{"id":790981,"date":"2026-02-17T10:54:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/?p=790981"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:54:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:54:02","slug":"sky-scam-calls-surge-124-in-january-as-fraudsters-exploit-discount-offers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/sky-scam-calls-surge-124-in-january-as-fraudsters-exploit-discount-offers_790981.html","title":{"rendered":"Sky Scam Calls Surge 124% in January as Fraudsters Exploit \u201cDiscount\u201d Offers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lowestoft, Suffolk – 17th February, 2026 –<\/strong> Reports of scam calls claiming to be from Sky rose 124% month\u2011on\u2011month in January, according to new data from Phonely’s Who Called Me<\/a> reporting platform.<\/p>\n

Submissions increased from 191 in December to 427 in January, marking a sharp escalation in fraudulent activity targeting broadband, mobile and TV customers at the start of the year. All figures are based on public reports submitted to the platform.<\/p>\n

Scammers Pushing “Loyalty Discounts” and Fake Upgrades<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many reports describe callers offering so\u2011called loyalty discounts, claiming they can reduce monthly bills or provide a special deal for existing customers. Others told victims their contract was about to expire or that they were eligible for an urgent broadband upgrade.<\/p>\n

What begins as a reassuring conversation about saving money often shifts quickly. Callers then request personal details or banking information to “apply” the discount, a tactic consistent across hundreds of reports.<\/p>\n

Rapid Number Rotation Makes Scams Harder to Spot<\/strong><\/p>\n

Phonely’s data shows how aggressively scammers rotate phone numbers to avoid detection. In the past six months alone, more than 1,000 different numbers have appeared in Sky\u2011related scam reports.<\/p>\n

Modern scam operations frequently use internet\u2011based calling systems (VoIP), allowing them to change or “spoof” the number displayed on a recipient’s phone. This makes it far harder for consumers to rely on blocking a single number or recognising repeat calls, enabling large\u2011scale and persistent campaigns.<\/p>\n

Comment from Phonely<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bryn Thompson, Director at Phonely, said:<\/p>\n

“A 124% increase in Sky\u2011related scam reports in a single month is extremely concerning. We’re seeing highly consistent language, discounts, expiring contracts, broadband upgrades, all designed to build trust before asking for sensitive information.<\/p>\n

The combination of repeat dialling and the ability for scammers to frequently change their numbers makes this type of fraud particularly persistent.”<\/p>\n

Staying Safe<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consumers should treat any unsolicited call offering discounts or upgrades with caution. Genuine providers will not pressure customers into immediate decisions or request full banking details during unexpected calls.<\/p>\n

If in doubt, hang up and contact the provider directly using official contact details. Suspicious numbers can be checked and reported via the Who Called Me<\/a> platform to help protect others.<\/p>\n

Media Contact<\/span>
Company Name:<\/strong> Phonely Ltd<\/a>
Contact Person:<\/strong> Bryn Thompson
Email:<\/strong> Send Email<\/a>
Phone:<\/strong> 0800 112 5000
Address:<\/strong>Sea Lake Road
City:<\/strong> Lowestoft
State:<\/strong> Suffolk
Country:<\/strong> United Kingdom
Website:<\/strong> https:\/\/phonely.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lowestoft, Suffolk – 17th February, 2026 – Reports of scam calls claiming to be from Sky rose 124% month\u2011on\u2011month in January, according to new data from Phonely’s Who Called Me reporting platform. Submissions increased from 191 in December to 427 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[401,412,445,411,414],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Business","category-News-Current-Affairs","category-Public-Affairs","category-Technology","category-Telecom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790981\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.abnewswire.com\/pressreleases\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}