Industrial Workers Office Scamming

A question about : Industrial Workers Office Scamming

I've received a phone call from a guy asking for my mum, claiming to be from the Industrial Workers Office. He had a broad northern accent, even though I'm in the north, I've never heard anything quite so strong! I heard the word industrial and the first thing that came to mind was that it was something to do with dad's work when he was still alive... so I gave her the phone.

It didn't even cross my mind that it could be a scam, simply because within the first minute of the call, I'd made the assumption that it was to do with my dad! Anyways, she was asked if anyone in the household had worked in the industries and as soon as she said my late husband did they hung, and 1471 said it was a withheld number.

If you google Industrial Workers Office, there are forums saying that it's a female calling asking to confirm details of previous employment. Now I'm not sure what exactly they can do with the details of previous employment, but please be careful either way, as it's clearly not a new scam yet not everyone has heard of them.

Best answers:

• Hi
  We have a board especially for warning people of scams, so I'll move the post across there for you.
  Quote:
• Hi all,
  That call might be for any purpose, sometime if you join new company, they need to confirmed your old employment details, that time you need to provide all the details excepting bank account details
• I think I can help alittle, I just started a new job today, not knowing much about the role myself. It is working for Central Claims Group in Bury, and this is what we have to do.
  We are given a sheet of paper with Surnames and telephone numbers from what looks to be a 'DIY yellowpages', we also had to create a script for when speaking to customers. We had to say we were calling from the Industrial Workers Office and collect information from whoever we were calling.
  The information is to see if you are eligable to get compensation from a past employer for Industrial Deafness.
  If you don't meet the requirements after the first few questions then they will just hang up because it isn't "worth" continuing the call when they could be calling the next person...
  If you meet requirements, we arrange for you to attend a clinic for a hearing test, if you have 10% hearing loss then you can claim compensation. From what I see it isn't a scam, they are trying to get you money but ofcourse it benefits them too.
  I have to say my first day was bad, asking for Mr/Mrs Spence and alot of the time the response would be "my husband has died or passed away".
  I am in a Catch 22 situation because I have been claiming Job Centre Allowance for nearly 11months now, I have been reffered to the 'Work Programme', and they will sanction me (stop benefits) if I refuse this job...
  I'm hoping to get an interview elsewhere soon as this job doesn't give you the satisfaction of being a "Customer Service Advisor" as it seems rather dishonest
• I received a call a couple of days ago from the 'Industrial Workers Office' on my mobile - the caller display was number witheld. On quizzing the caller about what the 'Office' is/did and getting vague answers other than they can get me compensation, I asked for contact details - an email address or website - and was given a telephone number: 01204 557538 in order that I may call back. I have posted the number here as, if the 'Office' is legal, then they may appreciate the free advertisement. I haven't called it to verify as what I have found on here and other sites has suggested that the 'Industrial Workers Office' maybe slightly less than 100% legitimate.
• For what it's worth, I don't think this company is a regulated compensations service. I think it's a scam and as much as they'd appreciate the free advertising... it's not worth the risk of providing them with any personal details until they can prove that they are legit.
• I don't think it's a scam. I think that as Stonedcj explained they are trying to see if you are eligible for compensation. I don't believe that they are Solicitors themselves but an agency which would then sell your details to Solicitors if it is established that you are eligible for compensation. It's obviously very rude to just hang up but I don't think there's anything dodgy about it, no more so than the usual "no win, no fee" cold calling anyway.
• Just had a call this morning from the National Workers Office, same MO as the previous lot so I suspect they have changed the name. When you say not interested they simply hang up.
• I've just had a similar call from the 'Industrial Hearing Clinic'. They were looking for my partner and when I said he wasn't in, they claimed he was in because they could hear him. They were in fact over-hearing the TV but I ended the call there. I wouldn't trust any company whose representatives are so rude.
• I had a call from Industrial Workers Office today. He did admit it was to do with insurance companies claiming for industrial accidents etc. However, when I explained that I was not interested and was registered with the TPS operator became very rude, kept interrupting, and told me I was wasting my money paying! for TPS which obviously was not very good. Having informed him that TPS is free he said 'just as well as it doesn't work'.
• I've just had a call from the Northern 'Lady' .... and I do use that term loosely. She got more than a bit miffed when I kept asking her where she was getting her information from that she supposedly 'held' about me .... more miffed when I asked for more details on the company as to whether they were a private or Government Company (she was at that time trying to make me believe that this was some sort of Government initiative .... yeah right).
  Then she told me she was "obliged" to phone me !!! When I asked her on whose behalf was she ... 'obliged' ...to make such calls, she told me that she was obliged by her company to make these calls. Northern Lady then become even more miffed when i told her that imo she had been 'instructed' by her company to phone .... not obliged ... to do so and that furthermore whilst we were on the subject of obligation, what with me being on the TPS, that she was in fact 'obliged' not to phone me ..... not now ... not in the future .... not ever !!!
