Subject: Bogus warning!?!?....Never Dial Area Code 809 (Rapley)
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 035703 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers"
To: emfguru
--------------------------------------------------
......I have received confirmation on this problem from two or three
others of you as well..... Thanks for your responses.....
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)......
rbeavers@llion.org.......
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
EMF-L web-site can be found at:
EMF-L archives can be found at:
..................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS..................
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 12:09:15 +1300
From: Bruce Rapley
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: Re: Bogus warning!?!?....Never Dial Area Code 809 (fwd)
Roy,
I have just returned from leave to find this email on my machine. I would
just like to advise your readers that I discovered such ascam whereby my
credit card was charged by a company, of similar name to Global
Communications, for services never requested nor received. I was
fortunate in being able to make my bank reverse the chages, however this
occurred at least two months in a row. It ammounted to hundreds of
dollars.
I tried phoning the number in the States, but could never get a person to
talk to to complain. Finally the bank did reverse the charges, but not
until weeks of hassle were endured anmd many letters sent.
Today, with techo-crime and techno-fraud, we need to be ever vigilant.
Our credit cards,bank accounts and mail are not safe. To add insult to
injury, we are currently experiencing a spate of mail thefts from home mail
boxes. Not even out written letters are safe !
Cheers,
Bruce Rapley.
>.....I have no way of knowing anything more about this than what you see
>below..... It can not hurt to send it, just in case....
>
>Roy Beavers (EMFguru)......
>rbeavers@llion.org.......
>.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
>EMF-L web-site can be found at:
>EMF-L archives can be found at:
>..................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS..................
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 01:58:54 -0400
>From: azul@flash.net
>To: "Roy L. Beavers"
>Subject: Never Dial Area Code 809
>
>I received this today. Has anyone heard of this? Suzanne
>
>Don't Respond To Emails, Phone Calls, Or Pages Which Tell You to Call An
>
>"809" Phone Number. This is a very important issue of Internet
>ScamBusters because it alerts you to a scam that is; - spreading
>"extremely" quickly
>-
>can easily cost you $100 or more, and - is difficult to avoid unless you
>
>are aware of it. 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, but here is how
>it works:
>
>Permutation #1: Internet Based Phone Scam Via Email:
>
>You receive an email, typically with a subject line of "*ALERT*" or
>Unpaid account." The message, which is being spammed across the net,
>says: I am
>writing to give you a final 24hrs to settle your outstanding account. If
>I
>have not received the settlement in full, I will commence legal
>proceedings
>without further delay. If you would like to discuss this matter to avoid
>court action,
>call Mike Murray at Global Communications at 1-809-496-2700.
>
>Permutation #2: Phone Or Pager Scam:
>
>You receive a message on your answering machine or your pager which asks
>
>you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason to 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're 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
>$25 per-minute or more! Sometimes the person who answers the phone will
>speak broken English and pretend not to understand you. Other times,
>you'll just 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 $100.00.
>
>Here's 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 US
>regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and
>warned ofcharges 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. Further, whereas many
>US
>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,
>investigate further and/or disregard the message. Be "very" wary of
>email 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 our 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 updealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing
>wrong.
>
>Please forward this entire issue of Internet ScamBusters! to your
>friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam so
>they
>don't get ripped off.
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com