Do Not DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284, AND 876
The phone scam is going around again. Below are some of the details with a link to ATT’s website for more information.
We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said ‘Hey, this is Karen . Sorry I missed you–get back to us quickly. I have something important to tell you.’ Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809 We didn’t respond.
Then this week, we received the following e-mail:
Do Not DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284, AND 876
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION
PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON’T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809
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.
They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family
member who has been ill or to tell you someone has been
arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc.
In each case, you are told to call the
809 number right away.. Since there
are so many new area codes these days, people
unknowingly return these calls.
If you call from the U.S. , 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.
WHY IT WORKS:
The 809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic .
The charges afterward can become a real
nightmare. That’s because you did actually make the
call. If you complain, both your local phone company and
your long distance carrier will not want to get involved
and will most likely tell you that they are simply
providing the billing for the foreign company. You’ll
end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they
have done nothing wrong.
Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to
help them become aware of this
scam.
AT&T VERIFIES IT’S TRUE :
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045
SNOPES VERIFIES IT’S TRUE:
http://www.snopescom/fraud/telephone/809.asp
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Posted by Ollie Moody on May 12th, 2009 at 7:01 am
876-899-9785 and 876-358-9285 are also scam numbers. The guy said that I had won $5mil and a 2009 Blue two-door BMW x6 Convertible. and he needed my address and a check for $200. to pay for the delivery. Yeah right. Don’t get scammed.
Posted by Mary Myers on Jul 25th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I got a phone call this morning from a man with a Spanish accent telling me I had won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. He said I would be splitting 2.5 Million with 19 other people. He said I had also won a Cadillac 300 sedan. He wanted to know what bank I used. He said the money would be coming out of First Bank. I told him I had US Bank. He said the money was tax free and would be wired to my account but that 1 Million would be delivered to my home today by Brinks but that they charged a fee to deliver. He asked me if I had checking or savings. I regret now that I told him checking only. He asked if I had any money market accounts. I told him that I used to but didn’t anymore. He asked how much I had in the checking account. I told him unfortunately that I only had a few hundred in the bank at this time. When he told me that Brinks charged a fee to deliver the prize money to my house he also asked how much I was willing to pay to receive the money. I said I wasn’t willing to pay any amount to receive a prize or any sweepstakes money. He promptly hung up on me. When he told me I had won the sweepstakes and the car he asked me what I thought about it and I said I was speechless. I hope he had fun with that. I just hope he can’t do anything with the info I gave him even though I didn’t give him any account numbers. When I went downstairs to check the caller ID on my DirecTV there was his name and number. It is JM Kingston and the number is 876-570-7689. Coinsidently, I do enter the different sweeps for the Publishers Clearing House and lately they say on all their emails that the winner will be announced on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Also I thought they came to your house with a group of people, a BIG check, and a bunch of flowers and balloons. So now I think I’ll email the Attorney General and Lifelock which I hold a membership in along with my family. It’s a shame about these kind of crooks but I’m also concerned about how nonchallant my local police were. I thought they’d want to allert the local news stations or something but they just said to contact the Attorney General’s office.
Posted by Scott on Oct 24th, 2009 at 11:42 am
This is a hoax.
You can go to http://www.wherecall.com/809.htm for full debunking of it.
-Scott
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