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1992-09-26
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==Phrack Classic==
Volume Three, Issue 33, File #8 of 10
____________________________________________
|| ||
|| Toll Fraud ||
|| ||
|| by American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) ||
|| ||
|| July 22, 1991 ||
||____________________________________________||
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- Thousands of American consumers are being ripped off
every day by telephone con artists who trick them into revealing their calling
card numbers or accepting long distance charges.
AT&T is offering tips to consumers on how to avoid becoming a fraud victim.
For starters, the company advises customers to be on the lookout for calling
card number thieves in public places and to hang up on suspected telephone scam
artists.
The annual bill for telephone scams directed at consumers is estimated by
industry experts at $1 billion.
Saying the best defense against toll fraud is an educated consumer, AT&T is
offering tips on how telephone customers can avoid two principal forms of
fraud: Calling card and third-number billing scams.
This telephone toll fraud occurs when someone places an illicit toll call by 1)
charging the call to a stolen calling card number, or 2) tricking an innocent
victim into accepting the toll charges.
CALLING CARD FRAUD
Calling card thieves usually find their victims in busy public places such as
bus, train or airline terminals. The victim can be any unsuspecting caller who
makes a calling card call from a public phone.
Frequently, card number thieves simply stand close to their victim in order to
watch the calling card digits being entered on a touch-tone phone. If a caller
verbally provides calling card information to an operator, the thief tries to
listen in.
A thief may even use binoculars to scan the numbers from the calling card or to
watch as the victim punches in the calling card digits on a touch-tone phone.
Some unwary customers receive a call at home from a fraud artist posing as a
phone company or law enforcement investigator. The fraud artist requests the
customer's calling card number and provides a phony explanation of a supposed
toll fraud investigation or problems with the company's database that require
investigators to "activate" the customer's calling card number.
Customers should know that no telephone company -- including AT&T, other long
distance companies, and local phone companies -- would ever ask a customer for
a calling card number or Personal Identification Number (PIN) over the
telephone. Phone companies already have that information.
After stealing calling card numbers, the thieves usually find an available
public phone from which they sell discounted long-distance calls to locations
around the world.
THIRD-NUMBER BILLING FRAUD
A different toll fraud scam involves what AT&T officials have labeled the "Just
Say Yes" scam, in which victims are convinced to accept charges for calls made
by someone else.
A thief impersonating an investigator calls the victim at home and asks for the
customer's cooperation in a telephone company investigation. The thief always
has a plausible explanation, such as a criminal investigation or service
disruption problems.
The victim is then asked to "just say yes" when the operator calls them to
accept charges for a series of international calls. The impostor reassures the
customer that they won't be billed for the calls. In some cases, victims are
promised substantial credit or cash payment as an incentive to cooperate.
If the customer is reluctant to cooperate, the imposter may try intimidation by
threatening to cut off phone service.
EVERYONE PAYS
Every day many innocent consumers become victims of telephone fraud. Customers
should always protect the security of their calling card number. Customers
should also know they are responsible if they willingly accept third-number
charges.
Because many of these charges are costly to collect, long distance companies
lose millions of dollars to fraud every year. This drives up the cost of doing
business, and as a result, all of the company's customers become victims of
this crime.
Telephone toll scam artists do not discriminate. Everyone is a potential
victim, from corporate executives at the airport, to salesmen on the road, to
teenage shoppers at the mall, to housewives, to home-bound elderly people.
CALLING CARD FRAUD TIPS
AT&T offers these tips to avoid calling card fraud:
o Make sure no one can see you keying in your calling card number or
overhear you reading the number to the operator. Whenever possible, use
a phone that reads your calling card automatically.
o Do not use your telephone calling card as identification for purchases.
Use some other identification to avoid sharing your calling card number
with a merchant.
o Beware of individuals who call you at home requesting telephone calling
card number verification. AT&T and other telephone companies will never
ask for your card number over the phone. Your long distance and local
phone companies already have that information in their billing records.
o If you suspect that your telephone calling lard has been lost, stolen or
otherwise compromised report this immediately to your long distance
company. The company will immediately cancel your calling card number
and issue you a new card. AT&T customers may dial 1-800-CALL ATT.
THIRD-NUMBER BILLING FRAUD TIPS
Third-number billing fraud often occurs under the guise of an "investigation."
AT&T has these tips on third-number billing fraud:
o If you receive a call from anyone claiming to be a phone company or
law enforcement investigator asking you to accept charges, simply hang
up immediately.
o Telephone companies or law enforcement officials will never call
customers and ask them to accept collect or third-party charges as
part of an investigation.
o If you suspect you are a victim of third-number billing fraud, you
should report this immediately by calling the number for billing
inquiries that appears on your phone bill.
CONSUMER TIPS
Telephone fraud is growing around the country both in public locations and even
in the privacy of your own home. Thieves can steal your calling card number.
Con artists may try to trick you into accepting international long distance
charges.
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