Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scam

Scam phone calls are being made by people purporting to be the Telephone Preference Service asking for personal and bank details to assist in the renewal of TPS membership. Once you have registered your phone number with the TPS you don’t need to renew it. These phone calls are fraudulent and intended to obtain your details for criminal purposes.

If you wish to contact the TPS their e-mail address is tps@dma.org.uk and they have a website www.tpsonline.org.uk  PLEASE DON’T GIVE OUT ANY OF YOUR DETAILS TO COLD CALLERS

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58 thoughts on “Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scam”

  1. I nearly got caught out by this one. The caller knew my name and address and advised they needed to update the TPS service after confirming with me I still received nuisance calls. I was suspicious that they needed my expiry date from the card linked to the phone payment direct debit and hung up. They called back and explained they weren’t fraudsters but genuine and I could supply details from my direct debit instead (or something similar -it was difficult to understand as she had an Indian accent). I wasn’t happy supplying any information and so told them and she explained they had to get my approval and this was how it was done. I decided if it was genuine I would manage without renewing TPS as I was not happy risking it. TPS doesn’t seem to be any good anyway, based on this call coming through!

    1. Hello John, Thanks for taking the time to comment on this post. I’m sorry to hear of your experience but pleased that you didn’t become a victim of these awful people. Best Wishes Stuart

    2. Hello John
      I had a very similar call today – sounded fairly genuine to start with but as the call went on I was asked for more information about my direct debit and card expiry date. I did not give information and I told caller I didn’t trust them and hung up. As other people have said TPS does not seem very effective so that’s why it’s tempting to listen on. Clearly a scam call – number they called from 01274925849. Regards John A

      1. Hello John, Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad that you didn’t give out any personal information and that you realised it was a scam call. TPS can be a bit hit and miss and, as you say, doesn’t seem effective with these type of calls. Regards Stuart

        1. Hi, just had one of these calls myself today. A gentleman with a very difficult to understand Indian accent asked if I was still getting calls, when I said “sorry, what did you say” he hung up. Definitely as scam which is still going on.

  2. Elizabeth Bowron

    I keep getting calls from people saying there are from TPS. They have my name and my address and ask if I pay my telephone bill by Direct Debit. I told them it was none of there business and refused to give them any information. The person had an Indian accent and his name was Jack! I suspect that this is a scam. The phone number used is 01629230007. I told him to go away! The TPS doesn’t seem to be working as I still get a lot of nuisance calls.

    1. Hello Elizabeth, Thanks for taking the time to comment and for letting me know about your experience. Any calls you receive claiming to be from TPS (or offering to fix your computer!) are scams. You did the right thing in not telling them anything. Unfortunately the TPS doesn’t seem to work for everyone for some reason. Thanks again. Regards Stuart

    2. Cindy Atkinson

      I have the same thing but her name was Jane and she had an English accent she then went on to confirm my full address and my phone number also my bank sort code number wanted me to verify the sort code number and then my bank account but the account number she gave me was wrong and she insisted it was the right number but I know different so hang up

      1. Hi Cindy, thank you for your comments. You did exactly the right thing in hanging up. Unfortunately these type of incidents are becoming more frequent. The best advice I can give is not to reveal or confirm any personal/banking details over the phone. Regards Stuart

  3. judith roberts

    26.6 and 25.6 both 14.14 exactly the same calls as above. They even knew my husbands name which is not the name I use! I am on the official TPS and also the BT one. I 1572,d both numbers- todays was 1652555025. Surely there must be some ways of ridding ones land line of these pernicious callers short of just not using it. My sons have internet landlines which they never use as phones and rely on their mobiles. I dont really want to go down that road,

    1. Hi Judith, sorry to hear that you are receiving these calls too. I would advise you to contact your phone service provider to discuss this with them. They all have nuisance calls departments and are obliged to help you in any way they can. If you suggest that you are considering changing your provider and/or cancelling your contract with them it sometimes has the desired effect. I hope you get things sorted. Regards Stuart

  4. Just had a similar call. Normally I put the phone down straight away on cold calls as I work from home and can’t stand these timewasters but I got curious when they mentioned tps. The initial caller asked me to confirm my name, then said he’s going to pass me on to his supervisor to confirm removal of my number from spam calls… Ironic or what?? When the next Asian voice began his spiel I immediately said ‘oh, btw this is a business line, just so you know…’ at which point he immediately cut me off. This is a tactic which always works and in my case true anyway, but it doesn’t stop them calling in the first place unfortunately.

