quicksilver - 14-7-2011 at 12:19
There is a scam going on. DO NOT EVER RETURN ANY CALLS WITH THE FOLLOWING AREA CODE:
809, 284, 649 AND 876
THESE GUYS CAN BILL YOUR CARRIER over $2000 A MINUTE!
THE SCAM IS SOMETHING LIKE THIS, SOMEONE CALLS AND SAYS VERY QUICKLY (something similar to) "HEY THIS IS KAREN (or Dr. Jones), I MISSED YOU BUT
T(SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT) JUST HAPPENED; GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS YOU CAN"
Obviously - Don't return the call no matter what. It's a scam. ATT sent a notice out to several large carriers. No matter what's said, or how it's
phrased; be very cool with this.
GENERALLY, the scam is lame like a "you just won a prize" deal. But even if it's something that may touch "close to home" verify with a number you
KNOW! Even if the person is skilled & uses background noises or claims someone in your family is ill (hospital) - whatever; verify. Don't text to
that number either.
This is not a mild issue; it's being fought right now by large carriers but it's supposedly still legal to bill high dollar (for support calls and
related info).
I got this from a pretty damn reliable source.
http://www.att.net/s/editorial.dll?fromspage=design/CDLS10/c...
[Edited on 15-7-2011 by quicksilver]
gregxy - 14-7-2011 at 14:06
It seems like it should be trivial for the carriers to refuse to accept billing for more than say $5.00 per call. Or better yet allow the consumer to
set an upper limit, which would be $0 for most people.
Most likely ATT gets a percentage of these charges which is why they let this go on.
If you get stuck with unreasonable charges complain loudly and call the BBB. Once my credit card co (Chase) scammed me with one those "credit card
protection service" things. If you don't firmly say NO they sign you up. Then you never hear from them again but they bill you once a year for $120
(and give you nothing in return). Well, I did not notice for 5 years (my wife was paying the bills). Then the greedy bastards decided to raise the
rate and sent me a notice about it. That tipped me off. I looked into it and found that the company offering the service and Chase, had been sued and
ordered to return the money to customers that requested their money back. I got my money back (all $600). Of course if you never requested your money
back they just went on charging you.
quicksilver - 14-7-2011 at 15:33
I heard of the credit card thing. And you're stone right! You need to get seriously firm with those jerks. I haven't heard of this one previously.
It's outrageous frankly, that ANY carrier would allow this to take place from an off-shore scam phone provider. I remember the old "900" number scams
and the lame phone-sex crap but for a major company (let alone the Attorney General!) to allow this to happen says a great deal on some needed
changes.
Apparently it's getting more and more common. I'm not even sure if there isn't some "phone rooms" where this crap gets rolling. They appear to target
the elderly or those who worry about family issues too which is just plain old evil.