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NWR:Area Code Scam
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Re: NWR:Area Code Scam
Member since
Re: NWR:Area Code Scam
Someone posted some info on BHB about an 809 Area Code Scam. Here is the info right off the AT&T website.
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045
Periodically, e-mails warning of a scam involving calls from the 809 area code circulate. Some of the information in the e-mail is true. For example, in the past, there has been some fraud associated with unscrupulous pay-per-call operators in that area code. However, this scam has been less and less of an issue in recent years as a result of work done by AT&T to shut down access to fraudulent pay-per-call operators. In fact, we rarely get actual complaints about this scam.
Furthermore, there is quite a bit of misinformation in the message, especially the highly exaggerated cost of a phone call to numbers in the 809 area code, a legitimate code for the Dominican Republic (not the Virgin Islands, as the e-mail states).
In an effort to protect AT&T consumers from all manner of scams, AT&T offers the following information and tips.
* Return calls to familiar numbers only. As a general rule, return pages and voice mail messages only from numbers that contain familiar or recognizable area codes. You may call your directory assistance or long-distance operator to check on the area code location.
* Carefully read your telephone bill. Make sure you only receive charges from your provider of choice. Ensure you thoroughly understand charges listed on your phone bill, have chosen to do business with all of the listed providers billing for those charges and have authorized additional fees invoiced. If your local service has changed, you will receive a final bill from the former provider and a notice concerning your service disconnection.
* Be suspicious of alleged changes in your service. Some customers have reported receiving calls or mailings from companies claiming that they bill or provide services on behalf of AT&T companies. If you are so contacted, assume it is untrue until you have verified it with an AT&T customer service representative, whose contact number is listed in the front of your phone book or on your AT&T phone bill.
If you believe that you have been scammed,
* Contact the carrier with whom the charge originated, whose name and toll-free telephone number should be printed on the same bill page as the charge in question. Often, the problem can be resolved with a single phone call.
* If the carrier with whom the charge originated does not agree to resolve the problem, contact AT&T. AT&T will work with the customer and the carrier to help get fraudulent charges removed from the phone bill.
* To file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission about this and/or related phone scams, visit: www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/809.html.
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045
Periodically, e-mails warning of a scam involving calls from the 809 area code circulate. Some of the information in the e-mail is true. For example, in the past, there has been some fraud associated with unscrupulous pay-per-call operators in that area code. However, this scam has been less and less of an issue in recent years as a result of work done by AT&T to shut down access to fraudulent pay-per-call operators. In fact, we rarely get actual complaints about this scam.
Furthermore, there is quite a bit of misinformation in the message, especially the highly exaggerated cost of a phone call to numbers in the 809 area code, a legitimate code for the Dominican Republic (not the Virgin Islands, as the e-mail states).
In an effort to protect AT&T consumers from all manner of scams, AT&T offers the following information and tips.
* Return calls to familiar numbers only. As a general rule, return pages and voice mail messages only from numbers that contain familiar or recognizable area codes. You may call your directory assistance or long-distance operator to check on the area code location.
* Carefully read your telephone bill. Make sure you only receive charges from your provider of choice. Ensure you thoroughly understand charges listed on your phone bill, have chosen to do business with all of the listed providers billing for those charges and have authorized additional fees invoiced. If your local service has changed, you will receive a final bill from the former provider and a notice concerning your service disconnection.
* Be suspicious of alleged changes in your service. Some customers have reported receiving calls or mailings from companies claiming that they bill or provide services on behalf of AT&T companies. If you are so contacted, assume it is untrue until you have verified it with an AT&T customer service representative, whose contact number is listed in the front of your phone book or on your AT&T phone bill.
If you believe that you have been scammed,
* Contact the carrier with whom the charge originated, whose name and toll-free telephone number should be printed on the same bill page as the charge in question. Often, the problem can be resolved with a single phone call.
* If the carrier with whom the charge originated does not agree to resolve the problem, contact AT&T. AT&T will work with the customer and the carrier to help get fraudulent charges removed from the phone bill.
* To file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission about this and/or related phone scams, visit: www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/809.html.
