Best-Rate-Guide Blog

Cheryl

Cheryl

Cheryl

809 Phone Scam

You get an e-mail, voicemail or page telling you to call a phone number with an 809, 284, or 876 (or some other three-digit) area code to collect a prize, find out about a sick relative, engage in sex talk, etc.

You assume you are making a domestic long distance call - as "809", "284", and "876" (and other three-digit area codes involved in this scam) appear to be typical three-digit U.S. area codes.

When you dial the "809", "284" or "876" (or other three-digit) area code plus the number, however, you're actually connected to a phone number outside the United States, often in Canada or the Caribbean, and charged international call rates. (In this case, 809 goes to the Dominican Republic, 284 goes to the British Virgin Islands, and 876 goes to Jamaica.)

If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute. Or, you'll get a long recorded message The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24,100.00.

You don't find out about the higher international call rates until you receive your phone bill.

Henry

Henry

Do you make international calls from your wireless phone?

Free long distance for most wireless carriers includes the 48 states. You can save 100% to 300% on most calls outside the 48 states. Pins By E-Mail can be used on your wireless phone. Of course any anytime minutes or charges from your wireless provider would apply.

Henry

Home and Business plan. Not only is it a lower price than the competition, it comes with PVA (Personal Voice Assistant). You may have seen commercials for saying a name into your handset and automatically dialing the number. PVA comes with this local and long distance one fee. Imagine not worrying about the time of day or how long you talk. Only *$49.99. You can also add PVA to your existing or there are two other plans available.

Henry

Henry

When you place a call from a public phone (a payphone, hotel, or airport phone, for example), your call may be routed to a distant call center before being "handed off" to your chosen long distance carrier. Your preferred long distance carrier might then, either unintentionally or intentionally, bill you as if your call originated from the distant call center, rather than from your actual location. As a result, you may be charged higher long distance rates for the call than what you expected.

Make sure you understand what any operator is asking before agreeing.

Henry

You receive a telephone call from someone claiming to be an official of a state Do-Not-Call registry or of an antifraud consumer group. The caller asks if you want to be on a state Do-Not-Call list or to verify your previous registration on such a list.

Eventually, the caller asks for personal information, like your Social Security, credit card and/or bank account numbers, to confirm that the caller is talking with the correct person.

Armed with your personal information, the perpetrator can access your accounts and personal records, and often uses this access to steal money, make unauthorized purchases, steal your identity, etc.

Henry