My parents have been going through there BT bills as they have been higher than normal.

There is a premium number on the bills which is expensive, but the thing is they have not called it and dont recogise it…

The last one being last Saturday morning…but they were away that weekend…no one has access to the house.

The calls all seem to happen between 10 and 11am….and 2 and 3pm.

Has anyone else had experienced any problems similar to this, numbers and calls showing on BT bills etc?

Do they have a monitored house alarm ?

No alarm.

If they were away, can prove it and can prove no-one had access to their house then surely they should ask BT to check the line and find out why/how it is being mis-used?

Whats the number they are alledged to have dialled? Are there any other calls made whilst they were away?
BT should be able to produce a full itemisation of calls made from the line on a per month basis if requested. Might be a good idea to see if any other calls have been made in their absence.

Are they on dial-up internet?

No dial up, but they do have BT broadband. They have all calls included in the package and there appears to be only one number on the bills which is the premium number; 09830 501760

Just been looking through various bills and it appears this months bill has racked up a bill of £85.17 simply on the above premium number alone….

Spoke with BT and they have blocked the number, but where the hell is this coming from ????

According to BT that’s a Premium Rate P10 band call and should be billed at 35.743p per minute. If they’ve been billed £85 for 09 calls then that works out as 238 minutes worth, nearly 4 hours.

According to BT that’s a Premium Rate P10 band call and should be billed at 35.743p per minute. If they’ve been billed £85 for 09 calls then that works out as 238 minutes worth, nearly 4 hours.

Yes, looking at the duration of the calls its around 4 hours.

So what exactly is a P10 band call then?

Is there a way of finding out what he number is for?

Just found a bigger shock for my parents, I have just gone back through the BT bills, as far back as May 2012 and the premium number appears on all bills and on the same day & roughly the same time…

All calls on a Saturday between 10 and 11am, also between 2 & 3 pm.

do they have a pc that’s ‘on’ all the time or anything?

when pc’s had modems there used to be malware that would make them dial premium numbers on a regular basis.

According to http://www.tellows.co.uk/num/09830501760
It is a ‘premium rate service: sexual entertainment’

It doesn’t come up anywhere else on google, so it is unlikely that it is a common scam.

Unlikely, but just worth checking that they don’t have mobile phone handsets that are on BT that could potentially be running some dodgy software?

Do they have wireless phones that someone else could be using to call porno chat?

Does anyone else have access to the house, particularly anyone who comes and does work for them at weekends?

Or call forwarding set up in some way so that calls can be made remotely?

I would also go round all the extensions in their house checking what is plugged into them, anything other than the broadband router and phones, you want to unplug obviously. Check they haven’t left an old computer turned on with a modem plugged into the wall or something stupid like that.

Otherwise, there is surely no way that they can have made the calls when they were out, and they need to tell BT this and have the argument and hopefully get the money refunded.

So what exactly is a P10 band call then?

Is there a way of finding out what he number is for?
Its just a designation for that change band, it isn’t a specific type of call as far as Im aware.
I’ve tried googling the number, but nothing comes up, sorry.
Check the PC and see if there is still a dial up modem in it and whether there is a lead connected from it into the phone line.
I had a client whose phone bill showed up about a dozen calls at the same two days and time every month, turned out to be their sky box (although their calls were only 1p and it was a local number).

Oh and the fact that its a regular ocurrance would suggest its something automated thats doing the dialling.
Some PCs can be set to remotely boot when the modem receives a call.

You can also check on internet explorer under tools/ internet options then go to the connections tab and make sure its set to “never dial a connection”

They only have a laptop which connects to a BT hub. This isnt used a great lot.

Only one phone is plugged into socket and its not a wireless/handsfree, its a very old wired phone.

The only other devices plugged in are 2 ethernet adaptors to extend the wireless range….

No access to anyone else other than myself (and its defo not me!).

No other devices or phones plugged into BT socket.

I think they are going to have to report this further as its happening all on Saturdays and I know for a fact that my parents are out all day nearly every Saturday….

Something wrong and illegal is going on with the phone & line….

Are BOTH your parents out at that time?
I know you don’t want to think the unthinkable, but you’ve got to start with the obvious things first.

There has never been a ‘dial up’ connection or modem in the house, only broadband.

There is no connection from the sky box to BT socket.

Not sure what is going on….but I have checked all that I can and I cant think of what else to do, other than fight it out with BT…

But I estimate that since May 2012 that it has cost them more than 600 quid for just the one number!!

Because they dont paper bills any more, they have not checked the bills during the last 12 months or so….

Were BOTH your parents out at that time?
I know you don’t want to think the unthinkable, but you’ve got to start with the obvious things first.

