Broadband is unusually good ground for fraud. Almost everyone has it, almost nobody understands how it works, most people cannot name what is wrong when it misbehaves, and the provider genuinely does sometimes call.
That combination means a caller who says “we’re ringing about a problem with your internet connection” starts from a position of plausibility that a fake bank call does not.
Here is what the common scams actually look like, and one rule that defeats all of them.
The rule
Hang up and call back on a number you found yourself.
Not the number they give you. Not the number in the email. The number on your bill, or on the provider’s website that you navigated to independently.
Every scam below fails against that single behaviour. If you remember nothing else, remember that.
1. “There’s a problem with your connection”
A caller claiming to be from your provider, or from a technical department acting for them, says your connection has a fault, is running slowly, or has been compromised.
They then ask you to install software so they can “run diagnostics” — remote access tools with legitimate uses that hand over complete control of your computer. Once in, they can watch you log into your bank, read your files, or install something that stays behind.
Tell: no legitimate provider cold-calls asking you to install remote access software. If your provider needs to diagnose a line, they do it from their end or send an engineer.
2. The refund scam
You are told you have been overcharged and are owed money. To “process the refund” they need remote access to your banking, or your card details.
The clever version: while on the shared screen they show you an apparent overpayment — a doctored page, or a genuine page with the amount edited in the browser — and ask you to send back the difference. The money you send is real. The refund never was.
Tell: refunds do not require access to your computer. Ever.
3. “Your router has been hacked”
Preys on a real anxiety. The caller may recite genuine information — your name, address, sometimes your provider — to establish credibility. That information is not secret and does not prove anything.
Tell: knowing your details is not evidence of legitimacy. Data breaches and public records make basic personal information widely available.
4. Phishing emails about your bill
An email that looks like your provider: your bill is overdue, your payment failed, your service will be disconnected within 24 hours. A link goes to a convincing copy of the login page.
Tells: urgency and a deadline. Real providers do not disconnect you tomorrow over an unpaid bill without a long prior process. Check the sender address properly, and never log in via an emailed link — go to the site yourself.
5. The fake switching call
Someone offers a much cheaper deal, claiming to be from your provider’s retentions team or a switching service. They take your bank details to “set up the new tariff”.
Variant: they genuinely switch you, to a worse contract with a company you did not choose, having taken your authority on a recorded call.
Tell: if a deal is good, it will still be good in an hour after you have hung up and rung the provider yourself.
6. Doorstep sales in fibre rollout areas
Not always a scam, but the environment where high-pressure selling is most common. When an altnet is building in a street, doorstep sales teams follow.
Legitimate ones exist and some offer genuinely good deals. The problems are pressure tactics, verbal promises that do not match the contract, and occasional outright impersonation of a network that is not actually there yet.
What to do: never sign on the doorstep. Take the leaflet, check the company independently, and order online or by phone if you want it. Anyone unwilling to let you do that has told you what you need to know.
You have cancellation rights for contracts agreed at your door, but not needing them is easier.
Why “they knew my details” proves nothing
This is the belief that does the most damage.
Your name, address, phone number and often your provider are obtainable from data breaches, marketing lists, the open electoral register and social media. A caller reciting them has demonstrated research, not authority.
Caller ID can also be spoofed. A call that appears to come from your provider’s real number may not.
What a genuine provider will never do
- Cold-call and ask you to install remote access software
- Ask for your full password or PIN
- Ask you to move money to a “safe account”
- Demand payment by gift card, voucher or cryptocurrency
- Threaten disconnection within hours
- Require you to stay on the line while you go to your bank
If it has already happened
Stop and disconnect. Turn off the computer’s internet if remote access software is running.
Contact your bank immediately. Ring 159 — a service that connects you directly to your bank’s fraud team and cannot be intercepted by a scammer still on the line. Banks answering 159 will not mind you checking.
Change passwords from a different device, starting with email and banking.
Report it to Action Fraud (or Police Scotland on 101 in Scotland).
Remove the remote access software, and if the machine held anything sensitive, consider having it professionally checked.
Payments may be recoverable. Direct Debit Guarantee, Section 75 on credit card purchases over £100, and chargeback for debit cards. Bank transfer is the hardest to recover, but reimbursement rules for authorised push payment fraud have strengthened — report it and ask.
Helping someone else
The people most targeted are often those least likely to read this. If you help an older relative with technology, three sentences are worth more than any amount of general advice:
- “Nobody legitimate will ever ask you to install something so they can fix your internet.”
- “If anyone calls about your broadband or bank, hang up and ring me.”
- “You will never be in trouble for hanging up on someone.”
That last one matters most. A great deal of fraud succeeds because people feel it would be rude to end the call.
Sources
- actionfraud.police.uk — Action Fraud — reporting fraud and cybercrime
- ofcom.org.uk — Ofcom — scam calls, texts and number spoofing
- stopscamsuk.org.uk — 159 — the secure number for contacting your bank
- ncsc.gov.uk — National Cyber Security Centre — phishing guidance
- legislation.gov.uk — Consumer Credit Act 1974, Section 75