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Unique Preference – Cold Nuisance & Harassment Calls

Unique Preference – Nuisance, Harassment & Phishing Calls

We’ve all received unwanted nuisance, marketing or unwanted sales calls, some probably more than others. Whether you call them cold calls, nuisance calls or in Ofcom’s language “live telesales calls”, the receiving an unwanted telephone call from someone sat in a call centre somewhere to try and sell you something seems to be a fact of life today.
Going back a few years, setting up a call centre operation to make 1000’s of outbound calls was a technically complex and very expensive task; typically involving installation of loads of telephone lines and on-site systems and needing experts from industry suppliers to help make everything work. Although challenging for those wanting to establish such an operation, for the people they were trying to call however it had the distinct advantage of requiring a reasonable degree of investment, expertise and longer term planning. As in telecoms nothing tends to happen quickly, this also tended to mean that calls tended to originate from established or legitimate organisations with a vested interest in adhering to industry guidelines, UK legislation and telecoms regulations to avoid being closed down by industry regulators.

Unfortunately, the rise of internet-based telecoms and the wide availability of affordable telephone systems and associated equipment has removed much of the cost and complexity. It’s also made it possible to call virtually anywhere in the world at exceptionally low cost and removed the geographic link between a phone number and a physical telephone line. Great if you need to setup a business phone system or want to have your New York office receive calls made to a London telephone number, but it’s also made it possible for just about anyone to setup a cheap call centre anywhere in the world and start making calls. Operations seemingly run out of countries with exceptionally low labor costs and often somewhat lax industry regulation are increasingly responsible for many calls being received in the UK.

Ofcom, the UK’s Communications Regulator, have strict guidelines around how organisations may make live telesales calls (calls made by a person rather than an automated recorded message) but it seems that companies operating outside of the country are either not obliged to follow the regulations or simply choose to ignore them.

For example, many households within the UK (including myself) choose to register with the Telephone Preference Service. Being registered is supposed to mean that you should not receive calls from companies who you have not specifically given permission to make marketing calls to you. Companies making live telesales calls are required by legislation to screen their call lists against the TPS and risk enforcement action if they make calls to individuals listed on TPS. Ofcom have some helpful information available around this on their website. TPS is no protection whatsoever however if an organisation either operates somewhere the legislation cannot reach, or simply doesn’t care… Perhaps operating a calling operation from a cheap office – which could literally be anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, yet appear (from the phone number you see when they call) to potentially be based next door. Theoretically, overseas organisations are still supposed to comply with UK legislation – but in practice it’s clear that this isn’t always the case.

Unique Preference – someone must know who they are?

I could go on about this for some time, but instead wanted to focus on one particularly irritating organisation that seems to be in operation at the moment. Calling themselves “Unique Preference”, they seem to have obtained a list of names & phone numbers from somewhere and are persistently calling people trying to extract personal information and phishing for details. They seem to be particularly persistent and appear to believe that if they call you repeatedly (15 calls per day isn’t unheard of) then you’ll eventually give in and answer their questions. The questions start off generic enough but soon seem to start on more sensitive details… How many people in your household, names, dates of birth, bank details, employment details etc.
I wouldn’t like to speculate what they’re intending to use the information for but can’t imagine it’s for anyone’s benefit other than their own!

Calls originate from a number that may look vaguely like a UK number when you glance at it (although usually starting with two extra 00’s) and typically ask for you by name. They’ll quickly reassure you that they’re not trying to sell you anything and will swiftly move on to a “survey”. They tend to hang up as soon as you challenge them, but unfortunately someone else soon calls back to try again.
Needless to say asking to be removed from their list doesn’t work and they evidently ignore TPS so threatening to report them doesn’t help either.

image

Please whatever you do, do not provide real information to these people!

The numbers they use seem to be all but random in nature, and unsurprisingly don’t connect you to anything if you call them back. Occasionally they may also appear as an international call, or the number won’t be available – but for some reason they still identify themselves on the call as “Unique Preference”. Perhaps this is some sliver of attempt at being legitimate, but unfortunately nothing else they do helps that particular cause.

Here are a few examples that have called us over the last week.

    • 000199278997
    • 000237882100
    • 001020383989
    • 000138377288
  • 000203883999
  • 005808895391
  • 000208262626
  • 000239772711
  • 003201538352
  • 001662881810
  • 000117931555
  • 003201126222
  • 000153839161
  • 001255100054
  • 003201994456
  • 02068278990
  • 02382997880
  • 02837279980
  • 0001172992890
  • 01739937890
  • 01882229001
  • 01718288891
  • 0001902829981
  • 01902829981
  • 01892822991
  • 0001772820210

Searching for reports online turns up a few more:

  • http://www.tellows.co.uk/num/02379901212
  • http://www.unknownphone.com/search.php?num=01874013013

Do you have your own records of numbers? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list. It’s probably no use to anyone as they seem to use a different number each time they call but it may be a starting point.

What can we do about them?

Probably not much unfortunately.
Companies operating cold call centres outside of the UK seem to be able to do so without any of the usual safeguards or need to operate lawfully. Apparently, reporting them to the ICO online might help but given that they don’t stick to a few phone numbers, probably don’t operate as a proper business and presumably are based overseas, there’s probably not much the ICO can do.

The calls are also annoyingly difficult to block too. Short of barring any international calls or maybe implementing something sophisticated that needs any incoming call to be from a real phone number before answering, then options tend to be things like screening calls via an answering machine or just not answering.
However, if they continue behaving the same way, not answering just leads to repeated attempts to get you to answer so may make the problem worse.

