Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!ria!uwovax.uwo.ca!telecom-request From: smk@attunix.att.com (S M Krieger) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Still Another Telephone Scam Message-ID: Date: 15 Mar 91 17:43:54 GMT Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Organization: Summit NJ Lines: 24 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 207, Message 4 of 9 > The latest in phone scams occurred this week in New York. Employees > of a large company with pagers received phone inquiries from 540 > numbers, which are billed the same as 900 numbers. When the number is > called, the customer is automatically charged $55.00. Employees from > other companies around New York have also been hit by this scam. This is another example of needing a college education, and then some, to use a telephone nowadays. Things were really easy when the cost of a call was based on only time of day, time of the call, and mileage. Anyway, what makes this more confusing (I have seen the ads for 540 numbers, since most of the TV stations serving 201/908 land are in NY City) is that they appear to be a NY Telephone invention. In 201, 540 is a central office code assigned to Morristown, NJ (about 30 air miles west of NY), so how is someone in 212, 516, 718, or 914 supposed to know that a seven-digit number, that in some places in this country is a "normal" phone number, is going to be a high priced call instead of just a few message units? Stan Krieger All opinions, advice, or suggestions, AT&T Unix System Laboratories even if related to my employment, are Summit, NJ are my own and do not represent any att!attunix!smk public or private policies of my employer.