Scrutable

I got an automated call saying my NI number has been hacked and there has been suspicious activity on the border with Wales, which seems oddly specific.

Anyone else had this?

Tessa K wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 10:37 am I got an automated call saying my NI number has been hacked and there has been suspicious activity on the border with Wales, which seems oddly specific.

Anyone else had this?

No, it's just ewe

Sounds very unlikely - so should be OK to ignore - if in doubt, you could go onto the GOV.UK site and check your NI status

I thought this was going to be about Rachel Reeves.

It's an obvious National Insurance scam.

Oh, and your phone call is also a scam.

I've had several of these for the US equivalent. I just ignored them for the obvious scam it was and nothing bad happened.

They seemed to have given up on that one though. The current ones I get now tell me my package can't be delivered. But I only get texts now because the call screening seems to have got better, and even the texts are autodeleted if you just leave them a bit.

monkey wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 11:27 am I've had several of these for the US equivalent. I just ignored them for the obvious scam it was and nothing bad happened.

They seemed to have given up on that one though. The current ones I get now tell me my package can't be delivered. But I only get texts now because the call screening seems to have got better, and even the texts are autodeleted if you just leave them a bit.

The package delivery one is more of a long shot as not everyone is waiting for a delivery but we all have NI numbers.

Tessa K wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 3:30 pm

monkey wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 11:27 am I've had several of these for the US equivalent. I just ignored them for the obvious scam it was and nothing bad happened.

They seemed to have given up on that one though. The current ones I get now tell me my package can't be delivered. But I only get texts now because the call screening seems to have got better, and even the texts are autodeleted if you just leave them a bit.

The package delivery one is more of a long shot as not everyone is waiting for a delivery but we all have NI numbers.

I had a text apparently from An Post (the Irish post office) claiming there were customs charges to pay for a parcel, and invited me to click on a link. Spoiler:

Tessa K wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 10:37 am I got an automated call saying my NI number has been hacked and there has been suspicious activity on the border with Wales, which seems oddly specific.

Anyone else had this?

I would imagine it's a piss-poor attempt to import scams from the US where apparently SSNs are frequently used in identification for various things. In the UK I don't know anybody who could provide their NI number without going to hunt for a P45 or a P60 or something.

DJL wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 12:03 pm

Tessa K wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 10:37 am I got an automated call saying my NI number has been hacked and there has been suspicious activity on the border with Wales, which seems oddly specific.

Anyone else had this?

I would imagine it's a piss-poor attempt to import scams from the US where apparently SSNs are frequently used in identification for various things. In the UK I don't know anybody who could provide their NI number without going to hunt for a P45 or a P60 or something.

I've been asked (legitimately) for my NHS number a few times. No bl..dy idea.

DJL wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 12:03 pm

Tessa K wrote: Tue Oct 15, 2024 10:37 am I got an automated call saying my NI number has been hacked and there has been suspicious activity on the border with Wales, which seems oddly specific.

Anyone else had this?

I would imagine it's a piss-poor attempt to import scams from the US where apparently SSNs are frequently used in identification for various things. In the UK I don't know anybody who could provide their NI number without going to hunt for a P45 or a P60 or something.

I spent some time unemployed after university. As a result I have been able to recite my NI number ever since.

I also know mine off by heart (also unemployed for a bit quite a while ago), and I speak to lots of other people who do. It probably is something you're more likely to know if you've faced financial precarity.

discovolante wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:07 pm I also know mine off by heart (also unemployed for a bit quite a while ago), and I speak to lots of other people who do. It probably is something you're more likely to know if you've faced financial precarity.

You need it to renew your overseas voter registration, so I've looked at mine recently, and confirmed that I can still remember it.

dyqik wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:27 pm

discovolante wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:07 pm I also know mine off by heart (also unemployed for a bit quite a while ago), and I speak to lots of other people who do. It probably is something you're more likely to know if you've faced financial precarity.

You need it to renew your overseas voter registration, so I've looked at mine recently, and confirmed that I can still remember it.

I did that and confirmed that I could only remember the letters.

The US is far too relaxed about SSNs imo, just last night I had to give mine for a credit check to pay monthly for a new phone. One day it's definitely going to go wrong because hackers are gonna hack.

monkey wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:54 pm

dyqik wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:27 pm

discovolante wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:07 pm I also know mine off by heart (also unemployed for a bit quite a while ago), and I speak to lots of other people who do. It probably is something you're more likely to know if you've faced financial precarity.

