Beware the "Phone Test" (please delete if dupe)....

[madeline_con]

I got an email warning from a friend:


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.

The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW.

[NanceGreggs]

1. Thanks for posting!

You've probably just saved a lot of us money, not to mention headaches for months!

[Trevelyan]

Thanks for letting us know. I don't think I would have been suspicious of

someone identifying themselves as AT&T technician but I will up my vigilance. This should be on the Frontpage as short article to let as many people as possible know.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. snopes:

nopes.

[donco6]

3. See Snopes about this . . .

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/jailcall.asp

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. 10 years ago.

Let's get some new ideas, people! :bounce:

[donco6]

12. How to get people to check before they post?

It should be a mantra: When an email urges you to send this info to everyone you know, CHECK SNOPES FIRST!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Or, in the alternative, just don't do it.

Please! We're begging you people!

[Trevelyan]

4. Of course, you could be jiving us too, so may contact phone company

if I remember. ;)

[Marnieworld]

5. snopes.com

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/jailcall.asp

[WhiteTara]

6. Thanks for the warning

I sent this info to my family

[gristy]

7. Sorry, dude

Any post or email when ends with "share this information with EVERYONE I/you KNOW" is a fraud. Guaranteed. I encourage you to use this standard yourself. It will reduce the number of silly threads you start.

[GeorgeGist]

8. Ditto

Find out about the 9-0-# phone scam


The 9-0-# scam has been around for years and is directed at businesses, hospitals, government agencies and other organizations that use telephone switching equipment called private branch exchanges (PBXs) to handle their calls.

This type of fraud involves a perpetrator who calls an office and cons an unsuspecting worker into transferring him or her to an outside line. The perpetrator then starts dialing calls that are charged to the owner of the PBX. In this latest version, the caller claims to be an AT&T service technician "repairing" the phone lines and convinces the recipient of the call to help out by transferring him to an outside line and then hanging up.

Below are some points about this scam worth remembering:

* This scam doesn't affect residential customers; its target is businesses.

* An AT&T service technician would never call customers and ask them to help check phone lines.

* The scam is generating a lot of interest in the media and over the Internet, but our network fraud experts report no increase in the number of fraud cases as a result of this notoriety.

* The best prevention against this type of fraud is for business managers to make their office staffs aware of it and to review what to do if it happens.

* If someone receives such a call, he or she should ask the "technician" for a call-back number or for the name and number of the caller's supervisor. Then hang up.

* To report this or any other phone scams AT&T business customers should call their account representatives. You also can call the AT&T Business Customer Care Center at 1-800-222-0400, or report the scam to your local law enforcement agency.

http://web.archive.org/web/20020223071837/http://www.att.com/features/0398/90pound.html

[MADem]

10. Yeah, those are right up there with "Send this to ten people and you will

have good luck, fail to so do and you will be hit on the head with a safe!"

For the life of me, especially with SNOPES so readily available, I fail to comprehend why people don't check first before cluttering up the inboxes of a hundred or so of their closest friends with this sort of tripe.

This one is an oldie, though...I remember getting it EONS ago. Oh well, at least some clowns ARE recycling!!!

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.