FWD:Scam ALert

To all,

    The attached was received from our HelpDesk this morning. Looks like a bunch of crooks trying to make a buck off of the unwary. Oh well, Happy Weekend, I've got to go warm up the snow blower again!!

Dick Goulet

____________________Forward Header_____________________
Author: HelpDesk
Date:       3/8/2001 5:26 PM

Do you have a pager or an E-Mail address?....BEWARE! One of the newer scams involves pagers and E-Mail.

Pager Scam

You get a page and you notice a number with an area code different from your own.....must be important. So you return the call only to find it's a recording. In reality, you've just been SCAMMED! The call probably went to one of several new area codes in the Caribbean, is billed at an international rate, and the longer you stay on the line, the more it costs. What you'll hear is a lengthy recording, and the meter starts running as soon as you make the connection. The page is generated by a computer dialer, and the cost goes to the return caller, you!

E-Mail Scam

A company has been sending unsolicited and elegantly worded e-mail messages threatening legal action unless the recipient pays an unspecified overdue account. The message then gives a name and number in the 809 area code to call for further information. Callers are then led to believe they are talking to a live person, but in fact it is a clever recording that responds to the caller's voice. The call is designed to keep the caller on the line for as long as possible. The call can accumulate a high bill. (Source: CFCA 10-25-96)

Listed below are some other area codes mentioned. One good rule of protection is: If you don't recognize a number do not respond, be wary.

Also, check the front of your local telephone book for area code verification. The new area codes in the Caribbean:
Anguilla 264 Grenada 473
Antigua 268 Jamaica 664
Barbuda 268 Monserrat 473
Bahamas 242 Nevis 869
Barbados 246 Puerto Rico 787
Bermuda 441 St. Kitts 869
Brit. Virgin Islands 284 St. Lucia 758 Caicos Islands 649 St. Vincent 784
Cayman Islands 345 Trinidad & Tobago 868 Dominica 767 Turks Island 649
You can read more about this scam at the web sites listed below.

http://www.scambusters.org/809Scam.html

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/area809.htm  Untitled

Received on Fri Mar 09 2001 - 10:21:35 CST