I did think this and I made a joke about Dad getting up to no good on the phone 🙂

For example, the last call was Saturday just gone, 10.57am for 1 hour and 15 minutes. During this time, BOTH parents were away together….and the weekend before they were both in Sainsburys… and 4 weeks ago they were both at a wedding…..

So my dad is not acting the part of a ‘dirty old man’ LOL 🙂

And they don’t have a cleaner/gardener/home help/friendly neighbour or anyone that has access to their house at all?

are there any Saturdays when you know they were in and it has (or hasn’t happened)?

If it only happens when they’re out then the ‘intruder’ thing may have some miles in it but if it happens when they’re at home too then not.

And they don’t have a cleaner/gardener/home help/friendly neighbour or anyone that has access to their house at all?

No one has keys or access.

are there any Saturdays when you know they were in and it has (or hasn’t happened)?

It happens on a Saturday regardless of whether they are in or out….which is confusing me even more….

Have you read ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’?

Perhaps the Elves have become addicted to S&M Pron on the interwebs after all those years working with leather…

Its got to be something automated making the call, its too regular otherwise.
You could try reporting it as a fault to BT, but I wouldn’t expect that’ll resolve anything TBH. Done this before and it didn’t get anything resolved.
Do they have extension sockets in the house? Check each in turn for random kit in it. Could be an old legacy dialler for example. Basically in each socket there should be nothing else connected except a phone and filter. Filters are not need if no equipment is plugged into the line.

Do they have extension sockets in the house? Check each in turn for random kit in it. Could be an old legacy dialler for example. Basically in each socket there should be nothing else connected except a phone and filter. Filters are not need if no equipment is plugged into the line.

No, there is only one BT socket and phone, which has a filter, a router and ethernet adaptor plugged in, nothing else.

The only other device that is connected to router is an X Box, but I dont think this has anything to do with it?

If its automated as it appears to be, as it happens on a Saturday at regular times, I cannot figure out what it is, as nothing is left active, laptop, x box etc is all turned off…

When I was a student (some time ago, admittedly) I had a card with a number to dial on it which then let me dial any number and it was billed to my parent’s phone line.

Do BT still do this service? Could someone have got hold of it and have “needs” at very specific intervals?!

EDIT: Ta-daa

Unplug everything from every socket and see if it still does it. If it doesn’t, it’s a process of elimination; if it does, I’d be tempted to ring BT and the police to report fraud.

Unplug everything from every socket and see if it still does it. If it doesn’t, it’s a process of elimination; if it does, I’d be tempted to ring BT and the police to report fraud.

I wish I could do this, but my dad called BT first thing this morning. They are looking into it and they have also put a stop/block on premium numbers.

Looking at the devices that are connected to broadband in the house, if one of the devices, for example a kindle had a detailed internet history of ‘porn’ related content…

Is it possible that something has installed itself on the device, then automatically activates itself every Saturday?

Now you’ve blocked it, keep an eye out for neighbours who are looking slightly more ‘stressed’ and ‘fidgety’ now…. There’s you’re culprit….

DrP

Quick question,

If it’s calling at 35p/m for two hours every day, how did they not notice a ~£378/month phone bill for two years? Presumably I’ve misread something here.

Quick question,

If it’s calling at 35p/m for two hours every day, how did they not notice a ~£378/month phone bill for two years? Presumably I’ve misread something here.

Its only calling on a Saturday, not every day.

Paperless bills have caused the problem, no hard copy to read and they didnt check online BT bills. They will now!

For a device to be able to call out of the line it would need to be connected to the phone line (not the broadband) and have a 56k modem. I don’t think Kindles are equipped with those.

The only other possibility I can think of is a crossed line, but that tends to screw up incoming calls too.

For a device to be able to call out of the line it would need to be connected to the phone line (not the broadband) and have a 56k modem. I don’t think Kindles are equipped with those.

I thought so, but I just wanted to confirm this and rule it out.

It all started….April 2012.

28 Apr-19 May 13 09830 501760 Premium Rate 1:22:46 £ 31.420

It seems odd to me that it’d be something in the house, for just that reason. Who has modems plugged in these days?!

Is there a suspicious looking box outside the house somewhere?

Something a friend just suggested,

Did they receive anything unsolicited in the post around that time? “Here are your new microfilters from your broadband provider!” sort of deal?

The filters etc are the original ones from BT and they have not changed as far as I know.

Just added up all the costs for that one number, since May 2012 its cost a whopping £480.09 !!!

I suspect it could be more, but the online BT account only dates back so far…

I will have a look around the house. I am thinking its a crossed line/error.

Just been speaking with my dad and he also mentioned that the telegraph pole and cables outside, which runs the line to the other 3 cottages next door to there house were replaced sometime last year….

Uh-oh….
If you could pin that re-wiring exercise to a more specific date, you could be looking at the answer.
If your parents dial 17070 from the line, does it read them the right phone number back?