Please do not kill Magic Jack numbers

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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 5:57 pm

Scammers have been using Magic Jack phones to pretend to be at an airport with your consignment box. They are often a diplomat with a package that won't be scanned by customs because it is full of money. Below is my most recent one. I have now received one for San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, and now this one JFK International Airport. When this number goes dead it will by my 4th kill.

By using a Google voice account, I send an SMS to the phone. Magic Jack does not accept SMS messages so a bounce should arrive within a few minutes.

Quote:

(650) 265-1193: Error: this message was not successfully delivered. 9:39 PM

I wait about 12 hours after the email arrives to call the number from my Google Voice account. This most often will go to Voice Mail. Most often the account is not set up so the default "This Magic Jack customer is not available at this time" message is given. I leave a brief message. This exchange can be used to verify a kill later.

Once you have this information, contact the customer rep. They don't have an email or phone contact, just 24/7 chat. Click the chat button on this page and explain the scam. Offer to cut and past the entire email including the phone number. They will do the rest on their end.

Normally the agent will "protect the Confidentially of the account" In this case they slipped and let me know the account holder name and that they are in Florida. I'm not giving the name given as it is most likely not valid for this account.

http://www.magicjack.com/customercare.asp

The current number due to die is

Quote:

(650) 265-1193

fixed quote tags - JC

changed thread title - JC

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:35 pm

I'm sorry for acting as mod while not being one, but do you really need two threads to cover this?

You've posted this thread as well.
If you feel that you have any new, rellevant information feel free to update it Wink

Also if you worry about it getting lost and burried and want people to read it, you can post link to your signature

Something like
Killing Magic Jack accounts

Code:

[url=http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=209074]Killing Magic Jack accounts[/url]

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:03 pm

I just talked to Magic Jack customer care. Magic Jacks can be activated anywhere in the world. Additionally, if Magic Jack kills a number for abuse, the unit can be re-activated, within minutes, and the lad will have a new number.

As much as I hate to say it, looks like killing a lads Magic Jack number will do little (if anything) to slow him down. It may actually cause more harm to kill it than to leave it alone.

It is better to have the addy listed here, on scamwarners and/or numerous other anti-scam sites, where anyone can find it by doing a search and the number is linked directly to a scam format. Killing the number kills the ability of the anti-scam sites to tarnish the lad's credibility with potential victims.

I am going to unlock this thread (and lock the other one) so folks can weigh in if they so choose. Smile

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:26 pm

^^^ Good point Jose.

We wouldn't want a lad's email address that has been made public killed; as he will then have to set up a new one and could be off the radar for a while.

If we keep them where they are, with their details made public, then if a potential victim searches the internet for a specific detail that they have, they might find a warning.

If a lad is forced to register new details such as an email account or, in this case a "Magic Jack" number, then he is off the radar until a victim (who may have lost a lot of money) reports him and posts the details for all to see.

Better to leave him where he is... Cool

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:55 pm

It's a shame that such a tool is so readily available to be abused by scammers. Sad

But then again, email is routinely abused so this is just a new variation on the them. As Jose and Fowan said, killing the number will be an inconsequential inconvenience for a lad but could make it hard or impossible for a victim to find a warning on the Internet. Just another thing to be aware of, and to post at Scamwarners whenever a number comes up.

The number of potential victims who find their way to Scamwarners via search engines is truly amazing -- and gratifying. Having lads' information posted there is a terrific way to help victims and hurt scammers.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:18 am

The points are well taken. Thanks. I did not know the adapters could be re-activated after abuse. I thought the number and hardware were locked out for abuse and would cost money just like killing a bank account.

I do admit I lost the other post.. sorry for the new thread. I'll watch to prevent this in the future. I had been away from baiting for a while and am a little rusty on the forum.

As requested, I'll leave the numbers active. I have some international SIP accounts I can use to call them.. It could be fun. I can play the location game too.

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