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Bogus Calls
updated: Mar 09, 2013, 12:36 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

We have received a series of "collect calls" ostensibly from a prison, mentioning a "family emergency." We hang up. Any clues as to what sort of scam this is?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 383002	2013-03-09 12:40 PM
At least they let you know they were trying to 'collect.'
COMMENT 383004	2013-03-09 12:41 PM
It sounds like the prelude to the "Grandparents Scam." See the earlier Public News post from SBPD on March 6.
ROGER DODGER	2013-03-09 12:43 PM
No are you sure the call is from prison? Can you account for all of your family members?
PAMSB	2013-03-09 12:44 PM
I found this explanation from the BBB: How does this scam work? Whenever allowed to make phone calls, real inmates dial random numbers until they find somebody willing to help. As soon as the victims answer, the scammer comes in with a quick apology for disturbing them followed by an emotional short story, such as being thrown in jail because he beat up a guy who assaulted his daughter, an hour ago. The prisoner will ask the victim to call a number where supposedly his daughter is, to make sure she is ok. He will say that the number is impossible to reach from the prison he is in, or that they are not allowed to call cell phones. People fall for this scam as they think they are doing a good deed. In reality, what victims do when dialing the number provided is just… call-forwarding their own telephone lines. This way, after getting you to forward the number, the scammer can call anywhere he wants, without being charged.
COMMENT 383013P	2013-03-09 12:59 PM
011P -when sitting around in prison with nothing to do they have plenty of time to think up this stuff :-).
COMMENT 383022	2013-03-09 01:18 PM
Maybe I'm dense but Pam's explanation doesn't make a lick of sense to me. If someone calls me and I hang up, but then dial a new number, how is that call forwarding? Or how is call forwarding then connecting the first person to the third person via my phone?
PAMSB	2013-03-09 01:22 PM
Verizon probably explains it better than the BBB, 022, as they go on to explain that the new number includes the sequence of *72 in the number itself to cause the forwarding. Google this and you get lots of good information about how this scam works.
COMMENT 383025	2013-03-09 01:25 PM
Oh. Yeah, without the *72 forwarding code info in your first explanation, the leap to call forwarding is confusing. I haven't gotten any of these calls, and you seemed to attempt to explain it, so I didn't care to Google it. Why explain it 100% here and be helpful when you can just do 80% and leave people still in the dark? Awesome.
COMMENT 383029P	2013-03-09 01:50 PM
Wow. Thanks, Pam.
COMMENT 383030	2013-03-09 02:02 PM
My elderly mom had a caller on Friday who told her she could go to jail if she did not clean her chimney every year.
AMARA	2013-03-09 03:05 PM
I once fell for this when I was woken out of a sound sleep by the phone ringing except the guy had me push a single button. I did, then realized a moment later that it likely was a scam. I hung up and immediately called Verizon. They confirmed the scam, and told me that by doing that I had allowed them to access my phone line for all kinds and manners of calls. What saved me is that I do not have call forwarding or other such services. So my line was useless and/or unavailable to them.
NATURE BOY	2013-03-09 06:58 PM
Whatever type of scam it is, always hang up when receiving a collect call from someone you don't know. Obviously.
COMMENT 383163	2013-03-09 07:48 PM
The real scam is that landline companies still allow crap like this to happen. Cell phones for the win.
COMMENT 383264	2013-03-10 09:56 AM
@383025 What is obvious to anyone who thinks about it is that PAMSB helpfully sought out and quoted the BBB info, then when it was noted how unclear that was, helpfully googled further and found the Verizon info and helpfully posted it here. Such helpfulness deserves gratitude and thanks, not an attack.
COMMENT 383430P	2013-03-11 06:22 AM
Right on, 025!

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