Talktalk Telecom : Together we can all Beat the Scammers

This month we joined forces with Get Safe Online to launch our nationwide campaign Beat the Scammers. At TalkTalk we are helping our customers protect themselves, however it is not just our customers that are targeted by scam callers. It is a problem affecting the entire UK population - and we all need to be aware of how to beat the scammers.

Everyone is at risk from scam callers. In the last month 2.5 million UK households received a scam call, 63% received a suspicious email and 43% a suspicious text message. If scam messages are on the up, then so are the number of victims - we need to combat this growing problem as a business and as a population. We are the only provider to supply free nuisance call features to our customers, blocking more than 300 million nuisance or scam calls on our network in the last year - that's over 80 calls per customer. We have an army of Scam Busters who already know how to spot the scams, and we are recruiting!

As criminals are becoming more sophisticated they are able to deceive and manipulate victims to reveal personal information. To outsmart the scammers our customers were tasked to test their own skills against the scammers with our 'Scam IQ' test. No one ever thinks they will get caught out, but it could happen to any of us, which is why we've provided tips and guidance to prepare our customers. Every business has a responsibility to help protect their customers from scam callers so they can become more vigilant, and understand the main tactics criminals will use to try and retrieve personal information, such as pretending to be from a trusted brand or creating a sense of panic.

I am proud that we are the first telecoms company to publish guidelines on how to tackle scam callers and reminded customers of all the details we would never ask for on a call or email, such as providing bank details or account numbers. All of our advice can be found here through our Beat the Scammers website.

What is evident is that scam calls do not just affect TalkTalk customers; this is a nationwide problem that is growing every day. We hope that by keeping our customers and their friends and family informed of the latest scams they will be more aware of what to recognise to protect their personal information. Together we can all Beat the Scammers.

Tristia Harrison, Managing Director of TalkTalk's Consumer Business