    1. Hi Sarah, thanks for your comments. These criminals are a real pain and can get quite aggressive when they don’t get the answers they are looking for! Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope you don’t have too many similar calls in the future. Regards Stuart

  5. Robert Flowers

    i have today received a call from 01670 827852 stating my T P S contract is due to finish, and that I can pay a life time fee( I did not wait to know the fee).

    1. Hi Robert, Thanks for sharing your experience. This type of scam is getting more and more frequent. As you rightly did, the best advice is to simply hang up on them. Regards Stuart

  6. My sister in law has been targeted by these scum. They took hundreds off her. They told her they would send debt collectors round. Told her she was getting a refund then took money instead. Here are some of the names she’s been done by. Privacy Protect. Homeserv solutions. Callprotect. Most of them seem to based in Bournemouth but the addresses are bogus.

    1. Hi Chris, I’m sorry to hear about your sister in law. I think that the word you use to describe these people is spot on. I know of so many people who have been conned. Thanks for your comments. Regards Stuart

  7. Dear Stuart
    Had several calls today from a scam company TPM (telephone preference management), asking for my bank account details so that they could update my TPS (telephone preference service) registration. They already knew my address and postcode.

    When someone with a heavy Indian accent introduces themselves as John Watson or Margaret Brown, it is a scam, and I like to play along, have a little sport, and keep them on the line for as long as possible if I have time on my hands. 53 minutes is my record so far from a caller saying she was from Microsoft Windows technical department. She signed off with the words “you are a mother f****r” ringing triumphantly in my ears.

    Anyway to get back to the point, what could they have done with my sort code, account number, and address.

    I know that Jeremy Clarkson got scammed when he gave out his details to “prove a point” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1574781/Jeremy-Clarkson-eats-his-words-over-ID-theft.html

    But if this is so is it unwise to send out a cheque, because all the details they need are printed on the counterfoil.
    Thanks in anticipation.

    1. Hello John, Thanks very much for your comments. I know quite a few people who use the same tactic as you when they receive these type of calls, it did make me smile! It’s amazing how annoyed these criminals can get when things don’t go their way. In relation to your question about cheques, I think there is an element of risk in posting anything these days but I still post cheques from time to time and have had no issue to date (famous last words!). Thanks again for your comments. Regards Stuart

  8. Judith cochrane

    I’ve just had a call from someone saying he was from t p s phone number 001390689303 he said my contract had expired didn’t ask for any bank details and phone call was ended by them hope I had a lucky escape

    1. Hi Judith, thanks for your comments. These type of calls are becoming more and more frequent. The best advice I can give is to just put the phone down if you receive any unexpected calls from unknown people, particularly when there is silence for a few seconds when you answer before the call is connected. This is a sign that the call is from a call-centre and is very likely to be a scam or marketing call. I hope you don’t receive any more calls but never give out any personal/banking details to anyone over the phone. Regards Stuart

  9. Similar experience as some of the above today. Caller said he was from tel preference management, knew my personal details and how i paid my telephone bill. Wanted confirmation of the expiry date of my card and was prepared to hold on even although i said i was unable to do so, 3 times, after which i hung up. The caller had an indian accent and the number on tbis occasion was 0121 6087388 which is a Birmingham number.

    1. Hi Rebecca, Thanks for sharing your experience, I’m glad you didn’t fall for this scam. The criminals often use a tactic known as ‘number spoofing’ where they replicate a local or genuine phone number even though they’re ringing from a completely different number so, in your case, they may not have been physically calling from the Birmingham area although the number would suggest they were. Thanks again Stuart

  10. Absolutely inundated with calls from end of last week to today from Telephone Preference Management. 5 or 6 calls today alone. Have got progressively more abusive to them but I doubt it will work. I think the only thing that will stop them is sending 50k volts down the line but sadly the technology isn’t available. Spoke to my phone provider (Plusnet) who have a free call blocking service which enables blacklisting of numbers. Takes 24 hours to activate. Here’s hoping!

  11. I’ve just had the same experience. Man with a thick asian accent saying he was from Telephone Preference Management. He glossed over it when I said I thought it was TPS who administered the blocking of nisance calls so I put the phone down. Lo and behold (as mentioned by previous commentators) he rang back and in an agressive tone insisted he was legit. When he started on about card details I said I never give out any card details over the phone and hung up.
    This scam needs broadcasting because I bet a few people have been taken in.
    Post it on social media folks, lets get these people stopped.
    Btw the phone number seems to have changed again. They called me on 002033026682

  12. I’ve just had a second call from an Indian sounding gentleman claiming to be from the TPS. He also knew my personal details and that I paid my telephone account by direct debit and wanted me to confirm the expiry date of my card in order to continue my subscription to TPS. I said as it was a free service he did not need to know this but he told me I wasn’t listening to him and would I go and check my card. Told him I wouldn’t give him this information and couldn’t anyway as I have a broken leg and he put the phone down on me. His number is 02045694243.

