New swindles online:
809 telephone scam
It does not take much willpower to resist those unsolicited e-mails that offer to make you thousands of dollars a week with no effort. Just the like "make a fortune stuffing envelope ads" that used to appear in the backs of magazines, the only people making any money are the folks operating the scam.
But one new online wrinkle you should be warned about concerns 809 telephone numbers. Here's how it works: You or you business receives an e-mail marked Urgent or Invoice or some variant, and the message warns you that you have just a few days to make payment on your debt, or the sender will take legal action that threatens your credit rating. Gee, better call right away and straighten that out! And, after all, isn't that one of those new toll-free numbers?
Sadly, it is not a toll-free number. In fact, that is the scam. The con game is run by companies in the British Virgin Islands that will then bill you as much as $25 per minute in long-distance telephone charges, for the call you place trying to straighten out this non-existent overdue bill.
What to do? Don't call. Any reputable credit agency would provide an opportunity to send a letter. You can also report the scam to your local telephone company, and notify online watchdogs that you will find listed in the section below on Places that Can Help.
And there have been concerns about these area codes as well:
758
787
869
876
441
242
246
268
345
...back to Be Safe Online
|