Think I’ll try and keep them talking next time. Maybe if I waste enough of their time on a call without getting anything useful (or real) they’ll stop calling.. Not too hopeful though 🙁

Anyone got a better option? Let me know in comments and I’ll add it to the list!!

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14 Comments

  1. Hi Tim, I too have been plagued recently by Unique Preferences, and have tried to blobk them with Call Saint. But as they use so many different numbers it gets a bit wearing. Here are a few of the numbers they have used with me:
    02068278990
    02382997880
    02837279980
    0001172992890
    01739937890

    Good luck with finding out about who they are and what they want, andv might waste their time next time and give them some false info, perhaps they will leave me alone.
    M Fowler

    1. Thanks for the comment – have added your numbers to the list..
      Couldn’t find much in the way of other posts about the problem when looking around online, so seemed sensible to write something. Hoping to try and gather details together under one roof in the vague hope that someone somewhere can do something about them.

      May be worth going through the motions of responding with false details and see if it works. May just end up with more calls to fill in any remaining gaps, or try and use the details you’ve given to appear like they’re more legitimate than they are!
      Good luck 🙂
      Tim

  2. Hi Tim, I am literally tortured by this company, sometimes up to twenty calls in one day. I’ve tried everything from begging them to remove my number, to telling them that I’m dead. Here are some of the numbers on which they have called me today;
    01882229001
    01718288891
    0001902829981
    01902829981
    01892822991
    0001772820210
    Since they call from so many different numbers it is pointless to try barring them. I’m at a point where I’m considering asking my landline provider for a new number.
    Lynn

    1. Hi Lynn, that’s nothing short of ridiculous!
      I have yet to find something that works in terms of getting them to stop calling unfortunately and short of getting all callers to go through some sort of call-screening am out of ideas on blocking the calls.
      It’s been quiet for a week or two now though so perhaps they let a batch of numbers “cool off” for a while before re-starting calls.. we’ll see…

      Good luck!

  3. These people are a complete nightmare. I am long-term ill and I have to haul myself up to answer the phone only to find it’s this horrendous company. I’d ignore it, but it could be my healthcare people, or the kids’ school so I’m forced to see who is calling.
    Today they phoned every half-hour from 9:20 am and still going. Yesterday I got over 16 calls and today it’s already hit 18. I don’t think I can bear much more of this….

  4. Would not give his phone number(not on 1471 either):therefore no questions would be answered-not that Iwasgoing to.

  5. I’ve just had them call – their number this time was 01882 880579. But evidently they have very many . . .

    Because of his accent I stuggled to understand what the guy was saying. Usually I put the phone down straight away on such calls, although today (probably foolishly) I did answer questions, having been seduced by his promise that if I answered them he wouldn’t call me again. That said I made it clear I wasn’t willing to share details of my salary or savings, which he seemed ok with. I also said I didn’t want any marketing approaches, and he said I wouldn’t get any unwanted marketing calls (I don’t trust him though!) :o(

    But part of his way of tempting me to answer was his opening statement that his questions would only last 30 seconds, meaning I assumed it would be short and quick. In fact he went on for 8 minutes. While I appreciate giving a precise estimated duration is impossible, I don’t find it plausible he thought he could get through so many questions so quickly. In other words I think the 30 seconds claim was a lie.

  6. Hi, yes unfortunately I’d imagine the 30 seconds claim was a lie; possibly along with the statement that you’ll never get any more calls. There’s a vast amount of irony in being told that you won’t get more unwanted marketing calls by someone who’s just called you on an unwanted marketing call :/

    If it’s any help, I think I may have found a solution to the problem. Some new models of home cordless phones have a call blocker system built in, which requires unknown callers to state their name before it will ring your phones. Bought a set of these (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01BWMWTM6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) about a month back and so far, unwanted calls have literally stopped overnight as presumably the callers either don’t understand the prompt or won’t leave a name.

  7. Twenty quid or there abouts from Ebay and call display from BT or others. We have no longer got the calls. Simply fitted a call minder, We block the calls as we are on the call by pressing the red button and the phone NEVER rings the next time. You must be careful not to block others by hiting the red button, but you can undo this easy enough. We feel better for this suggestion by a friend. We were asking for a swap of number from BT, they were not helpful and seem to not be keen to change it. Shame we could not have the same number as per mobiles and take wherever. I think we have been used as a form filler by previous owners of this number. Not at all right. Today they want all your info. I use an old Orange mobile number. Sorry but do you really need my phone number or are you selling it to these scumbags.

  8. Unique Preference just used the following number : 0161 464 9288.
    As I was online I was able to immediately use your excellent web site to check. I quoted from your details above and asked “do you wish to continue this call”. Silence for several seconds before he said “No”.
    Result.

  9. I got called today 13/08/22 and I was persuaded by what he said about never calling me back!
    The questions he asked weren’t invasive. Just asked if I was in 20s,30s,40s and so on, if I had children under 16 and what makes my appliances are!
    Surely he can’t do much with that information??
    I’m really worried now. But I thought it was just market research at the time.
    But then when I thought about it, it worried me!
    They called themselves “Unique Choice” but I’m sure it’s the same people as “Unique Preference”.
    Then he asked if I would do other surveys, I said no and he said ok you won’t hear from us again and put phone down abruptly!
    I didn’t give any bank details or sensitive information. He already knew my address?!
    It’s scary how your info can get past around all over the internet!

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