-----Original Message-----
From: Bernie Lebenbaum [mailto:bernie.lebenbaum@macservice.com.au]
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2001 7:55 PM
To: Michael Caplan
Subject: MAJOR SCAM ALERT-PLEASE READ]
From: Christine Rickard
Sent: Monday, 26 March 2001 9:29 AM
To: Bernie Lebenbaum
Subject: FW: Fw: MAJOR SCAM ALERT-PLEASE READ]
Kind Regards,
Christine L. Rickard.
Sales Administrator.
Macservice Pty. Ltd.
Email: christine.rickard@macservice.com.au
Telephone: +61 3 9558-0004
Facsimile: +61 3 9558-0875
PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU HAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR. If you receive an
email or a phone call titled:
DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809
This one is being distributed all over the US. This is pretty scary
--especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read
this & pass it on to all your friends and family so they don't get
scammed!
MAJOR SCAM:
Don't respond to Emails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call
an "809" Phone Number.
This is a very important issue of Scam Busters because it alerts you to a
scam that is spreading *extremely* quickly - can easily cost you $24,100
or
more, and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it. We'd like to
thank Verizon for bringing this scam to our attention. This scam has also
been identified by the National Fraud Information Center and is costing
victims a lot of money. There are lots of different mutations of this
scam.
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:
You will receive a message on your answering machine or your pager, which
asks you to call a number beginning with area code 809.The reason you're
asked to call varies. It can be to receive information about a family
member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died, to
let you know you have won a wonderful prize,etc. In each case, you are
told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area
codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call from
the US, you will apparently be charged $2,425 per-minute. Or, you'll get a
long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the
phone
as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get
your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24,100.00.
WHY IT WORKS:
The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas).
The 809 area code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900
numbers in the US. Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by U.S.
regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned
of charges and rates involved when you call a "pay-per-call" number. There
is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which
you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many
U.S. phones have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, 900
number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 area code. We recommend
that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number
with an 809 area code that you don't recognize and/or investigate further
and just disregard the message. Be wary of email or calls asking you to
call an 809 area code number. It's important to prevent becoming a victim
of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards can become A
real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call. If you
complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier
will
not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are
simply
providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with
a
foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong. Please forward
this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them
become aware of this scam.
Sandi Van Handel
AT&T Field Service Manager
(920)687-9045
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Mar 26 2001 - 09:57:12 EST