The Facts About The 809 Area Code Scam, and Call Forwarding Scam

att.com/fraud/ ^

[chance33_98]

The Facts About The 809 Area Code Scam

Fraudsters have been distributing bogus e-mails through the Internet that are purported to come from AT&T. The topic, a phone scam involving the 809 area code. The scam itself is real, however, the e-mail and warning contain erroneous information. AT&T would like to set the record straight and separate fact from fiction.

The 809 area code scam first surfaced five years ago and continues to victimize consumers on occasion, although much less frequently than in the past. And there have been far more inquiries recently than consumers actually being victimized.

How the Scam Works:

In most cases a message is left on an answering machine or pager requesting the recipient call a number immediately for one of several reasons. The most common involves calling for information about a relative who has died, been arrested or injured. When consumers fall prey and call the number, the scam artist attempts to keep the caller on the line for as long as possible to increase the caller’s long distance calling charges.

The bogus e-mail claims the 809 area code sends calls to the British Virgin Islands, when in fact 809 is the country code for the Dominican Republic.

The e-mail also warns consumers that dialing the 809 area code will result in charges of $2,400 per minute. That simply isn’t true. The basic rate for a call to the Dominican Republic is less than $3 a minute although some 809 numbers terminate with pay-per-call services that permit the levy of additional fees. Since numbers located offshore are not subject to U.S. laws, there are no legal requirements that consumers be informed in advance of the extra charge.

And lastly, the e-mail purports to originate within AT&T’s corporate offices and includes the name and partial telephone number of an imaginary employee.

Call Forwarding Scam

You may receive an automated message on your telephone that says you have won a prize or money. The message directs you to dial a 2-digit code preceded or followed by the * or # key (such as *79 or 72#), and then an 800 number to claim your prize. When you dial the number, you are not connected to anyone. What this procedure has done, though, is program your telephone to forward your calls to a long distance operator. Con artists can then call your number, be forwarded to the long-distance operator and place calls that are billed to your home telephone number.

[chance33_98]

Just an FYI

[martin_fierro]

For all those who ever wondered, "Just what area IS that area code for?"

[blabs]

"Since numbers located offshore are not subject to U.S. laws, there are no legal requirements that consumers be informed in advance of the extra charge. "

The same goes for paying your bill! If you ever get raped by overseas long distance charges, simply ask your telephone service provider to separate the long distance charges from the telephone bill, and have the offending company bill you for the LD charges directly

Works great!

[BJClinton]

264, 268, 242, 246, 441, 284, 345, 767, 809,473, 879, 664, 869, 758, 784, 868, 649 and 340 are Caribbean area codes as well. Although the US Virgin Islands(340) I believe has to live under the auspices of the FCC so I think that one is okay. But most of the pseudo-fraud I've dealt with have been with the 809, 284 and 876 area codes. I've seen some really sad cases of teenage boys taking their parents cell phones and calling adult chat lines and running up $30,000 or more in a month on a single line.

[js1138]

Here's a helpful tip for cell phone users, form my son who had his phone cloned in NYC.

Navigate to the System menu on your cell phone and change it from automatic to manual (or digital only). If you are in a big city and get in the shadow of a building, your phone might otherwise switch from digital to analog. If you place a call or answer one while it is on analog, you stand a good chance of being scanned and cloned.In my son's case, the cloners racked up 60 hours of overseas long distance before fraud detection kicked in and shut off the service.