> A Guide to Telephone Scams
INTRODUCTION
Phone scams come in all shapes and sizes. Phone scams
directed against consumers have become more common as
the technical level of con artists has gone up over the
past decades.
TOLL CALL PHONE SCAMS
One common type deals with extra-toll-calls to
international numbers.
It's not always easy to recognize international numbers.
In most cases, to make a call to another country you
have to dial 011, a country code, a city code, and then
more digits. The total number of digits may be different
from the 11 digits necessary for a domestic
long-distance call (1-area code-xxx-xxxx). However,
there are some international phone numbers in the
Caribbean, Canada and other countries that look just
like U.S. numbers, with a 3-digit area code and a total
of 11 digits. So it can be hard to tell at a glance the
difference between a number in Connecticut and one in
the Dominican Republic.
Some international numbers are actually foreign
pay-per-call services that are billed at substantially
higher than normal rates. And, because FCC cost
disclosure requirements do not apply to foreign phone
services, consumers often don't discover the problem
until they get their phone bills.
The problem is even more complicated by the fact that in
addition to direct-dialing, there are other ways to
connect to an international phone line. For instance,
it's possible to call a toll-free 800 number or a local
phone number and then dial an "activation number" to
connect to another line, which may be in a foreign
country. In international phone scams, consumers don't
realize that they are being instructed to dial numbers
that will connect them to foreign phone lines.
The motivating factor in international phone scams is
that the con artist at the other end of the line gets a
cut of the money that the consumer pays for the call,
through a commission or kick-back from the foreign phone
company. That isn't legal in the U.S., but the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) has no jurisdiction over
telephone companies in other countries.
Initially, consumers are lured into calling 809 and
other international numbers by advertisements in
newspapers, magazines, flyers, or mailings for job
opportunities, adult talk lines, psychic services, etc.
There aren't any jobs or loans, and consumers are often
placed on hold for long periods of time while the phone
charges mount. These scams are still around, but the
latest international phone frauds involve messages left
on people's answering machines or pagers, or even on
their e-mail. Sometimes the messages purport to be about
debts and threaten legal action unless the consumers
call back immediately; in other instances, they say that
something has happened to a family member. When
consumers return the calls, they find there is no debt
or any other legitimate reason to call. And, as in the
advertising scams, they don't realize the calls are to
international phone numbers until they get their bills.
When people discover that they've been victimized, they
usually call the phone company that billed them, their
local or long-distance phone company. Part of the
charges do go to the U.S. long-distance carriers for
connecting the calls to the international phone
companies. But the U.S. companies have no way of knowing
that the calls are not legitimate, and the bulk of the
charges go to the foreign phone carriers (and the
crooks). The U.S. carriers may be willing to forgive
some or all of a disputed bill on a one-time basis
(Consumers should check with their state public
utilities departments to see if they have any special
rights in this regard.). Blocks can also be placed on
consumers' lines to prevent household members from
making foreign calls. But this may not be a solution for
everyone, especially people who do occasionally need to
call other countries. The FCC and other agencies are
discussing these problems with authorities in other
countries.
With an increasing number of new area codes, both in the
U.S. and elsewhere, it will be even more difficult to
spot international phone frauds in the future. Consumers
should be wary of responding to mysterious messages or
ads that don't provide much detail about what's being
offered or the cost.
The best advice is never to return calls to unfamiliar
numbers. If it's not clear whether a number is domestic
or international, check the map in the front of the
phone book that shows the U.S. area codes or call the
operator. Consumers can report international phone scams
to their state or local consumer protection agencies,
and they can also let the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
and the Federal Communications Commission know about the
problems.
PAY PHONE RIPOFFS
Pay phone scams are often completely legal. Although
phones are regulated by the PSC (Public Services
Commission) there are many abuses, especially by
private phone owners. There is little you can do to
reclaim your lost money once you have spent it, so be
very careful with pay-phones.
A long distance call from a pay phone could likely be
the most expensive call you ever make. Pay phones
often have a "captive audience". In most cases, the
customer has no idea who the long distance provider is
at that pay phone, let alone how much a call will
cost. Industry horror stories chronicle such abuses as
charging several dollars for a directory assistance
call, to being charged several dollars per minute for
a simple call across town.
The most important thing to keep in mind when making a
long distance call from a pay phone is that the moment
you give-up control of how you make that call, you
lose all control of how much that call will cost you.
Never make a long distance call by dialing "0" or
"00", unless you can absolutely avoid it. These are
the most expensive calls that you will ever make,
under any circumstance! Paying an average of a dollar
per minute for these calls is not uncommon. If you
have no other way to make the call, use
1-800-CALL-ATT.
Avoid using services such as 1-800-CALL-ATT, or
1-800-COLLECT unless absolutely necessary. Though
these calls are not as expensive as dialing "0", they
still have hefty surcharges and per-minute rates. In
some cases, private pay phone owners have (illegally)
blocked access to these numbers, or divert calls
(called "splashing") made to these numbers to their
own operators, who may charge an outrageous rate for
your calls. It can be nearly impossible for you to
tell the difference between services, until you
receive your bill!
Avoid using calling cards offered by the major
carriers, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint. Each of
these company's cards include surcharges of up to $.85
per call, on top of their high per-minute fees. Use a
no-surcharge card offered by a smaller long distance
carrier. Not only do these companies offer calling
cards with no surcharges, but their per-minute rates
are generally lower, as well. By choosing the right
calling card, you can save as much as 95% off of the
rates charged by the "Big Three".
