Police have issued a warning to everyone in the country. If you’re eager to keep your personal information out of the hands of hackers and scam artists, you need to pay attention to this alert. If you have a telephone with caller ID, you’ve undoubtedly seen calls coming in from strange area codes. While you probably wonder, “who is calling from Boise, Idaho or Tacoma, Washington?” you need to forgo your curiosity can refuse to pick up calls – from five high risk area codes.
But the mystery makes people answer, and when they do, they put themselves at risk for getting scammed. The fast talkers on the other ends o the lines know exactly what to say to get private information from you. And if you miss the call? You probably want to call back. But police are urging people around the country not to return these strange calls And here is why…
A new telephone scam is brewing. And if they’re not careful, it can cost innocent people thousands of dollars.
Police are calling this the One-Ring scam. The scammers use international phone numbers to call people in the United States. But they only let it ring once, which is enough for it to get picked up on the caller ID. This makes the receivers of the call curious and eager to call back and see who was calling. If the person calls back, they make themselves vulnerable for the scam.
These international numbers are chosen because their three-digit area codes resemble domestic phone numbers. But they’re not – they are international. But if you call them back, you’re connected to a pay-per-call phone line that eats into your money and YOU’RE the one getting charged per minute.
Even if you don’t get connected, you can still be charged for the call. So do not call these strange numbers back.
If you do call back, the scammers try to sell you services you don’t need. For example, they’ve been known to convince people to sign up for expensive services and need personal information to do it. They usually want your credit card information and your current address. Police officers urge you not to give this information out.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued an official warning about the One-Ring Scam.
And they’ve identified the area codes that are most likely to be involved.
268 – which comes from the Caribbean countries Antigua and Barbuda.
809 – which comes from the Dominican Republic
876 – which comes from Jamaica
284 – which comes from the British Virgin Islands
473 – which comes from Grenada
The FCC write: “Remember, you should always be cautious even if a number appears authentic. Criminals may also engage in caller ID “spoofing” – deliberately falsifying the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity. (See our consumer guide on Spoofing and Caller ID.) Bottom line: Avoid answering or returning any calls from unfamiliar area codes or calls you suspect may be spoofed.”
Beware the One-Ring Scam.
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