A Nice New Scam

[timvp]

I get a call on my cell phone from some company that claims to be the US government giving me free grant money. Problem is, the caller ID is an international number.

The first time they called me, I just hung up. They called again today and I decided to play along. They do a good job making it sounds legit, asking if I'm a US citizen over the age 18 and asking what I'd do with the money. Then they say they'll transfer the money right into my checking account if I give them my banking info.

:rollin

Both times they called it showed up as an international number and both times it was a person with a Middle Eastern accent.








P.S.

:flipoff to the company that is selling my cell phone number. I know who you are.

[ZStomp]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Bluto Blutarsky]

wow, thats crazy!
I can't believe that.
What company are you with?
I'm tired of these freaking scammers! :bang
This crap is getting ridiculous!

[scott]

Be careful even answering these calls. A fairly prominant scam has foreign calls coming in to you, and you end up with a $1100 phone bill.

[Kori Ellis]

^^:wow How does that work?

[exstatic]

I don't answer any call I don't recognize. That's why I have a machine, and callerID.

[Useruser666]

^^:wow How does that work?

They call forward a long distance or collect call to your number. The call comes across just like a regular call since the person who forwarded the call approves the charges. It is then charged to whatever company they are using to collect the fees against you. You can fight the charges and win, but it's a pain in the ass. I think it will even charge you if an answering machine answers. I don't know about voice mail or if it works on cell phones. Just don't answer calls from outside the country, unless you know the number.

[Slomo]

They call forward a long distance or collect call to your number. The call comes across just like a regular call since the person who forwarded the call approves the charges. It is then charged to whatever company they are using to collect the fees against you. You can fight the charges and win, but it's a pain in the ass. I think it will even charge you if an answering machine answers. I don't know about voice mail or if it works on cell phones. Just don't answer calls from outside the country, unless you know the number.
This is both weird and troubling.

Do you mind explaining it a little better? For collect calls you have to accept the call right? What exactly is a forwarding call? And how can you be charged for something that somebody else approved (the one that's forwarding the call according to your post)?

If this is possible it should be also fairly easy to put a stop to it, why are the phone companies allowing it? Anybody talked to their provider about this? What was the reaction?

[Shelly]

I don't answer any call I don't recognize. That's why I have a machine, and callerID.

ditto--and if it's important they'll leave a message.

[Clandestino]

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/forward.asp

Call Forwarding Scam

Claim: Scammers con victims into forwarding their phones to other numbers.

Status: True.
Origins: Given how often we've been asked about the validity of the #-9-0 telephone scam over the years — even though that scam doesn't affect the ordinary residential or cell phone customer — it's surprising we've received so few inquiries about a call forwarding scam which can be effectively pulled on a large segment of the phone-using public. A recent resurgence of this scam in some parts of the U.S. has prompted us to put up this article to increase awareness and help head off additional instances of this con.

The call forwarding scam typically starts out with the scammer's calling a victim and pretending to be in an urgent situation with a desperate need to contact someone else. A typical scenario is that the scammer claims to have been arrested for a minor traffic infraction (such as having outstanding warrants for unpaid tickets or driving with a suspended license) and needs to call a relative to come pick up his children from the police station. Supposedly, the scammer has "accidentally" dialed the wrong number and claims he cannot place another call (usually by invoking the myth that arrested persons are allowed only a single phone call), so he pleads with the victim to help him complete the call by forwarding him to the correct phone number.

However, the forwarding instructions provided by the scammer don't simply forward the current call to another number; they set the victim's phone to forward all subsequent incoming calls to another number. This scheme allows the scammer to use his victim's phone as a relay for long-distance calls, with the victim being none the wiser until he spots the unusual charges on his next phone bill.

For example, suppose the victim's phone number is 345-1234, and the scammer has a cell phone with the number 890-6789. The scammer may instruct the victim to "Dial *72 and then 890-6789," a sequence which activates the call-forwarding feature for the victim's phone number and tells the phone company to forward all calls placed to 345-1234 to 890-6789 instead. The scammer can then instruct acquaintances all over the world to call him collect at 345-1234 (or to place third-party calls to anywhere in the world and bill them to 345-1234) — the scammer can approve all these charges (because all calls placed to 345-1234 are being forwarded to his phone), but the owner of 345-1234 is the one on the hook for paying for them (because they were forwarded through his number). The forwarding will continue until the victim issues instructions to cancel it; if the victim doesn't receive many incoming calls, he may not even notice something is amiss until he receives his next phone bill and spots the unauthorized charges for hundreds (or thousands) of dollars.

As AT&T explains the scam:

Star-7-2, billing back to you: You receive a call from a stranger posing as a telephone technician or telling you that he has been arrested for driving with a suspended license and is in jail — or is in a situation that requires your immediate help. "I need to reach my wife and tell her what happened so she can pick up our two kids. Would you dial *72 and then her number?"

Star-7-2 is a custom feature for call forwarding. When the customer dials *72 followed by a telephone number, it activates the call forwarding feature causing all your incoming calls to ring at another number. At the end of the other line — whether calls have been forwarded to a landline, a cell phone or a payphone — the original caller's partner-in-crime is able to accept all collect and third-party calls, while telling your own legitimate callers that they have the wrong number. You get billed for all calls made because your number is the one from which they are forwarded. This ingenious scam, which even overrides cell phones inability to get collect calls, may go on for several days before you become aware it has occurred.
(Of course, this scheme only works if the victim had previously signed up for the call-forwarding option with his phone service provider. And although *72 is the sequence most commonly used for call forwarding, some phone service providers may use different sequences.)

The best way to avoid falling victim to this scam is the obvious one: never activate your call forwarding feature at the request of someone you don't know. Only forward your calls when you want them to go somewhere else.

Additional information:
April Foolproof: AT&T Alerts Consumers About the Latest Scams
(AT&T)

[Slomo]

:wow

This scam could work over here too provided that the scammer can find people with an ISDN phone and the forwarding feature switched on (it is switched off by default - the phone company will only enable this function if the customer ask them to).

Thanks for the info!

Come to think about it, this is a good policy since people who will ask this feature to be switched on will be less prone to allow a scammer to trick them since they will be aware of the command codes.

[Useruser666]

Damn I looked it up before I saw snopes was already posted. :lol

[T Park]

both times it was a person with a Middle Eastern accent.



Who was it, Osama?