If you do use a service such as 1-800-CALL-ATT, or
1-800-COLLECT on a regular basis from pay phones,
memorize (or write down) the actual phone numbers that
these services correspond to (i.e. 1-800-CALL-ATT
=1-800-225-5388). The reason? Many private pay phone
operators are removing the corresponding letters from
the keypads of their pay phones. These companies lose
revenue every time you "dial around" their operators
by using services such as 1-800-CALL-ATT, so they are
removing the letters to confuse consumers about which
numbers they should dial. If the customer can not
remember the corresponding phone NUMBER for these
services (even some calling cards use 800 access
"numbers" such as this, as with AT&T) they are usually
forced to dial "0" to make a collect, or calling card
call.
Avoid using calling cards issued by your local phone
company. Though their per-call surcharges are usually
lower (NO surcharge is acceptable though!), their
per-minute rates can be a nightmare on some calls. At
the moment, most local phone companies are not allowed
to carry calls made outside of the irrespective
calling areas using their cards. Therefore, you will
end-up paying whatever rate the pay phone company
owner wishes to charge you when making most long
distance calls. These rates are not set, nor agreed
upon, by your local phone company, but the charges
will appear on your local phone bill. These calls can
also average a dollar or more per minute.
Use Public Pay phones wherever possible. These pay
phones are operated by the local phone company, and
not by private pay phone owners. Not only are private
pay phones more apt to overcharge you for long
distance calls, but they may also charge you more for
local calls, as well. These phones often cut-off your
conversations on local calls after 15 minutes,
demanding additional money to continue with your
conversation. In some cases owners have illegally
installed phones that charge more than the
state-regulated rate for local calls.
Do you use pay phones to call home or back to the
office frequently? If so,you may very well want to get
your own 888 or 800 number. You can order you own 888
number to ring-in on your phone line back at the
office, or at home, for a fraction of what it would
cost to make a traditional calling card call (in
excess of 95%, on some short calls). Most long
distance carriers now offer their customers rates on
personal and business 888 numbers as low as twelve
cents per minute, and bill all of their calls in six
second increments, rather than rounding-up all of your
calls to the next full minute. This feature alone can
save you a bundle on short calls. With good 888
numbers, there are NO per-call surcharges(as on many
calling cards) and you can often get an easy to
remember number,such as 1-888+your local 7-digit phone
number. You can also give the number to friends,
family, and business associates whose calls you wish
to receive, and pay for. This is generally the
cheapest way t!
o make calls to specific numbers from a pay phone.
For calls to locations other than the ones above, we
highly recommend a no surcharge calling card from a
small long distance carrier, or reseller. If you make
short (typically business) calls on a calling card, we
recommend using a card that offers six second billing
increments, and does not round-up all of your calls to
the next full minute. Some companies (Telegroup,
Fairfield, IA 1-800-338-0225, or Voice Net, Long
Island, NY,1-800-978-3532 ) will even allow you to use
their cards without changing your present long
distance carrier, and often offer some attractive
international rates, in addition to great domestic
rates. The Telegroup card offers the best
international rates, but a (slightly) higher domestic
rate($.189 per minute). The Voice Net Card has a
better domestic rate ($.175 per minute), but can only
be used from inside the U.S. (no international
origination). Both cards offer six second billing
increments.
Beware of cheap prepaid calling cards! These cards are
often offered at convenience stores, via magazine ads,
or through multi-level marketing. Some cards offered by
"no name" companies can end-up being less of a bargain
than it may appear. Though their per-minute rates may
look low (TOO low, in fact)the company that produces the
cards may not be in business long enough for you to use
them, and you may end-up with a worthless wallet full of
plastic.We have seen rates as low as 7.9 cents per
minute on these cards (less than what it actually costs
the long distance carrier to connect the call!), but
most of these "cheap" cards are not backed by reputable
companies. Customers using the cards may end-up calling
the 1-800 access number on the back of the card, only to
find that the number is busy, or has been disconnected.
As a general rule, it is best not to pay for long
distance services in advance,since you will have no way
of knowing whether the company will be around long enou!
gh to fulfill their commitments. If you do buy prepaid
cards (they are great stocking stuffers, birthday gifts,
etc.) we recommend buying them only from actual long
distance carriers (not likely to disappear), or from
established phone card providers such as LDDS Phone
pass, MCI, Sprint, Talk N'Toss or Hello Direct
(Farmingdale, NY, 1-800-Hi-Hello). These cards can be
obtained for as low as $.20 per minute, in some
locations and catalogs.
GUEST AND EMPLOYEE SCAMS
One of the dirtiest tricks pulled by hi-tech phone
schemers is to call a toll number from someone else's
phone. A similar group steals phone money- usually
without thinking about.
Many employees use the company long distance lines for
personal calls. This is stealing, and it can hurt an
employer. Even if the company is large, have many
employees who steal long-distance time can add up to a
big bill. Most employees don't feel bad about it at all.
A more malevolent group of phone thieves calls toll
numbers from your office or home without your knowledge.
They may dial an international toll call, or a local
one. These thieves mostly target stores, offices, and
other retail locations that may provide a courtesy
phone. By the time you get the bill, they are long gone.
In some cases, you can dispute the charges, but some
people don't notice the charges. This scam goes
hand-in-hand with the international toll calling service
scam.
Roommates and family members may also make more calls
than you can afford to pay for. There are countless
cases of someone's uncle, sister, or visiting friend who
runs up a two-thousand dollar phone bill calling outside
of the country during a long visit at someone's home.
The phone company WILL make you pay, even though it's
not technically your fault. If you can't pay, you may
have your phone service interrupted until you pay off
the debt.
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