Phone scam

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Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 4747

I got a call earlier today.

First there was a recorded announcement that I was getting a call from a prison. The person really didn’t say his name. the people I know are not perfect so I punch a number to see who it was.

The person said they were LE, they asked if I knew a person who was an inmate. I said no and they need me to call a strange number to block calls from their institution.

This seems to be a bit more clever than the average scam. The officer said I MUST call that number NOW, because (we got cut off at that point).

Instead of a one I was suppose to use a * sign and the number seemed longer than the usual phone number.

Also when staff call from an institution you do not get the recorded message.

Also the “institution” themselves can block numbers without me calling, also you are given that option on the voice messaging system when you pick up

I am positive it’s a scam but I don’t know how it works? Any Ideas?

I am 99 percent poistive it was a scam.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:50 am

This was probably your scam. Sound familiar?

Quote:

*72 Prison Scam
How it works: You receive a call from an operator saying there is an inmate from a correctional facility who needs you to accept a collect call and the associated charges. Once you accept the call, the caller convinces you to hang up your phone, dial in *72 and another phone number. * 72 is the code used to forward your incoming calls to another number, if you have call forwarding service or if it's available on a per-use basis in your local exchange. If you do this, the inmate will then make additional collect calls to your number, but the calls will be forwarded to someone the inmate knows at the number where you forwarded the calls. That person accepts the charges, but they are billed to you. Often you don't realize this has happened until you notice your phone not ringing or you receive your bill with numerous unexpected charges.

How to protect yourself: Never accept collect calls unless you are absolutely sure you know the person calling. Never activate call forwarding unless you need to do it for your own reasons and to a number you know.

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 4747

Sounds extremely familiar, in fact I think that’s what they where trying to do..

No worries, I didn’t do it and called our states Attorney General with all the phone numbers including the one on the caller ID. Within five minutes of them calling.

I am certain my states AG will probably track them down. They seem to be really good at simple tasks. If they are in an institution, they'll even have a voice recorded message, or I have heard all calls are recorded. They only listen to a select few or if they have a reason to listen.