was this a scam

A bloke phoned me up today, Nice mannered Gentleman, English and asked if he could send an opisthion to do a free eye test, He claimed to work with the NHS and been doing eye testing for the NHS for 10 years, He already knew my name address and post code and wanted my date of Birth,
I refused to give him my DOB and he said he could not give me a date unless I provided a DOB,
It all sounded genuine but, you gotta be on your toes today,

Imagine every optician ringing loads of random people to ask that question. The person would have to pay a king's ransom in phone bills.

I think it's a scam and you're right to give no personal details. If he had some already, then it's been picked up by the Internet where you've given them somewhere at some time, or someone has given them to him which they'd no business doing. If it happens again, tell them to remove your details from their database, including your phone number.

yep, play safe, my motto is, no one comes knocking on my door to do me a favour, I know specsavers do home visits to people but, its only to disabled people ,

Tom you have to phone Specsavers and they give you another number,In our case it was a Bolton number

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It was't Specsavers and I have no medical conditions that would make it hard for me to go to town and make an appointment and he made it sound all too good to be true but, It was the 'we just need your DOB' that seemed so important to him that, rang alarm bells,

Ignore it Tom..the DOB always seems so important to scammers.

When they insist on knowing a date of birth alarm bells would ring in my head. The reason being that they are trying to ascertain how old you are, and how gullible you might be to fall into some money-making racket. Once they've got a foot in the door, they make it hard for an old person to get rid, and are virtually forced to sign a contract to spend whatever money they have. Trust no one you don't know personally, unless they've introduced themselves to you by means of a letter with a legitimate address and phone number you can check on the Internet. That phone number may have been genuine, but you don't know if the caller is and, again, if it was the NHS, wouldn't they already know your age if they have your other details? Nah! Summat fishy there.

When they insist on knowing a date of birth alarm bells would ring in my head. The reason being that they are trying to ascertain how old you are, and how gullible you might be to fall into some money-making racket. Once they've got a foot in the door, they make it hard for an old person to get rid, and are virtually forced to sign a contract to spend whatever money they have. Trust no one you don't know personally, unless they've introduced themselves to you by means of a letter with a legitimate address and phone number you can check on the Internet. That phone number may have been genuine, but you don't know if the caller is and, again, if it was the NHS, wouldn't they already know your age if they have your other details? Nah! Summat fishy there.

I use, who called me.

LINK

I always type the number on the internet after i decline a call.That tells you how many others have been called.
In most cases they are labelled scam.

Both are good suggestions and I've used them myself, but sadly, a lot of elderly people don't use, or have, Internet, and that's how older folk get scammed. Their spiel is so good that they know how to entice people into their spider's web. Luckily, most of us here do have those options and know how to use them.

It's good to have conversations like this on here because, there are usually more views than replies, which means others are reading them, which may help them in future.

And always remember, anyone unknown to you is not calling to help you, They are calling you to make money even though they say, " I'm not selling anything" that's lie number one,

As a matter of interest, Tom. How did he know your name, address, post code and phone number? Did you ask him? Did he call you on your landline or mobile?

People have to be so careful who they give this information to, or where they place it on the Internet.

I'm what used to be what was known as ex-directory, and I use TPS, Preferred Telephone Service, so if I get one unexpected caller every six months it's one too many. I stop them in their tracks before they can settle into a long spiel and tell them to remove my number from their database and tell them nothing they have to say is of any interest to me. They never call back.

He told me that the NHS had given him my , name , address and number because , They are working closely with them to help the older folks to get eye treatment and, he had the shypiel of a smooth talking , educated person and, very convincing and waffled on about how they helped the needy to get better eye treatment, He was smoother than hot maple syrup

Posted by: tomplum (14738) View tomplum's page
I do Mine and Mrs Plums though Lloydsdirect but, they've now combined with another which keep 'popping up' and anther group and, I'm not sure its a scam so, as of yet, I 'm holding off,

Replied: 1st May 2025 at 23:25

Just saying

Tom. Poppycock! The NHS doesn't give out personal details to anyone except your doctor, optician or dentist, and only when there's a particular need for it. It's against Data Protection.

First Mate. A case in point.

Tom, I know you don't read First Mate's posts, but he posted something private you divulged on here, which was:

Posted by: tomplum (14738) View tomplum's page
I do Mine and Mrs Plums though Lloydsdirect but, they've now combined with another .....

It may have been an innocent remark, but it's surprising what scammers can do with information like that. We should all be careful what we write in an open forum.

Thanks Mollie, I'm flattered that Daft mate follows and notes my every post and thats the reason, he's on my ignore list, he's a blood sucker, a leech with nothing of value to post, only negative comments and indexes faults of others Sad folks like that need a hobby that is constructive, Yes I did post that I order prescriptions but, I did't give the leech any details of how many rolls of toilet paper we order or things he might find interesting,

You're welcome, Tom. I've been guilty of posting too much information in the past, and it's come back to bite me on the bum, but we can all get carried away with what we think at the time as an innocent remark. Read what you write, then read again before committing to make sure it's what you want folk to know. That goes for your mobile phone as well. Remember what I said about mobiles in First Mate's AI thread back in November?

Any information given to me in private goes with me to the life's end as I would never divulge anything given to me in confidence, but the forum is an open book.

Posted by: tomplum (14740) View tomplum's page
Thanks Mollie, I'm flattered that Daft mate follows and notes my every post and thats the reason, he's on my ignore list, he's a blood sucker, a leech with nothing of value to post

plummy being his nice, usual self again

There are a few people on here who've posted things, then tried to deny it,

"Yes I did post that I order prescriptions but, I did't give the leech any details of how many rolls of toilet paper we order or things he might find interesting" Yet tom gave his details willingly, how else would he get his prescriptions delivered.
You can take a horse to water etc

If you received the call on your mobile phone just block the number and report it as spam.

I just can't understand what all the hullabaloo is about because someone has received a phone call being offered a free eye test

They are already free for pensioners via the nhs!

The simple solution if you don't want one would be to simply, politely tell them that, instead of making a drama out of it on here

you can go to any optician and get a free eye test if over 60. This is an obvious scam. always be on your guard

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Wade has been selected in the squad to play in the home game against Huddersfield, but the question is, will Peet play him ?

If he does not, what is the point of signing him?

Why has the above comment come on the general section when I posted it on the sports section?

OC some one should have gone to specsavers

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also a scam going round if you need to claim
it gives you a link to works and pensions. and heating allowance,don,t touch it ignore it dont press on link.