The scams work basically like this:
You get home and noltice that the message light is blinking on your answering machine. You listen to the message, which has several wrinkles, but the best one is the caller asks you to call a nuymber beginning with area code "809" to receive information about a family member who has been ill. (They may also tell you someone has been arrested, died, you have won a wonderful prize, etc.)
In any event, concerned or curious, you make the call. Sometimes the phone will be answered by a person who claims to speak broken English. (The idea is to keep you on the line to build up charges.) Or, sometimes you will just get a long recorded message. The bottom line is, when your phone bill comes, you see this incredible charge, often times more than $100.00!
Crooks are using the "809" numbers as "pay-per-calls" and to get around the US Regulations and "900" number blocking. Every time you call the number, they get a greatly inflated rebate from the foreign phone company. Since the "809" numbers are in the Caribbean, they aren't bound by US "900" number regulations that require them to warn you of the charge and rate involved, and also to provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged.
The newest twist to this scam is to page people using the "809" numbers, with the new area code changes, people unknowingly are returning these calls. When the bill comes, there are HUGE charges for the calls.
My suggestion is that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number with an "809" area code that you don't recognize, DON'T RETURN THE CALL! It's bad enough that the criminal is invading your privacy, don't let them invade your wallet as well!
Scams of this type are extremely hard to prosecute and since you did actually make the call, neither your local phone company or your long distance carrier will want to get involved. They'll tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You end up trying to deal (over the phone) with a foreign company that feels they have done no wrong. It can turn into a real nightmare!
Another e-mail scam has appeared, informing you as a would-be victim that you have "only 24 hours to settle your outstanding account" and suggesting that you can call an "809" number to avoid subsequent court action. The call goes to a Caribbean telephone company (apparently in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands) and costs you $3-$5 (and presumably more if you are dumb enough to hang around for their strategy of putting you on hold with a sequence of creative recorded messages). The FROM: address "Global Communications"@demon.net is BOGUS. This is a cheaper variant on a "809-900" pager scam, which costs you $25 if you return the call.
