02031035180

jut had a call from 'Halifax' apparently on the number 02031034000 asking for my date of birth etc - told him to sod off because your bank will never phone you unless fraudulent activity has occured on your account, which you can find out just by checking your statements on line.  Thinking about it i should have given him a false date of birth and seen what he said.

have had two calls within an hour. No-one speaks but there is a delay before they, whoever 'they' are, hang up. Rather concerned.

Hey De, dont worry. My wife was plagued by calls for 2 weeks. Been over a week now and had no calls. When they 1st rang i had already checked this site and told them to sod off. Then i just pretended to be deaf when they rang lol What? you want a cab? etc Thier ringing loads of people, probably thousands of numbers, trying to "phish" for information. They so called "agents" comment on here about checkin out 1st assist online (the company they SAY they work for) but there is NO way of knowin that the caller REALLY is from halifax/1st assist. I could change (with technical equipment) my caller i.d. to become the number of omeones bank manager for example, just coz you see the number doesnt mean it them! so the bottom line, dont worry, either ignore em or answer and wind em up. They will eventually get the message and move on! Scammey sods

What is interesting is that quite a few on here ARE HBOS customers, yet still wonder where the caller got your details from. A quick Google search showed me that HBOS does have a financial interest in First Assist (although it is majority owned by Barclays - there's a thing - those that don't have an HBOS account, do you have a Barclays one?), so getting your ex-directory number won't be an issue to them. Also, the fact that the caling number is a UK one suggests that it is a genuine call centre (how would a Nigerian mud hut get a UK number?)

Instead of mouthing off - at others on here, at callers atc., just quit your conspiracy theory attitude, answer the call, and tell them you're not interested. Chances are, they won't keep calling you on the hour every hour, every day then.

I have figured a way round this.
Ignore it for long enough and it will eventually go away!
If a genuine company wants to speak to you, they will leave a message to say they are trying to contact you, not sit silently at the other end of the telephone and hanging up when spoken to, or phoning tirelessly for days, weeks on end.
Despite myself having ticked all the relevant boxes, companies still pass personal details on to other companies, which, quite frankly, is unfair, illegal and a downright nuisance!
I am also a member of the TPS. Which worked for a little while, but then the calls start seeping through again...
In light of the recent lost Child benefit data, i think we'd all be wise not to give out any information over the telephone. You really don't know who is at the other end of the line.
If a specific company want details from you, you can request to have forms sent to you by post, and use good old fashioned ink, which is somthing i will be doing from now on!
At least that way, you'll know if it's a genuine company who are trying to contact you by the headed paper.
By the way, i'm not on the dole either, nor do i claim any kind of benfit. I never have done. I've worked hard all my life. I also most certainly don't sit on here all day, by the phone, checking out every number who calls me.
I am merely a concerned UK citizen who is fed up of being harrased and irritated by unwanted calls, day and night!!

The individuals who phone from 02031035180 do not let up. They have been phoning
at between 1300hrs and 1330hrs daily for the past week or so always saying
"this is Nicola (or whoever)phoning on behalf of the Halifax" So they are not
actually saying they are The Halifax. They then go on to explain they would like
to tell me about a new Halifax product, but must first have me confirm my name
(which they also have). I confirm or deny nothing and tell them that the person they asked for will go into the Halifax branch to check on new products. They ring off and the self same thing happens the next day (they have Sundays off).
When you question them about the product or service they offer or the number they are calling from, they refuse to answer and keep insisting that you confirm details to them. It seems that even with more than 12+ pages of complains on this site alone the phone companies can do little but recommend telephone preference service or the like, also inferring these people use random dialers. I pointed out that random dialers don't have the details of your name attached, so someone who I have entrusted my details with has sold those details on. Now they are out in the wild for all such iq 0s to use, I've
simply asked my phone company to change my number. So Nicola phoning on behalf of the Halifax, I know you are probably only trying to earn a wage, but at least you won't be bothering me again.

I never answer numbers that I don;t recognise hence I didn;t answer this one. No voicemail left, so no idea who they are (other than what I've read on this page).

I will however answer next time (eventhough I detest it) and find out what they're after... will be interesting to see if I get the wonderful 'Sean' from halifax ... will keep you all posted if they ring me back (which I dare say they will)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This number as been called me a nuber of times recently. I rarely answer numbers I don't recognise, especially London type numbers that don't leave messages. Now I know it's a scam, I might pick it up next time if I'm not busy and wind them up for a while before giving serious abuse.

