90# phone scam -- bottom line

[Linc Madison]

It is my view that the most important point about the 90# phone scam,
and various related stories, is simply this:

Your employees, especially receptionists or switchboard operators, need
to be aware that people may call with odd requests, and they should not
cooperate with any such request without clearing it through the appropriate
knowledgeable person.

It doesn't matter so much what the odd request is -- maybe it's a veteran
scam operator who is intimately familiar with the weaknesses of the phone
system you have, or maybe it's a 12-year-old who read something on the
Internet and decided to try it. The POINT is, whoever it is is at least
TRYING to do mischief at your expense. The more quickly you convince
that person that your company is uncooperative to such things, the more
quickly the scammer will either move to a new target or go watch Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers.

In short, don't warn your employees about "people asking you to dial 90#,"
warn them more generally about people posing as telco employees and asking
them to do ANYTHING unusual.

--

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Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * Telecom@LincMad-com
URL:< http://www.lincmad.com > * North American Area Codes & Splits
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