  13. I’ve just had a lengthy discussion with 3 individuals, 2 gentlemen & one female, from TPS who were most displeased when I refused to confirm my expiry date and account number. All were speaking with Indian accent on a very bad line. I hung up and they called back. The number used was 01213753849. They all told me that from tomorrow the service would be free. When I refused to confirm any account details they informed me that they would be discontinuing the service. Each time I asked to speak to someone in Britain and got passed to another supervisor. The third person, a female supervisor, that I spoke to gave me a help line number. I informed her that I would call that number to confirm who they were and she had the cheek to tell me that it would be her that I would speak to. They are persistent as they had called yesterday and my husband refused to give details.

  14. Just had the same call from our Indian friends…….their number was 02837 789028. Got quite aggressive when I told them i was not going to divulge debit card information to them. that aside, I don’t find the TPS effective these days. We get 4-6 cold calls every day on my office line. Most of them are international and don’t know what the TPS is. The others just put the phone down when you mention the three magic letters. But nothing stops them calling back the next day.

  15. Hi just got one of these. Indian accent gave me some b.s. about a new upgraded service starting tomorrow and I wouldn’t get any more nuisance phone calls. Wonderful, I said – fully aware of that this was a scam. He knew my road and then asked for the number. I said that I didn’t give out any personal information over the phone and put the phone down. TPS would have emailed me and not phoned that is how they have contacted me in the past.

    1. Hi Andrea, thanks for your comments, I’m glad you didn’t get caught out, I’m afraid the best approach these days with unsolicited calls is exactly as you did, never give out any personal details. Regards Stuart

  16. I have just received one of these calls from an almost unintelligible Indian man called “Henry” I let him go through all his spiel but refused to give my details. He became so aggressive that I put the phone down but he immediately called me back and demanded I take back what I had said about his father! I told him I had no know.edge of his father and he go very cross saying that he was an honourable man and not involved in scams and I should not be judging him as such. He just went on and on until I again put the phone down. I found it quite threatening and definitely intimidating.

    1. Hi Sue, Thanks for your comments. These people can get very nasty on the phone if they don’t get what they want. I’m pleased that you dealt with the call in the way you did and I hope you don’t get bothered again. Regards Stuart

  17. just had a call from these ‘persons’ … low lifes all of them!!
    Reporting to be from Telephone Preferance management Service, asked all sorts, I’m very cagey about these things, more so as I’m in Telecoms (use to work for the police) and I know TPS is free… eventually got out of her that she wanted £21.95…. after about 25mins got fed up with the insistent ‘We are not a Scam’ and asked her to put phone down… she didn’t for about 5mins until it went dead (waiting for me to phone bank)… worrying for those not so up to speed !!

  18. Just had yet another call (this must be my fourth or fifth time) from this Telephone Preference Management Services asking me to upgrade my details. Call made from 01248 209470. I told them TPS is a free service and why an earth would I need to upgrade a service that was free to use in it’s entirety. I told them I was not the telephone bill payer, my husband is and they insisted on speaking to my husband, Mr Brown. This is not my married name! Where can I report this scam please?

  19. I just had a scam call same thing. They had my name and address but wanted my bank details as said card had expired. Its long overdue for these people to be tracked down by BT and the government of the originating country. Its relatively easy to do and i dont understand why they have not done it.

    1. Hello Mike, I agree with you but unfortunately I don’t think it will happen anytime soon. It is worrying that these criminals are already in possession of some of our personal details when they call. Thanks for sharing. Regards Stuart

  20. Malcolm Pearce

    Hi, there still at it. Indian sounding woman called today on 01274985769 to tell me about updating the service. I hung up and redialled the number, unavailable! Then she rang back so I played along and gave her the wrong details from my debit card but she knew they were wrong……scary! She then passed me to her ‘Manager’ who suggested that I look at my cheque book so I said ‘hang on it’s upstairs’ I put the phone in front of the playing radio. After about 10 minutes I could still here him saying ‘hello’ so I told him I couldn’t find it. He said ‘when you do, ring this number’. 02036211316. I did call it and it said Customer Support Service in what sounded like an American accent I hung up. After a while the first woman rang again so I told her that I had got Caller Display so if an International number came up I just didn’t answer it. With that she hung up. Oh well, I’d had a bit of fun!!!

