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CAT Tracks for January 19, 2005
WARNING - TELEPHONE SCAM |
Urban Legend???
Received a warning from the IEA. Passing it on, just in case...
PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW
I received a telephone call last evening from an individual
identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician who was conducting a
test on 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. I have also verified this information with UCB,
Telecom, Pacific Bell, MCI, Bell Atlantic, and GTE. Please beware.
DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.
Postscript: After posting this story, I decided to check it out at "snopes.com" - an internet source for "urban legends". Snopes.com gave this telephon scam a rating of "sort of" - it can work on a business phone system...thus IEA's concern. It can only work on a home/cell system if you have to dial "9" to gain access to an outside line.