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*72 Call Forwarding Scam
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| 12/04/09 |
[December 4, 2009, Nashville Tennessee] In November of this year, your Better Business Bureau issued numerous warnings to businesses in the Middle Tennessee area regarding suspicious relay calls. When the scam first appeared, it targeted smaller electronic stores, the lock and key industry, flooring contractors and mattress sales. This week the scammers are targeting residents (often the elderly).
The *72 Call Forwarding Scam -- here is how it works:
- The Scam Phone calls are made late night..usually after 11 p.m.
- The caller identifies himself as being with the Sheriffs Dept (usually gives a county ie Davidson County Sheriffs Dept)
- He has a collect call from an inmate...will you accept the call?
- When the 'inmate' comes on the line, it's then obvious that you/consumer do not know the inmate caller..
- He begs you not to hang up saying they have connected him with the wrong number and he will only be allowed one phone call. He explains that he has been arrested and is trying to reach his wife/family/Mom so they know what has happened and can help him post bail for release.
- He says you can reverse the the collect call so you won't be changed by dialing *72 and he'll be able to redial the right number without the Officer knowing he's making a second call.
Consumers report they feel compelled to help the caller who is in a desperate position. Those who follow these instructions will activate their telephone Call Forwarding feature... resulting in all incoming calls to the consumers telephone number to be forwarded to an alternative number ...the scammer is then able to make and receive long distance calls that will be billed to the consumers phone number/bill.
Consumers reporting this scam to BBB only realized they were victims of a Scam after their phone calls ceased for a couple of days and relatives and friends reported to them that they dialed their # and the phone was answered by a person saying they had the wrong #
The *72 scam was first reported in 2004, originating from Cook County Jail in Chicago. Inmates used the *72 feature to make hundreds of long distance phone calls, billed to consumer who unknowningly participated in activating their call
forwarding feature.
BBB advises consumers who fall for this scam to dial *73 to de-activate the Call Forward feature and to report the unauthorized phone charges to their telephone service provider security department.
To avoiding falling victim to the scams looking for you, Start your search With Trust by visiting www.Nashville.BBB.org
ABOUT BBB:
The BBB of Middle Tennessee, Inc. was founded in 1961 as a non-profit Tennessee organization serving 38 counties in Middle Tennessee and 7 counties in Southern Kentucky. The first BBB was founded in 1912. Today, BBBs serve communities across the U.S. and Canada.
Serving as the 'ethical gatepost' of our communities, BBB fosters and promotes ethical business practices and self-regulation standards that build consumer trust in the marketplace. BBB services include business reliability information, complaint resolution services and consumer and business educational information. In 2008 BBB Nashville handled over 4.0 million services requests via our web site www.Nashville.BBB.org.
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