    1. Hello Malcolm, thanks for sharing the details of your calls. It’s worrying that these criminals already have some of our personal information before they ring. I’m pleased that you didn’t fall for the scam and hope that you’re not disturbed by these criminals again. Regards Stuart

  21. I took one of these calls this morning, from an Indian gentleman. He knew all the details about how I paid my bill, and the card number. When he asked for the expiry date I told him I wasn’t going to give him the information and hung up.

      1. How do they get so much information? I understand some of it is obviously easy – Name, address etc but card number? How can we make this more difficult for them in the first place?

  22. Looks like the are still at it. Just received a phone call purporting to from TPS. Caller had hard to understand Indian accent. He wanted to verify personal details to keep account active. I told him it was a free service why did he need to know and he started getting insistent. He knew my name and address, said he knew I paid by monthly direct debit and he needed to know when my card expired and the month. When I asked why he got angry! I said I was not prepared to give out any more information and he said he ws going to de activate my TPS account. I have just checked and it is still active. The number he rang from is: 01480459342

  23. Got this one today. Overheard my mum who’s a bit hard of hearing clearly struggling to understand the caller so I offered to speak to them for her. “James” had a very strong Indian accent and claimed to be from TPS, said he didn’t need any card details except for me to confirm the expiry date of the debit card tied to the phone bill but couldn’t explain why, and got more and more impatient/exasperated as I kept asking him to explain why if this service was free he needed to know that. Eventually got tired of his BS and told him he was very rude and I’d rather lose my TPS than speak to him for another minute. Just waiting now for him to call back…

  24. I’ve just had this call, from a number starting with 0207. A chap with a strong indian sounding accent – told me my name address and landline number and wanted me to confirm the expiry date of my card – said he’d wait while I went to check. Kept insisting they were authorised and regulated by the UK gov when I asked why they needed any info about my card. I told him I understood the TPS was free so couldn’t see why they’d need any card details. In the end I hung up without giving any details.

  25. I received a *phone call today from a man with an Indian accent, stating he was from the Telephone Preference Management, regarding nuisance phone calls. He informed me my account was due to expire(?). He wanted me to confirm a few basic details; Name, Post Code & phone number, but then went on to ask me to confirm my wife’s name. Now my hackles were raised from the onset as I’ve never heard of the Telephone Preference Management, but I decided to play along to see how far this ‘scam’ would go. The very basic details queried can be found by most people quite easily, and I was only asked to confirm them. But then the hit-and-miss questions started being asked; “You have Broadband and Internet. Yes?” (which most people would have these days), then wanted to know how I paid for it. He also wanted to know the expiry date of my Debit Card, the details of which, he claimed, would have been given when I set up my registration…. At this point I decided to start asking him the questions and then finished the conversation with an abrupt ending.
    Other than my name and phone number I didn’t give out or confirm either way, any other details. These people are trained on how to manipulate you to get the information they require. The details you think you are just confirming – you are not! You are feeding them with the additional information required. The TPS do not have my Debit Card details. Nor do they know who or how I pay for my Broadband. In fact they know very little information about me. Why should they know more? If you receive a similar phone – call my advice is to treat it as a scam from the onset!

    *02038-769389 26/10/21 12:16pm

    UnknownPhone.com – “9 reports and 262 lookups for the phone number 020 3876 9389 and our community has rated it as a dangerous caller (1 rating). This phone number is a landline from London, United Kingdom (area code 020)”

  26. Hi There,
    I often get 4 or 5 calls from ‘TPS’ scam. I kept them on the line for about 5 minutes. Must have done something right as they told me to F.off.
    Also Amazon Prime and Ban security department.
    They will continue and have no regard for TPS registration with modern technology it should be possible to trace close it down, but they only move to a other number. As they are mainly international any British legislation is of no use. There has to be action in the country they operate from. I believe recently that two have been close down in South Africa

  27. Sadly, this still seems to be going on. Finally, after many silent calls, a number that’s kept calling actually spoke, with the male caller claiming to be from tps, and mentioning a renewal. “You won’t get any more bogus calls”, a truly ‘banalis morrisette’ grade irony.

  28. Hi Folks just had 01413195918 claiming to be TPS. Thanks for the heads up so played with them for ten minutes. Couldn’t stop laughing when she said all we need is your card verification no….. so thanks again

  29. Just had a call from someone claiming to be from tps. I confirmed my name, but he asked me to confirm my address and gave one in a completely different city. I told him that was incorrect. He asked me when I moved. I informed him I had lived at my current address for over 20 years, and that I was ending the call.

  30. Had a call today claiming to be from TPS. I cut the call short when the women(Asian) started asking for expiry dates and card security numbers
    The number that called was 01752458748

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