Publius Forum

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

WARNING: Possible Area Code Scam

A friend of mine received an email from ATT warning him of this new area code scam. It appears that the area codes 809, 284, and 876 are located in the Virgin Islands.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T.

They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has-been arrested, died, or 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 dominican actually.

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.
Hmm. Something smells fishy to me, so I won't give the contact number for customer service. I've never received a letter or an e-mail from AT&T with so many misspelled words! It may be a scam, it may not. I just thought that, in the matter of public awareness, I should share this information with you. Have a good day.

Update: I was correct. Snopes.com has the down-low on this. It is true that this is a scam, but it had the people all around me afraid. Why? I don't know. I never answer those. Have a nice day. Digg! Digg!

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