The Self Storage Association of the United Kingdom (SSA-UK) has issued a warning to facility operators about a phone scam designed to get businesses to call 0913 premium-rate numbers. “This scam works by having fake potential customers contact you through your website or by leaving phone messages after hours. The number they leave as a return contact starts with 0913. When you ring this number, you are then put on hold while they claim to find the person for you, and then leave you on hold. The call is then charged to you,” officials said in an e-mail message to members.
Call charges can range between 10 pence and £1.53 per minute or call from a landline serviced by BT Group PLC, the United Kingdom’s largest telecommunications provider. Other providers sometimes charge up to £2.60, the e-mail stated.
“It would be very unlikely that a genuine customer inquiry would use a 0913 phone number,” SSA-UK officials said.
Premium-rate numbers were allocated in the U.K. beginning in 2001, according to Wikipedia. They include phone numbers that begin with 0911, 0912 and 0913.
The SSA-UK is the trade association for the self-storage industry in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to support member operators and vendors, promote best business practices, and raise public awareness.