Please read this important message from AT&T's Fraud
Division:
DO NOT EVER DIAL AREA CODE (809).
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
$24,000 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
permutations 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 U.S., 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 U.S. Since 809 is not in the 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.
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.
Things are about to get worse, because that infamous
off-shore area
code (809)
is in the process of breaking up into smaller chunks,
and you'll soon
have to
think twice about calling any of the following area
codes: 242, 246,
264,
268,284, 345, 441, 473, 664, 758, 767, 784, 787, 868,
869, 876, as well
as 809.
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