Fw: Telephone Scam

[MEXICO JOE]

 

F Y I .........

 

90# ...on your telephone I dialed '0' to check this out, and the operator confirmed that this was correct, so please pass it on...... (l also checked out snopes.com and truthorfiction.com  This is true, and also applies to cell phones!) PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.....   I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was conducting a test on  the telephone lines.  He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine (9), zero (0), amd 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.  DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE..... The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW. After checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so do not dial 90# for anyone !!!!!  PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!

[Karen Shearer]

I looked this up on snopes.com and it has a little bit of truth but only if you are businesses, hotels, etc that use PBX lines and you have to press 9 for an  outside line.

 Also on the snopes page for the 90# it has a link to ATT that had this info:

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

[MEXICO JOE]

THANKS KAREN FOR THIS INFO, I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED INTO IT FURTHER.

JOE BUSH