A new level of low for phone scamsPLEASE READ

Please be careful yall, something just happened to me that I would like to warn yall about.

I was talking on the phone to my cousin, when I hung up the phone it rang as soon as I put it down. I answered it and a very professional sounding recording said that while I was on the phone I missed an important call and the caller was using an AT&T prepaid message system. The voice told me to press "1" to hear the message. I pressed 1 and no message was heard, just static. The voice then gave me the option to hear the message again, so I pressed 1 to repeat the message. Same thing, static. The recording then told me that this was a new service of AT&T and if I didn't get the message to call the number it gave. I called the number it gave. Well, the number was rated XXX. I was so upset and hung up asap. I called AT&T and they have no such service. I also called my local phone company to report it. Both companies had never heard of any other complaints regarding what happened. I am sure a fat charge was charged to my phone bill, but my phone company says I will not be liable for it. I just wanted to give yall a heads up. Please be careful. I am not one to fall for scams, as I consider myself to be very careful. BEWARE, there is no low to low for these creeps to push their garbage. Makes me sad to think that a child could have gotten the message, but then again, that is what the creeps want.

Lisa, please also bring this to the attention of the FCC http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaintfiling.html and your local FBI office. That's horrible!!

That's terrible like that and thanks for let us know. What a shame sicko people doing like that!
Thank you WR hope that help Lisa do something about it.

This message was edited Wednesday, Dec 4th 12:59 PM

Thanks for the "heads up", Lisa.
Happy holidays! :-)

What kind of phone number did they give to call? Was it a 900 or 800?

Dave, I was working outside when this happened and took the call outside, I didn't have a pen with me and the phone number they gave me- I called back right away. After hearing the message, for the life of me I can't even remember the phone number I dialed. When I called my local phone company they told me to watch my phone bill and as soon as it comes in I need to call them.

I know that it was stupid for me to call the number back, but there are so many toll free suffix's, I honestly thought it was a toll free number.

I hate that I can't remember stuff...

Lisa thanks for the info.

well, well, well, this is getting very interesting. I do have caller ID and the number on my box came up as unknown. I was doing something on my computer just a moment ago and then it dawned on me to check my computer ID..there it is, the number is listed. I did a search on the number and it is from NY and it links it to another number in Nassau.

Lisa, please report that number to the authorities. Your local FBI office will be able to give you a number to call regarding electronic fraud, and the FCC (hyperlink given in the first post, above) has specific jurisdiction and interest in these matters.

whiterose, I just tried to call the numbers on the hyperlink, they are closed right now. I will call first thing in the a.m.

I'm sorry there was no one there to take your call, Lisa! I would have thought that the feds would be 24/7, but I guess not. It infuriates me when low-life types take advantage of good souls who are just trying to live decent lives. Fortunately (for the rest of us, not for you!) this outfit made the mistake of contacting a responsible person -- YOU -- who gives a darn. Thank you so much for alerting us about this.

How awful, Lisa! Was it nubians?* Those Nassau numbers are fair game when it come to those creeps.

The area code is 809, right? Check this out, right from a page in Nassau http://www.nassaubay.com/bulletin_board.htm:

This one is being distributed all over the US. This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on to all your friends and family so they don't get scammed!

Don't respond to Emails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call an "809" Phone Number. This is a very important issue of Scam Busters because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading extremely quickly can easily cost you $2400 or more, and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it.

Here's more, from AT&T: http://www.att.com/fraud/att.html


*She once looked up the word nubians on the web to learn about nubian goats, and the site she found was anything BUT goats!

This message was edited Wednesday, Dec 4th 8:32 PM

Lisa - this is terrible! Thanks for warning us. Nebraska has a consumer fraud division in the Attorney General's office that investigates these type of activities. You might try and see if your state has one of those divisions.

Here is more information from the Scambusters website, which that above quote lifted from Scambusters: http://www.scambusters.org/809Scam.html