Telephone Tricksters Traffic In Overseas Calls Scams Target Non-English Speaking, Elderly

April Fools’ Day is past for this year, but AT&T warns that many people are fooled daily by telephone tricksters.

Although the scams take several forms, many of them result in illegal international calling, with the victims paying the toll.

“Consumers targeted most frequently by con artists include the elderly and non-English speaking people,” said Andy Boisseau, an AT&T spokesman in Atlanta.

Boisseau described two common schemes involving illegal international calls:

Swindlers posing as company representatives.

Someone claiming to be a representative of your long-distance carrier or credit card company calls and says there has been unauthorized use of your calling or credit card and asks to “verify” the account number or PIN number. If you give the number, it will be used to make long-distance or international calls.

In a variation of this scam, the caller may ask you to help in an investigation by accepting third-party calls billed to your number. There is, of course, no legitimate investigation ongoing by your telephone company.

No reputable company will ever ask you for your calling card or credit card number unless you are actually initiating an operator-assisted calling card call or charging merchandise to your credit card, Boisseau said.

The five-digit disguise.

It’s not always easy to tell whether you’re dialing an international telephone company, especially since some area codes, such as 809, 268 and 664, look like domestic area codes but actually are for expensive international calls.

For example, you might see an advertisement for employment opportunities listing a number to call.

Call that number and you are directed to another number beginning with five digits (which is an access number to long-distance), then a number with one of the international area codes.

If you call that number, your call will usually be answered by a long, recorded announcement about nonexistent or difficult-to-obtain jobs.

The longer you listen, the higher your bill for an international call is mounting.

The phone company of the nation, often in the Caribbean, receiving the calls and the crooks split the payement.