Earlier this evening, I received a collect call from an inmate in the Harris County Jail. Not knowing anyone who could possibly be calling me from jail, I hung up. A few moments later, they called back. Thinking that it was possibly a friend or relative, I answered and accepted the call. The caller identified himself as a Houston Police Officer and stated that an individual (whom I do not know) had been arrested and had given him my phone number. I told him that I did not know this individual. The “officer” then offered to give me a telephone number to call to have the charge removed from my bill. I was already suspicious, so I hung up without getting the number.
As it turns out, this is a fairly common scam. The caller will either ask you to call someone for them or offer to give you a number to have the charge removed from your bill. Either way, it usually involves you dialing *72 either before or after the phone number. BEWARE! Dialing *72 will forward your phone line and cause all of your incoming calls to ring at another number. The original caller will then have his partner-in-crime on the other end accepting collect calls on your dime while telling your own legitimate callers that they have the wrong number. This scam could go on for several days before you even notice.
Be safe. NEVER accept collect calls from someone you don’t know, and if you happen to accept the call (as I did) NEVER offer to make a call for someone or dial any combination of numbers that they give you.
Posts
