Before you hang-up…
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just looked on BT - I have regristered for home line and home office to block unwanted numbers
then the caller is breaking the law which when you remind them of this the phone line goes dead
helpfull hints on BT web site
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I dump unwanted phone numbers into 1572
But the more persistent scammers seem to guess that’s what’s happened and start using a different phone number.
For UK based cold calls, (if that’s what I think i’m receiving) , I ask for details of the caller’s name and company name, them remind them of the Telephone Preferrence Service. That’s usually the last time I hear from them.
That’s what they do all the time, my BT phone blocker button prevents all numbers coming back, it must have hundreds in whatever/wherever the list is But next day they are back again with a new number, sometimes it looks like a UK city code or a UK mobile, I’ve even seen an 800 number, but 00 800, not 0800 ,
I’ve had “Virginmedia” several times, but a new one this week is “TV Licence”
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This is one reason I no longer have a landline phone plugged in, though cold callers always get short thrift.
Trouble is, as with email, these things can cause instant annoyance and a sense of needingh to ‘sort it out’ when it’s actually a scam.
The “Virginmedia” email always seems to arrive about 5-6 days before the due date…so I always have to check…of course it’s always paid on time. The “TV Licence” email was an obvious scam - I know that the due date is months off - but I still had to check…just in case 
Have you had the “I’m calling about the loft insulation you had done under the Government subsidy scheme” one? I always tell them I haven’t been able to get into the loft for years coz it’s full of Naim cardboard boxes… 
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Yes, I’ve had several of the loft insulation ones. And TV Licence. I wish there were some way to get back at these people. They are evil. Easy enough for some people to spot that they are scams, but that doesn’t matter to them. There are plenty of people out there who don’t know about such things.
Pressing any button won’t invoke a premium rate call, but it will signal to the caller that a human is at the other end. It’s easier not to interact with these people beyond acknowledging the call and pointing out that you know it’s a scam and aren’t interested, then end the call.
The scam about £150 being added to a bill by pressing 1 is equally not feasible so I wouldn’t worry about it, but again if you are troubled at the possibility don’t press any buttons and just end the call.
Could have sworn I’d read that with some of these things pressing an option re-directed your call to a ridiculously expensive number - perhaps that is no longer possible - it should never have been to begin with.
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…that was the case years ago where calls in the US were directed to an offshore location and you were billed for making a very expensive toll call.
Doesn’t anyone have an answer machine still these days ?
We get a call and leave it if the number is not recognised. Often get them with no message left. Most scammers are robot operated that gets activated if you pick up.
Yes I had one today - reported it on https://www.bt.com/help/home/scams/ with the appropriate details.
Although specifically for BT scams i have used for other scams on my BT line.
You can also report here
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I have had the Amazon Prime calls as well. It’s a scam, as are the calls from people claiming to be from Microsoft. Although these calls are irritating, there is some fun to be had. My favourite response, particularly when the caller is female, is to inform her that she sounds like a nice person and that I would be happy to talk to her if she will agree to be my friend. I then inform hr that I don’t have too many friends at the present time. This will usually spook bogus callers into ending the call as quickly as they can.
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I needed some help from Apple the other day and went via the chat option - the agent clearly didn’t seem to understand my issue and wanted me to download some screen sharing software - I refused and told them I’d try to sort it out myself.
Oddly I’ve started getting calls on an old phone from Mauritania today - must be some kind of callback scam.
When i first read that i’d forgot it was a country in Africa, i was thinking RMS Mauretania
and maybe Somalian pirates have taken over the ghost ship?
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LOL. That was my first thought as well!
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I’ve been getting 2-3 of these a week for a few months. And another, with a similar message concerning something eles (Netflix IIRC). I had one today about loft insulation, but that was a real person.
Never comply with a request to press any key on your phone during an unsolicited call no matter who you believe is calling. This cannot be stressed and repeated enough.
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Proving a negative is notoriously difficult but apart from tabloid scare stories I can’t find anything that confirms pressing a nominated key on an incoming call creates an outgoing call at ludicrous premium rates.
There are however lots of articles debunking it as feasible, with two recurring themes; one is that UK phone providers don’t offer that as a service, and on top of that the maximum premium rate allowed is around £2 per minute (a couple of years ago) and nowhere near the £20 / £150 rates being banded about. And I’ve tried it, when a little bored occasionally when working from home and yet another idiot tries to tell me my broadband is being cut off soon. Press 1 and someone clearly in the same room tries it on. But there’s never been any additional charges on my bill.
But to repeat, if you have any doubts simply don’t interact; end the call.