This number was on my caller ID today when I came in from work.  No message, obviously.  Am ex-directory and TPS.  

Looked up number and found here.  To be honest, am very mistrustful of these things anyway, we have caller ID and nos witheld service etc.  Am very much aware of these type of scams, but I really do wonder how they get our numbers? is it just random?

Catherine, they get your number from the Halifax or bank of scotland because you must have used a service in the past. In the pages and pages of documents there will have been a box to tick or untick, you probably miss read it or didn't see it- that's why they call. TPS and ex-directory dont help because legally you have consented to the calls. best way round it is to talk to them and ask them to take you off the calling list. hope this helps

Hung up immediately on answer. 12/12/07, 18:35

I have been a BOS customer since 1988 and I have never consented to receiving calls by them and to this day, they have never called.  So what does that tell me? why would they call now, after all this time?

I will phone BOS and find out what's going on.

Great stuff catherine, i look forward to hearing how you got on

Had many of these calls recently. Usual stuff, asking to confirm name and year of birth etc, but not willing to say why they want that info (other than "It's to do with data protection"), and won't be drawn further or allow their manager to take the call. Pretty frustrating.
Rang Halifax, and it's clear the calls are coming from FirstAssist, and they are trying to sell us something, and at some stage in the past we've "agreed" to be contacted. I don't remember checking the box to say "I agree to receive multiple telephone calls at all times of the day, most of which don't connect, but when they finally do I will be asked to confirm my name and then give out personal data to confirm my identity before the call goes any further". Silly me.
Would I buy anything from FirstDirect? Of course I would, and my birthday is April 1st.
Ring the Halifax, they'll give you a contact at FirstDirect. Ring him. When the calls reach critical mass I think they'll get the message.

Ok, another call today, again between 1-2pm, this time they left a message (I'd gone and changed my answering machine etc so I think they thought I'd answered it).  It started "Hello Mr XX XXXX" - my husband "this is First Assist Halifax Bank Of Scotland".  Then realising no-one had answered, put the phone down.

I phone BOS, they told me that First Assist are used by them for a couple of insurance policies, but that if you have requested no phone contact, you should not be phoned. We are listed for no phone contacts.  She went and discussed this with the fraud department and it looks like this is indeed First Assist 'using' the HBOS name to try and get details from us.  I asked if this was the case, then surely it is in HBOS's interest to get First Assist to STOP associating themselves with them illegally!  She said that because she couldn't find any details of Headquarters and a contact number there was nothing at this time that she could do and has asked me to ask them next time they call?!!!! I DON'T THINK SO!  They can also be reported to TPS apparently, but I'll need to look into that.

Anyway, it seems it is indeed sinister and HBOS have not contacted me regarding my account with them.

I have now put a block on this number, so hopefully they'll get the message, but I don't like the fact that they have my husband's name, it's most likely been sold to them :(

If anyone finds contact details, do post them!  I'll see what I can dig up.

Right, just phoned First Assist 0870 3803 324.  Explained the situation and they said the details must have been passed on by HBOS or associated Companies, e.g. Esure etc.  I did state that we are down not to receive these type of calls, but she couldn't bring up any details as to why we had been called or how/where they got our info specifically.  To be honest, if I can't find out how they get them, how am I supposed to trace the original error, either by myself or them?  We've been taken off.  Then phone back HBOS to let them know and also put in a complaint with TPS.  Hopefully that should be the end of it.

For those who posted that they work in this line of business, I can't for the life of me understand how you can do it.  Phone marketing is awful, very few people want to talk to you, we've got enough going on in our lives without being pestered by marketing calls.  Phone marketing should be banned!

oops -that should read "FirstAssist" not "FirstDirect"

Had a few calls where I do not answer as I've experienced problems with somebody ringing and not speaking when I answer the phone so I keep quiet until somebody does speak.  From this number though nobody speaks and the line then goes dead.  I am glad I googled the number and found this site.

They called tonight (approx 7.00pm) indicating they were from Halifax and asked me immediatley to confirm the year i was born for security purposes.  When i asked him why he needed to know he said for security purposes again and in the end this telephone tennis went on for a little while until i told him i was happy with everything and i hung up.

Just been rang by this number claiming to be Halifax and offering some sort of protection plan, asked for year of Birth which i (perhaps stupidly) gave, but he then quoted the day and month back to me instantly (so i guess they already have this information).