Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Tuesday, November 12, 1996

Ignore e-mail or pager
‘alerts’ to avoid 809 scam

Q: There's a big scam involving calls to the 809 area code, which covers the Caribbean. What's going on and what can we do to make sure we're not taken?

The 809 scam is not new, but apparently people are still getting lured into calling a number with that area code, falling into a trap that may end up costing them $100 or more - with no recourse.

Internet ScamBusters has done a lot of research on this and warns consumers that the scam now encompasses a whole new series of area codes for different countries in the Caribbean (see below).

Here are typical versions of the scam, according to ScamBusters:

You receive an e-mail, typically flagged by "ALERT" or "Unpaid Account." The message says, "I am writing to give you a final 24 hours to settle your outstanding account. If I have not received the settlement in full, I will commence legal proceedings without further delay. If you would like to discuss this matter to avoid court action, call Mike Murray at Global Communications at 809-496-2700.

You receive a message on your answering machine or pager asking you to call a number with 809 for various reasons, including a family member being ill, has died or been arrested, or because you've won a prize.

Here's the pitfall: If you call from the United States, you will be charged $25 per minute. Sometimes the person who answers will pretend not to understand you or you will get a long recorded message - just to keep you on the line.

The scam works because 809 can be used as a pay-per-call number, similar to 900 numbers in the United States, according to ScamBusters. Since 809 is based in the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, it is not covered by U.S. regulations, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call a pay-per-call number.

ScamBusters' advice: Ignore the message or investigate it first.

Locally, GTE Hawaiian Tel also has issued warnings about this and says consumers should know:

Calls to 1-800 or 1-888 numbers are free.

Calls to 1-900 or 1-976 numbers ALWAYS cost a fee, usually a per-minute charge.

Most international calls require dialing 011 before the phone number. Calls between countries in North America - United States, Canada and the Caribbean - don't require the 011 code.

Calls to Bermuda, Bahamas, Barbados and Caribbean Islands (except Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) are billed at the international rate. Current Caribbean area codes are 809, 242, 246, 268, 441, 664, 758. More will be added.

Customers should check their phone book or call an operator before returning a page or call to an unfamiliar area code, said HawTel spokesman Calvin Tadaki.

He also warned consumers, in general, to be wary of returning calls to pay-per-call numbers.

Tadaki himself said he received a letter which seemed to be notifying him about his winnings for more than $7,000. But he had to write or call a 1-900 number to "claim" the check. If he called, he got a bonus of $100 in coupons.

It's clear that the calls are "$3.98 per min./7 mins. avg." and that the check would be sent "per rules, odds, etc. on reverse."

But after reading the fine print, Tadaki found out his chances of being the "designated winner" even after putting in a claim are 1 in almost 5 million.

In the meantime, if he called, it would have cost him about $28.