Sky TV Scam

Many of us use Sky to get television. It offers a much greater choice than terrestrial TV or Freeview and there’s often a much better picture, especially for those in areas where aerials don’t work well. However, if you’re a Sky subscriber, you should be aware of a scam that’s going around which could well end up stealing your identity. So far it’s only been recorded with Sky customers, but it could happen with any subscription service, like Virgin Media.

How It Works

It’s a clever, two-part scams. It begins innocently enough with you receiving a pre-recorded call asking if you’re a Sky subscriber. If you respond that you are, then the second part kicks in a week later – by which time you’ve probably forgotten all about the first call.

This time it’s a live person on the other end of the line. He’ll claim to be from the Sky billing department and claim that your subscription for the month hasn’t been paid, and that unless you give your credit card details to be processed, your service will be suspended.

It can sound very plausible, and it’s easy to fall for it – a number of people have done. But once you’ve passed those details over, they’re not in the hands of Sky, but with the scammers who’ve tricked you.

How to Spot the Scam

The first giveaway is that someone would even call about a billing matter. According to Sky, anything like that would be handled in writing, and the same would be true for any subscription service of any kind.

The second red flag should be raised by the fact that your subscription hasn’t been paid. The vast majority of people will pay their Sky bill (and many others) by Direct Debit, which is all automated. Think about the way you pay yours.

Can the person who calls quote your account number? If he can’t give your name and account number, it’s a certain indication that this is a fake call, however clever and slick the script might be.

How to Avoid the Scam

The first rule of thumb is to be very sceptical and distrusting when it comes to phone calls involving personal details and financial matters. Legitimate businesses simply don’t call and ask for this kind of information – they’ll already have it on file. If you receive a call like this, ask for a number where you can call them back. The chances are they won’t give you one, but if they do (and, it has to be said, if they give a real number, that’s very stupid), compare it against the number you have for Sky (you can also find the number online).

The simplest thing, perhaps, is simply to ask them to put the request in writing and send it to you – which is the proper procedure, of course. You won’t hear from them again.

What To Do If You Think You’ve Been Scammed

Inform the card company, your bank and the credit reporting agencies immediately. Request a copy of your credit file, and ask the agencies to flag it, in case anyone tries to open a new account.

The best advice is simply to keep your wits about you. It’s easy to be carried away by a phone call – they can seem official – and never give out information over the phone in a call you haven’t initiated, and where you can be sure who you’re speaking with.

Reader's Comments

Some of our readers have sent in their own experiences with a slight twist on the above scam:

The phone call I received from 'Sky' was to inform me, I am the account holder, that I am paying a little too much for our current package and offering to reduce it by £2.01 per month. The caller confirmed my name and address in order to confirm changes in writing and gave a 'new tech support number' of 08712 344644, then asked which bank I was with. He then 'quoted' the first 4 digits of my card and asked me for the remaining digits. I realised just in time that this was a likely scam call and refused to give details. I then contacted sky on their proper number who confirmed they would not do this, and I was not the 1st person to report this.

And another reader

I too received a phone call from someone claiminng to be from sky maintenance department, he too knew our name address and phone number, he wanted to know which system we were using and asked if we were having any problems with the picture etc. He said because we had not called out any engineer we were entitled to 10% off next year's premium, and if I would verify account details that payment is made from.

I told him that I didn't give those details over the phone and he stated that the details were deleted after I verified the account, I then told him my husband dealt with the sky account and he was working, although he was at home, and that he wouldn't be home until 8, he said he would phone back later. I then phoned sky to verify the call and they said they had received a few calls like mine. The number is 08719011500 they also gave me a word to use if I was reporting a fault so that no-one could use my account for maintenance.