You need it to renew your overseas voter registration, so I've looked at mine recently, and confirmed that I can still remember it.

I did that and confirmed that I could only remember the letters.

The US is far too relaxed about SSNs imo, just last night I had to give mine for a credit check to pay monthly for a new phone. One day it's definitely going to go wrong because hackers are gonna hack.

SSNs aren't supposed to be secrets.

I got a "cost of living allowance" scam text. Apparently this non existent benefit was going to be stopped

dyqik wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 4:34 pm

monkey wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:54 pm

dyqik wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:27 pm

You need it to renew your overseas voter registration, so I've looked at mine recently, and confirmed that I can still remember it.

I did that and confirmed that I could only remember the letters.

The US is far too relaxed about SSNs imo, just last night I had to give mine for a credit check to pay monthly for a new phone. One day it's definitely going to go wrong because hackers are gonna hack.

SSNs aren't supposed to be secrets.

No, but they are important IDs, and if they get used to much they get easier to steal and more valuable to the stealer.

discovolante wrote: Wed Oct 16, 2024 3:07 pm I also know mine off by heart (also unemployed for a bit quite a while ago), and I speak to lots of other people who do. It probably is something you're more likely to know if you've faced financial precarity.

I've been unemployed too. I wrote it down and took it with me because I knew I wouldn't remember it.

I can remember my NI number not because I have faced financial precarity but because that's the sort of thing my brain evidently likes retaining in preference to useful stuff like people's names, what my wife asked me to remember to do today, etc etc.

My brain is having fun imagining what could be at the intersection of an NI number ‘being hacked’ and suspicious activity on the border with Wales though. Owain Glyndŵr has returned to raise a mercenary army, but wants to keep things on the level with HMRC?

nekomatic wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 4:47 pm ... Owain Glyndŵr has returned to raise a mercenary army, but wants to keep things on the level with HMRC?

Him and the knights who say Ni!

nekomatic wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 4:47 pm I can remember my NI number not because I have faced financial precarity but because that's the sort of thing my brain evidently likes retaining in preference to useful stuff like people's names, what my wife asked me to remember to do today, etc etc.

My brain is having fun imagining what could be at the intersection of an NI number ‘being hacked’ and suspicious activity on the border with Wales though. Owain Glyndŵr has returned to raise a mercenary army, but wants to keep things on the level with HMRC?

Tidy.

They should have made Offa's Dyke bigger.

I too remember my NI no., probably from spending 4 months on the dole in 1981, though not really in precarity as I was living with my parents.

I can remember the account no. and sort code for my main bank account (though I have had it since the mid-70s). But I also remember the asociated debit card no. And the expiry date. And the CVV no.

(I digress: one person in one company that I used to ring periodically would really get my back up when giving her my debit card details for the umpteenth time. She'd start by slowly saying "can you read the l-o-o-o-ng c-a-r-d n-u-m-ber on the FRONT?" and end even more slowly saying "c-a-n y-o-u t-r-r-n the c-a-r-d o-v-er" etc. etc.)

I remember my first mortgage account no. (1980s), at least 3 phone nos. from decades ago, all four of my current phone nos.. Also, some months after I left my my main job an ex-colleague asked I remembered the password for one of the systems. I did as it happened, so I emailed it back to him, copying in my former boss just in case there was probably something funny going on (but I assume he was trying to avoid the embarrassment of admitting he'd lost a password when trying to get it reset).

Then a while ago I forgot my date of birth.Spoiler:

When my parents were alive I used the code for their burglar alarm as my gym locker PIN so I wouldn't forget it. Four digits I can just about manage.

I never forget birthdays though.

Tessa K wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 5:46 pmI never forget birthdays though.

I can remember the dates of birthdays OK. I just can't remember to apply that knowledge in any useful way, such as sending a card or a message or something.

DJL wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 6:31 pm

Tessa K wrote: Thu Oct 17, 2024 5:46 pmI never forget birthdays though.

I can remember the dates of birthdays OK. I just can't remember to apply that knowledge in any useful way, such as sending a card or a message or something.

To be fair, those people already know when their birthdays are, so there's no use in informing them.