A North Lakes couple are advising people in the Keswick area to double check their landline telephone bills after being charged for calls to far flung places across the globe.
Carol and Roy Smith, who live at Threlkeld Quarry, are in dispute with their phone and internet provider, Post Office Home Phone, over claimed inaccuracies on their bills which lists them making calls to an American government department, a French mobile number and most recently to Amloh in India.
Through research, the couple discovered that the Keswick area’s STD code – 017687 – plus numbers beginning in 79 also refers to a call zone in the Punjab.
“How is it that we have the same STD and call range numbers as in India?” said Mrs Smith. “Something very odd is going on and the potential for fraud and criminal activity is immense.
“We feel that hacking into our internet account is providing someone with a route to our telephone number.
“It’s all very worrying when you don’t know what is going to turn up and other people may also be affected because if we are at risk with this STD code then so might other people.
“If people have a paper or online copy of their bill then I would urge them to do the same as us and check them thoroughly. We await the outcome
of the provider’s investigations.”
Post Office Home Phone is investigating Mr and Mrs Smith’s complaint and the couple have also contacted Copeland MP Trudy Harrison.
The company deducted the call charges and VAT from their bill payment.
