Don't let your phone be hijacked(Important!)

iWon News/Bankrate.com ^ | February 25, 2005 | Dana Dratch

[The Loan Arranger]

You get a call from someone claiming to be a phone company technician who needs to check the lines and wants you to assist by dialing a series of numbers. Or maybe the caller says you've won a prize. To claim it, you must dial some specific numbers.

Warning: It's a scam. Actually, you're dialing the call forwarding code to your phone and forwarding your number to another number. Scammers can then use your line to make calls while you pick up the bill.

Call-forwarding scams aren't common, but they happen often enough that major telecom companies such as AT&T have posted warnings on their Web sites.

If consumers "receive a call from someone they don't know and weren't expecting to hear from who asks them to do something, their guard should go up immediately," says Seth Bloom, spokesman for SBC Communications. "A legitimate company has no reason to call and ask you to hit a series of buttons or ask for your personal information."

Bob Nersesian, spokesman for AT&T, agrees. "Phone companies do not have technicians call and ask you to punch combinations of numbers," he says.

Call forwarding codes often vary depending on your phone company, so it pays to know your code. That way, you can recognize a scam for what it is.

If the person asking you to dial numbers is a stranger calling you collect, you really want to be suspicious. "Sometimes it's an inmate calling from a facility," says Bloom.

[The Loan Arranger]

Note: Two page article.

[cripplecreek]

"Sometimes it's an inmate calling from a facility,"

Around here the operator tells us that the call is from a jail or prison.

[Bahbah]

Thanks for the post.

[keat]

Years ago I got a all from phone company worker who told me it was very important that I not answer the phone for the next 10 minutes as he was working on the lines and would be electrocuted if I did. Well, the phone rang about three minutes later and I answered it - only to hear him screaming in pain on the other end. I've never told anyone this but I still carry the guilt. I've often wondered whether he lived or died, whether he had a family, etc... I feel better just talking about it.

[The Loan Arranger]

Neat story, but I don't think you can be electrocuted from a telephone line unless lightning strikes one. Any communications workers out there to back me up?

[Lazamataz]

I had the same thing happen, only, I went to the window and kept picking up the handset just to watch his lifeless corpse jump one more time.

[Drango]

Around here the operator tells us that the call is from a jail or prison.

Uhhh you get a lot of calls like that?

[ctdonath2]

Speaking of inmates, a tangent:

For a while I worked at a major telco supplier updating the collect & third-party billing software. A few days into the job I kept seeing tangential references to "inmate". Took a few more days before I asked the seemingly screwy question "what does 'inmate' mean? surely it doesn't refer to ..." Answer: "...yes it does mean that." Turns out the phone system could identify phones located in prisons accessable by inmates. Since the inmates enjoyed calling the operator and harrassing him/her, a feature was added whereby any call from an inmate would never be routed to an operator, getting either automated menus or hung up instead.

The hidden costs of crime go far beyond what's apparent. A little bit of your phone bill goes toward paying for a billing system that prevents incarcerated criminals from talking to phone operators.

[DainBramage]

Years ago I worked for a phone company, and while on a repair job for some sorry sob. I told him it was very important

that he not answer the phone for the next few minutes as I was working on the lines

and would be electrocuted if he did. Well, the phone rang about three minutes later and that A@hole answered it!! - I remember screaming in pain

I wish I could find that idiot and rip his head off I've often wondered if I'll ever run into him again. I'd kick his ass all over the place.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"...he was working on the lines and would be electrocuted if I did. "

Impossible. Only if he was on a pole, and the ringing startled him enough for him to lose his footong and fall across a 2500 volt line on the same pole...and then only if he contacted the pole or something else to ground him.

[rabidralph]

LOL!

[rabidralph]

I think I saw this happen in a movie once. What was it? The Ice Storm.

[OSHA]

My Dad worked for the phone company and a similar thing happened to him. If I ever find the person who caused me to grow up fatherless I'll........ Where exactly did you say you lived?

[rabidralph]

If consumers "receive a call from someone they don't know and weren't expecting to hear from who asks them to do something, their guard should go up.

This happened to me every day for several months, when I worked at Pizza Hut.

[Alouette]

This scam won't work on a single-line residence phone, it is usually done on a multiple-line business network.

[Mad Mammoth]

On a lighter note, I remember a story my Dad told me about how he called up his Mom one day from his work (this was WAY before the days of Caller ID) and half covering the mouthpiece to disguise his voice, he asked "is this 'XXX-XXXX'?" to which his Mom said "yes it is, who is this?"

My Dad proceeded to say "This is C&P Telephone (this was Washington D.C.), we're three blocks up the street working on the lines, and there's been a lot of static, so we'd like you to get a wet washcloth and place it over the mouthpiece so we can pump some compressed air through the lines, that way you don't get any dirt in your living room"

My Grandmother responded "just a minute" as she began to head to the bathroom for a wet washcloth, and suddenly it hit her: and she returned to the phone where she proceeded to growl "WHO is this really?!?!"

We still chuckle at every re-telling of that story. :)

[reagan_fanatic]

LOL - that's great! Someone has a warped sense of humor. I like it!

[ken in texas]

I like your style. :)

[windchime]

"......it is usually done on a multiple-line business network."

Yes. A gullible receptionist will repeatedly follow instructions of the caller. The call to the switchboard cannot be traced.

I happened upon such an instance, obtained locations called and reported the information to authorities.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

A practical joker deserves applause for his wit according to its quality. Bastinado is about right. For exceptional wit one might grant keelhauling. But staking out on an anthill should be reserved for the very wittiest.

ROBERT HEINLEIN