  Stupid woman shouted at me and slammed down the phone ...... what a nerve as I was only starting getting going ... lol. I of course immediately dialled 1471 and guess what ...... correct .... number withheld ! What a shocker and I was therefore unable to further contact Northern Lady to continue the whole discussion about .... obligation .... plus we never did get round to talking about the industrial hearing loss that I have not suffered.
• Just had a call from the Industrial Hearing Clinic today... He asked if I had worked in industry and if I could confirm my initials. When I said I would confirm neither because I didn't know who he was he got really stroppy. He said that he wouldn't remove me from the database unless I confirmed what my initials were. I refused. He said he would only ring back if I refused, and what was the harm anyway? I said that it was an unsolicited call and I didn't know who he was. He got really cross and said that it would make everyone's life much easier if I could just do as he had asked me. I said no and hung up. Lo and behold the phone on our SECOND phone line rang immediately (next one down in the phone book)... and surprise! Same man... same question. Except that he knew it would be me and started haranguing me again saying that the only way he could work out how I was on the database would be if I gave him my details! I told him to "get knotted" largely because it was now plainly obvious that his database was the phone book. We are on the telephone preference service. Whoever this company is... they are not acting within industry standards, or even possibly within the law. My advice would be to avoid working with them at all costs even if you have a legitimate claim. If you do have a claim, then source your own representation from a list of recommended solicitors.
• Similar story to the others, their name was as above, the man was very aggressive, told me I used to work for Dyson and had suffered impaired hearing, which certainly wasn't true for me. They could then claim for me.
  They rang me several more times so I got my son to answer and say I was out, when asked for a number, I could call them back on they gave me a local (worcester) number, which I didn't call as I assume it was from their list. I've looked up ways of either blocking such calls (via BT Call refusal, which costs around Ј4 a month) or finding a with held number, but none seems suitable for me.
  The answer is to get their number and address so we can report them to the TPS, does anyone have it?
• Yes, Industrial Workers Office - again! Called me, told me that I used to work in industry, then started to ask me what I did and for whom. As I'm registered with the TPS, I told him that what he was asking was none of his b****y business and that I was with the TPS. Cue angry reaction. I put down the phone only to be called back immediately! didn't bother to pick it up, guess what? Number withheld!
  It seems to be a much more assertive and indeed aggressive approach from these guys.
• ..........
• Had one of these today. He mentioned something about hearing loss so I spent the remainder of the time asking him to repeat everything and pretending I couldn't hear him properly until he hung up on me.
• I've just had a really nasty phone call from the Industrial Workers Office, who gave their address as 149 Blackburn St, Blackburn, insisting I worked for Dyson and had a knock on the head. I told them I had never worked for them and the guy got shirty with me, then put me through to his manager who told me I had probably forgotten due to the knock on the head!!!! They were demanding my bank details and had my home address.
  I have reported it to Action Fraud on 0300 1232040 and would urge anyone else to do the same. These are really unpleasant calls to receive and the sooner we can get these horrible people shut down, the better.
• Bizzarre.
  [ring ring --- ring ring]
  Victim: Hello?
  Caller: This is the Industrial Workers Office
  Victim: Hello?
  Caller: We were wondering if you had ever worked in an industry and suffered hearing loss?
  Victim: Could you speak up a bit please?
  Caller: WE WERE WONDERING IF YOU HAD EVER WORKED IN AN INDUSTRY AND SUFFERED HEARING LOSS?
  Victim: Sorry I can't hear you, I am deaf. [Hangs up]
• To the people of this forum;
  I am a 17 year old former employee of the people calling you. The company you are receiving these phone calls is called Central Claims Group.
  I'm a new user so I can't post links, apologies.
  Here is how to find the website; google Central Claims Group, and it will be the top website.
  I'm not here to defend this company, in fact I despise them for what they're encouraging, and just for general poor customer and employee care.
  I will emphasise however, that this isn't a scam. They are just cold calling random people, using numbers from the phone book, and trying to persuade any poor soul unlucky enough to admitting to working in a noisy environment into going down to a hearing test and then going on to claim compensation from their former employers for Industrial Deafness.
  They are breaking several laws/legislation, as technically if you tell the company you are not interested, they are not allowed to ring you for at least 28 days. Many people receive 28 phonecalls in 7 days. They are also not complying to any sort of Telephone Preference Service regulation. Lastly they are grossly mis-selling the services they offer. They often tell the recipient of the call that legislation regarding Industrial Deafness has "recently changed." Bulls**t.
  Long story short, these people harass, push up insurance premiums, and are also a burden on what little industry and manufacturing remain in our country.
  I urge anyone who is sick of these calls to take the following measures;
  Make sure you deregister your number from the phonebook.
  Sign up to the Telephone Preference Service
  And complain by the procedure listed here:
  ioc . gov. uk //complaints/privacy_and_electronic_communications. aspx
  (Just remove the spaces)
  The contact information for the company:
  Central Claims Group
  Warth Business Centre
  Suite 224
  Warth Road
  Bury
  Lancashire
  BL9 9NB
  or...
  Tel 0161 7630052
  Fax 0161 7630065
  Do feel free to return the harassment.
  Kilburn.