How to Avoid a $2,000 a Month Scam

In a recent telephone conversation with a friend of mine in another state I learned of how she had fallen for a new scam which which over a period of 45 days cost her $2,800. The scam is a clever one, taking advantage of unsuspecting people and playing on their fears.

The scam works as follows:

The victim wakes to a ringing telephone late at night or in the early morning hours. Most often the call is received after the victim has been asleep for several hours. A panicked voice on the other end asks if this is telephone # xxx xxx xxxx. When the victim responds the caller then proceeds to tell him/her that he is at the scene of a terrible accident and that one of the unidentified victims has this telephone number to be be called in an emergency. When the half asleep receiver of the call attempts to ask questions the caller responds by saying that he has no details, but that there is a response squad on site and that the squad section leader is authorized to answer questions. He then gives a telephone number for the person to call. The number is *72 yyy yyy yyyy.

When the scam victim calls this number there is no answer and most often the rest of the sleepless night is spent trying to verify the validity of the call, which eventually is written off as a hoax.

What the call victim does not realize is that by placing a call to *72 yyy yyy yyyy he/she has provided unlimited access to his/her telephone line from telephone yyy yyy yyyy.

In the case of my friend she unknowingly authorized unlimited use of her telephone line to local ex-con who used an inexpensive cell phone (yyy-yyy-yyyy) to make unlimited long distance calls for 48 days before my friend received her telephone bill and noticed over $2,000 in charges on the previous month. An additional $800 in charges were run up in the following month before she could contact her telephone carrier and cancel the authorization.

It appears that the scammer not only made long distance calls himself, but sold time to his acquaintances, allowing them to make long distance calls, including international long distance.

After reporting the scam to the police and the state Attorney General's office my friend learned that this particular scam is one learned by prisoners while incarcerated. Prisoners in the state prison learned that during telephone privilege hours they could dial local numbers at random until someone responded by calling back on the *72 number. Once that call was made the prisoner could then use the prison telephone to make unlimited calls on the respondent's account until detected. There was little chance the scammer would be detected and caught.

Once out of prison many former prisoners carried the scam with them and used it gain control of unsuspecting citizens. Typically the scammer will gain access to the respondent's account through a public telephone or a 'throw away' cell phone.

To avoid falling prey this scam police suggest the following:

1. Ask any unknown caller his name, position, and contact information. If he/she refuses to give it, hang up.

2. Do not rely on caller I.D. to confirm who is actually calling as scammers may well have access to official appearing telephone numbers.

3. Never return a call to an unknown number at the request of a stranger.

4. If told a loved one is in danger on in an accident, attempt to contact them or their family at home before assuming the report is true.

5. Be overly suspicious of any calls received after midnight.

6. If available on your telephone system use *69 to call back the and learn the number from which this call was placed.

Important Note:

My friend who was a victim of this scam lives in Arkansas. In this state the *72 + a telephone number makes this scam possible. I am not certain that *72 results in the same access in other states and other telephone service providers. The important thing to remember here is to be leery of any unsolicited request to enter *number code followed by a telephone number. Chances are good it is a scam.

This scam works by playing on the fear most of us have of receiving a call late at night from the police or a hospital informing us that a loved one is critically injured. As fear takes over reason breaks down and our normal instinct to be suspicious is overcome.

I hope this will help anyone who reads this to be cautious.