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Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:15 pm Subject: Another Telephone Scam

Got this one from my nephew in Michigan:

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician (could also be Telus) who was conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW. After checking with Verizon they said it was true, so do not dial 90# for anyone !!!!!

PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:22 pm Subject:

How awful!!! Just goes to show that thieves and scam artists and every other lowlife are always on the lookout for ways to rip innocent people off! I will definitely put everyone wise to this one!

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:50 pm Subject:

Heaven!! This is serious crime!! I never thought myself to be so alert while picking up a call.

oh2benc2, you saved me from falling into this scam. Thanks, I will use my sixth brain when someone asks me to do it over the phone. Wink

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:29 pm Subject:

Yikes!! I have never heard of that one before. I hope everybody uses their brains and is careful on the phone, especially if you get any gut feeling that something is wrong!!!!! Sometimes that is the best protection that we have. Thank you for sharing another one of these scams with us!!

~Mary

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 5:57 pm Subject:

My friend just emailed me back when I emailed that note about the scam she says its been going on since 1998. There is a website to find out about scams - it is called Snopes - I won't put the link here for I know the moderators will take it out.

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 6:05 pm Subject:

oh2benc2, try posting the link as inactive(removing the http//www. part) I guess the moderators won't have a problem with it.

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 6:10 pm Subject:

What is this world coming to? It is getting to the point that it isn't even safe to go to sleep at night for fear when you wake the next morning you will be robbed blind.

Guest · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 11:06 pm Subject:

What the warning letter floating around the Net doesn't say is that this scam only works on telephones where you have to dial 9 to get an outside line. Unless you have to dial 9 to get an outside line at home, this scam does not affect residential telephone users. Dialing "nine-zero-pound" on a residential phone will only give you a busy signal. That's it.

On some business phones, however, dialing "nine-zero-pound" may transfer a call to an outside operator and give the caller the opportunity to call anywhere in the world and charge it to your business' phone bill ... maybe. It all depends on how your business' telephone system is set up. If your company doesn't require you to dial 9 to get an outside line (for example, if you have a direct outside telephone line on your desk or if your company's phone system requires you to dial a number other than 9 to get an outside line) the "nine-zero-pound" scam does not affect you. Also, if your company's phone system is set up so that you cannot make a long distance call once you have accessed an outside line (a lot of companies now limit all outside lines to local calls only), the "nine-zero-pound" scam does not affect you either.

The "nine-zero-pound" story only affects those businesses that require you to dial 9 to get an outside line and then place no restrictions on who or where you can call once you get that outside line.

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 11:17 pm Subject:

I'd still stay alert

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 4:49 am Subject:

Thanks for clearing that up. The person who wrote this to my nephew didn't say if it was happened at his business or home - but I thought I would let everyone know.

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 8:12 am Subject:

I got the same response as the Guest posting above---that this thing only works if you have to dial 9 to get an outside line---which normally you don't have to do from your own home phone.

Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 12:28 pm Subject:

I've heard of this one before.

If anyone calls you and wants your personal information, ask them for a number to call them back. Obviously your phone is working FINE if they were able to get through. And the phone company can check your lines at any time, whether you're on the phone or not.

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