*72 phone-forwarding scam

[peejay 327]

Comcast warns of *72 phone-forwarding scam

Harris County jail inmates are making the calls, service provider warns

By DAVID ELLISON

2007 Houston Chronicle

A telephone provider is warning its customers about an upswing in phone scams by Harris County jail inmates in recent weeks.

Comcast, which offers digital phone service, called its telephone customers with a recorded message to warn of the so-called *72 scam.

The fraud involves an inmate calling a person collect and tricking the victim into forwarding his phone to another number. The person at the other number then can make hundreds of dollars in long distance calls that are billed to the victim's phone.

"We were just starting to see a little bit of a trend here, and it was happening to several of our customers. We just decided to be proactive and alert people about this scam," said Ray Purser, a Comcast spokesman.

The scam is not exclusive to Comcast. AT&T and Verizon officials report the same problems are happening nationwide. Verizon spokesman Bill Kula said there are a number of telephone scams that include calling card and credit card number theft, third-number billing and identity theft.

"Unfortunately, it tends to be often elderly who are victimized, thinking that they are doing the right thing and simply being cordial to people on the phone," Kula said. "But in being overly friendly, they will have somebody take advantage of them."

Lt. John Martin, a Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the *72 fraud has been going on for a long time. He said it is difficult to track down the person who made the call because it takes place on a phone in a cell block with 20 to 30 inmates.

Martin described how the scam works: An inmate will call a person collect. If the person accepts the call, the inmate will claim to have dialed the wrong number.

"And then they will give you some sob story, saying 'This is my only phone call. I was arrested on traffic tickets, and I got my young child here at the station. They are going to send my child to CPS (Child Protective Services) if I can't get in touch with my mom, my uncle or whomever.' " Martin said.

The inmate will ask the person to dial another number with *72 in front of it, Martin said.

The use of *72 actually forwards the telephone to another number.

Purser said a person will not realize his phone has been forwarded until he notices his phone has stopped ringing for an extended time, or sees the bill with expensive long-distance calls. He said some Comcast customers were billed for long-distance calls to foreign countries. He declined to say how many customers have been victimized.

Purser and other telephone company representatives advise people to hang up the phone when they are suspicious or to ask pointed questions, such as requesting a call-back number.

Purser said a person who believes he or she has become a victim of the *72 scam should dial *73 to cancel the call forwarding.

Telephone company officials said that if a customer is victimized, the companies will work with him or her to remove the fraudulent charges.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5315402.html

[almaty 19]

typical harris county.....

[peejay 327]

typical harris county.....

Typical inmate...lots of free time to think of new ways to do more crimes and lots of other cons around to learn to do the same thing.

And (unfortunately) lots of gullible suckers that take the bait.