An Old Scam Pops Up
While
looking at my telephone bill, trying to figure out why the taxes are
as much as the telephone charges themselves, I noticed Sprint had
included a warning about the return of an old scam: redirecting your
PC modem to dial an international access number. The problem, called
"hijacking," occurs if you click on certain Internet pop-up
ads on your PC screen. You won't know you've been disconnected from
your Internet service, or that the modem has called a new number,
with charges, according to the Sprint flyer, of up to $9.00 a minute.
They don't mention what happens if you are on a broadband service
such as cable or DSL, but the scam probably tries to dial your PC's
built-in modem anyway.
If you
click on the ad, your PC is disconnected from the Internet dial-up
connection you made when you logged on and a new, international
number is quietly dialed without you realizing the new call has been
made. The modem sounds are suppressed by the commands from the pop-up
ad. Sprint states the action results "in you being billed for
costly international long-distance calls you didn't realize you
made."
I
wrote back in February about the "809" area code being
notorious for generating large, unwanted long-distance telephone
bills. The problem isn't just dialing the 809 area code, which is the
Dominican Republic. Any legitimate call to the Dominican Republic
uses that area code. There are charge telephone numbers that happen
to reside in that country, and in others that do not require the
international access number of 011, and can bill according to those
country's laws that are the problem.
Once
you make the call, you are legitimately required to pay the bill.
Remember, the bill is not from your long-distance 'provider, but from
the number you dialed. The foreign telephone service forwards the
bill to your long-distance provider. Your long-distance provider then
submits the bill from the foreign number on your monthly bill. They
are obligated to collect it by international telephone and commerce
agreements. Disputing the bill can .be a challenge, as the
disagreement will be with a foreign telephone company, not a U.S.
long-distance provider. The long-distance carrier may help, but don't
bank on it.
The
809 area code was splintered in 1997 into several different codes,
with the Dominican Republic maintaining the original 809 area code.
The 473 area code is now Grenada, while 284 is the British Virgin
Islands, and 868 is Trinidad and Tobago. All can be dialed without
the international "011" code.
Go to
http://www.thedirectory.org/pref/ for a complete list of area codes.
The Sprint flyer advises you to be cautious about any Internet pop-up
screens you click on, and to read all messages carefully. While there
should be consumer warnings, the flyer does not say those warnings
will always be there. For more information' call Sprint Fraud
Management a 1-866-255-5278.
Now
all we need is a toll-free telephone number to prevent pop-up
telephone taxes.
George
Mindling ©
2003
