- Jan 8, 2002
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IMPORTANT Area Code Telephone Scam Advisory:
The following advisory was provided by AT &T. This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center. Please pass along this message to colleagues, friends and family.
DO NOT RETURN CALLS FROM OR DIAL AREA CODE 809.
Don?t respond to emails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call an ?809? phone number. You may 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 are asked to call varies. It can be to receive information a bout 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.
If you call from the U.S., you will be charged approximately $50 per minute or more. The object is to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges.
WHY IT WORKS:
The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas) and can be used as a pay-per-call number, similar to 900 numbers in the U.S. Since 809 is not in the U.S., 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. While many U.S. homes have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, this service does not work in preventing 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 disregard the message. Attempting to fight the charges after making the call can be very difficult, since you did actually make the call. Both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved in the matter 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.
If this is a report, then F OFF BITCH!
j/k
The following advisory was provided by AT &T. This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center. Please pass along this message to colleagues, friends and family.
DO NOT RETURN CALLS FROM OR DIAL AREA CODE 809.
Don?t respond to emails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call an ?809? phone number. You may 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 are asked to call varies. It can be to receive information a bout 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.
If you call from the U.S., you will be charged approximately $50 per minute or more. The object is to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges.
WHY IT WORKS:
The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas) and can be used as a pay-per-call number, similar to 900 numbers in the U.S. Since 809 is not in the U.S., 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. While many U.S. homes have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, this service does not work in preventing 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 disregard the message. Attempting to fight the charges after making the call can be very difficult, since you did actually make the call. Both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved in the matter 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.
If this is a report, then F OFF BITCH!
j/k
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