, whilst at home. The person asked for me by name, then asked if I wanted to renew my van insurance. I explained I don't own a van and never have and said you must have the wrong number, that was the end of the call.

It was afterwards I started thinking, maybe someone has insured a van using my name and contact details. At the time of the call I did not think to ask any more details and I can't recall the companies name.

Should I be worried??

Is there an insurance database so I can check I am not named on some bogus van insurance policy???

i had a guy ring the house today (indian salesman)

"Hello Mr White, im calling to see if you want to upgrade your sky box"

"i don't have SKY?"

"ok, bye"

and he hung up, very odd!

Or he could have just got the wrong number, unlikely if he got your name and number though.

THis stuff happens all the time. They do it to find out if you have a van or sky etc so they can make all these wonderful offers

I usually ask them for the price of whatever product it is they're offering, then tell them it's poor compared to what I'm currently paying. Usually string them along until they say

"can I ask how much you're currently paying for your insurance?"

IT's FREE! baffles them a fair bit

Just had a nice chap from India ring to see if i wanted to claim back interest on my credit card, told him i was far too wealthy to have a credit card but he was welcome to chat to my butler to see if he could help him out.
For some reason he hung up

cant see that any benefit could be had by insuring a car / van in the wrong name police still ask for other details when they pull you

All of these could just be a simple scam. You give them credit card number (along with security code from back) and they fill it up for you. Only takes one hit in 50 to make good money.

Basic rule - only give your credit card number (or any security information) to someone you've called.

quote:

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Originally posted by CRAIGR
Just had a nice chap from India ring to see if i wanted to claim back interest on my credit card, told him i was far too wealthy to have a credit card but he was welcome to chat to my butler to see if he could help him out.
For some reason he hung up

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^^^ Me too

i like to just place the phone down on the side, then come back later to see how much of there time they wasted!

Safest thing to do is never give out details on an incoming call I reckons.

I had someone from India ringing asking me "do I ever have problems with my computer"
Now considering that I teach IT maintenance and support I thought I'd go along with it.
"Yes I do have problems, from time to time"
"And what do you do when these things go wrong?"
"I fix them"
"and what happens when you can't fix them"
"Nothing, cos it never happens"
"But what happens when you can't fix them"
"No, I do fix them"
"But, but what happens when you can't fix them?"
"No, I do fix them, I teach people how to fix computers so I fix them"
"But, but what happens when you can't fix the problem?"
Obviously this person was following her lines from a manual on how to get people to sign up because she just kept repeating the same thing, in the end I just left the phone on the side.

On another note I remember my bank, HSBC, rang me once to offer me a deal on a loan. After a couple of minutes they wanted to confirm who I was. I said they rang me so they should know who I was. It was quite comical as I pointed out that they were asking me for details contrary to what they tell you all the time.