Potentialy a costly call. (1 Viewer)

[Mastercamper]

Is this for real?


The following email arrived in my inbox today.
I know that lots of scare warnings tumble into our inboxes on almost a daily basis, you know the sort of thing....Viruses and worms etc., but this warning is different.
Does any one want to dial the code and see if you receive a bill for £1500 per min?

I`m not risking it.

What do you think?






Dear All,

Read on and hopefully avoid falling prey to this scam!!!

0809 Area Code


We actually received a call last week from the 0809 area code. The woman said 'Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you- get back to us quickly. I have something important to tell you.' Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 0809. We did not respond. This week, we received the following e-mail:

Do Not

DIAL AREA CODE 0809,0284, and 0876 from the UK ..

This one is being distributed all over the UK ... This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on. They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc..
In each case, you are told to call the 0809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the UK you will apparently be charged a minimum of £1500per-minute, and you'll also get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges.


WHY IT WORKS:

The 0809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic ....
The charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you actually DID make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam.

 

[daveandsan]

Google it. Its not as bad as it seems. Looks like a bit of a urban myth.

 

[Allanm]

So that's why nobody ever calls us back.

Karen

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[Tootles]

Well, if this is mobile related, I wish them luck. I have a pay as you go, and rarely keep more then a fiver on it..........

 

[ukbill]

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/809.asp

 

[Allanm]

There are just so many of these type of emails/ messages doing the rounds, most of them are just made up, the rest are so old they are have long beards.
Trouble is, they keep doing the rounds because most people blindly resend them to friends ( my Mother in Law is a prime example) when they are quite clearly rubbish.
For more information about all the scams doing the rounds now, call me on 0809...........

Allan

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[pappajohn]

080 calls from the UK are free....

This scam was aimed at American and Canadain users where 0809 is an area code for the dominican republic.

This originally started in the USA where calls to their 809 numbers did cost up to $25 per minute, it has now been exaggerated into thousands of dollars by people that circulate these scary emails simply to cause panic and alarm.

There are no numbers that you can dial from the UK that start either[HI] 0809 or 0876 as those particular codes havent been released, but even if they were then 0809 would be a free call and 0876 would be 5p - 41p /minute.[/HI]


Read the previous post re: Snopes.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Phoned them up this morning to complain,I was kept waiting for 20 mins
Thank god I reversed the charges!



Vlad