Saturday, July 17, 2004

Scam or warning?

I received this letter from a friend. What do you think? I looked up area code 809 and it is in the Dominican Republic. Any comments?
Subject: 809 AREA CODE



We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code.
The woman said "Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly.
Have something important to tell you."
Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809.
We didn't respond because.the week earlier we had been forwarned
about this scam that had described in detail the following -
DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284 AND 876
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T.

> This is a very important issue of Scam Busters because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading *extremely* quickly, which can easily cost you thousand of dollars.

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 $2425 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.
> Be wary of e-mail, 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.
Sandi Van Handel
AT&T Field Service Manager
(920)687-904

1 comment:

Dave said...

Check out what the real scambusters site has to say about it. Here's another comment from hoaxbusters