BSTRACT: A new type of scam is going on, but unlike scams one may get from ones email, this is a scam made via one's phone
CONTENT: I like to pride myself that I can smell a scam right away. Almost everyone of us have gotten scam-type emails informing us that some agency is trying to track down a beneficiary for some long lost relative who has left us a fortune, or even one of the latest that I've been getting is that the FBI itself has funds waiting to be claimed and one just needs to send about $300 to release these funds to us through their ATM Card Centre. The majority of these scams originate in African countries, especially Nigeria. If I truly believed any of these were legitimate I'd be a mulit-billionarie by now.
Naturally, whenever I get such emails, I ignore them and simply hit the delete button. But now, I've become aware...the hard way I might add, there is another scam circulating about and it doesn't involve getting notices via email, but by one's phone.
Just today, a message was left on my answering machine claiming it was FedEx and that a certified package was ready for me to be delivered, but I needed to call back to verify some information to them. The number was 1-876-471-6711. I naturally assumed this number to be a more direct phone number to FedEx rather than their regular 800 number, and I also assumed that it too was toll free, since the other well known toll free phone numbers beside the 800 one are usually 866, 877, 888 and so forth...so the 876 number looked like a toll free number as well. I had known that it was usually the 900 numbers to be aware of as they aren't toll free.
So, yes, unfortunately, I have to admit, I did call the number back. Alarms however, did go off almost right away, for, it did seem strange that when I was talking to this person, a FedEx tracking number wasn't given to me. Then I was told that this package was from a Michael White and from Montego Bay. My alarms further went on full blast however, when the person explained I had to get a Western Union Money Transfer to release the package to me. I had heard too many times that this is how scams work and almost always with the need for one to get a Western Union Money Transfer. I told the person, that I'm not expecting anything from FedEx and certainly not from Montego Bay, and asked point blank is this a scam and hung up.
Then I decided to call FedEx themself at their 800 number and explained all the particulars to the man I was talking to. He verified the point that it did seem strange that a tracking number wasn't given to me...also, if it had really been FedEx, that it would be the 800 toll free number to call back and not this 876 number. Also, if a package had indeed been waiting for me, that most likely a delivery attempt would have already been made and one of the FedEx door tags would have been left.
So now I get curious and try to find something out on websites about this 876 number, and sure enough found that this indeed was a scam and no doubt I've been hit by it. It turns out many people are scammed by devious companies calling for one reason or another...the numbers are usually with area codes of 809, 274, and yes, as you can guess, 876. Since there is no "international" number before any of these areas codes, one assumes they are calling a number within the US and that it isn't an international number. The origins of these area codes are actually from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica or the Bahamas...and as you can guess, when you call these numbers you are being charged international rates...ah, but that's not all, there's more to it.
On the one website I found, that has Caribbean Area Code Warning, it gives the whole lowdown about these phone scams
Truth or Fiction. It does mention that the 809 area code is an actual, and legitimate phone number for the Caribbean area, so not all phone calls from this area are a scam, and that the 876 is an offshoot of the 809 number. But for the scam artist that is using these area codes, what the unsuspecting person, such as myself, doesn't realize is that when the person calls back such a number, that people will later suddenly find outrageous charges to their phone bill from $10.00 to $100.00 per minute, and the scammer will try to keep the person on the phone for as long as possible(1)
I further did another search, directly on AT&T's warnings about these phone scammers, which verifies what I found at the Caribbean Area Code Warning website. AT&T Website All I can say, is that I wished I had investigated all this before I made the phone call, but at least, I'll be aware, that if I get an outrageously high phone bill, I'll know who to blame.
Not only had I called FedEx about this to indeed find out if that so-called FedEx call was legit, but I next called my phone company to explain what had just happened and indicated to the person that I was no doubt scammed and would no doubt be seeing very strange charges to my phone bill at the next billing cycle. She explained to me, that I won't be responsible for the charges should they show up, and if they do, I can further dispute them...I also consequently emailed my phone company as well, so that my phone company not only has my phone call on record, but a written email as well.
Like I said, up until now, I've kind of prided myself for being alert to scams, so you can imagine how I'm kicking myself that I fell prey to this Caribbean Area Code scam. But I'm passing this information, that you won't fall for this latest scam they way I did.
Caribbean Area Cod Scam Warning
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/area809.htm (1)
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045
http://www.consumerjungle.org/content/view/335/631/
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