809 is the area code for the Caribbean, this included Puerto Rico until
last year when the P.R. area code was changed to 787. These area codes
are part the US phone system, and, if you call them, you will be charged
regular long distance rates. Where the extraordinary charges come in is
if you dial an exchange that has a surcharge (I believe the most common
one is 976?) ie. 809-976-5555. Most 809 calls are legitimate.
If an offer is too good to be true or unsolicited, call your phone
company, the BBB or the Commerce Dept or some other government agency
that keeps track of these events. Please don't use scare tactics and go
spreading unnecessary rumors about US territories and their neighbors. I
do not believe the rp-ml is the place for this.
Specifically, if you are concerned about possible computer viruses and
scams you can visit the U.S. Department of Energy's Computer Incident
Advisory Capability at http://ciac.llnl.gov.
Nyrma Soffel
> PHONE OR PAGER SCAM:
> You receive a message on your answering machine or your pager which asks
> you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're
> asked to call varies; it can be to receive information about a family
> member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died or
> to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc. In each case, you
> are given an 809 number to call right away. There are so many new area
> codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls. If you call
> from the US, you will apparently be charged $25.00
> per minute! Sometimes the person who answers the phone will speak broken
> English and pretend not to understand you. Other times, you will just
> get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on
> the line for as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately,
> when you get your phone bill, you will often be charged more than $100.00
> for that particular call.
>
> The 809 area code is located in the Bahamas. This area code can be used
> as a "pay-per-call" number similar to 900 numbers in the United States.
> Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by US Regulations of 900
> numbers, which requires that you be notified and warned of charges and
> rates involved when you call a
> "pay-per-call" number. Further, whereas many US phones have 900 number
> blocking, this blocking system will not work on an 809 area code.
>
> INTERNET BASED PHONE SCAM VIA E-MAIL:
>
> You receive an E-Mail, typically with a subject line of "Alert" or
> "Unpaid Account". This message which is being scammed across the net
> 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", then it will give
> you a contact person with an 809 number.
>
> No matter how you receive the message, if you are asked to call a number
> with the 809 area code that you do not recognize, investigate further
> and/or disregard the message. Be VERY WARY of E-Mail or phone calls
> asking you to make calls to an 809 area code.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sadegh Rahmati
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Centre for Rapid Prototyping in Manufacturing
> Department of Manufacturing Engineering
> The University of Nottingham
> Nottingham, UK, NG7 2RD
> Tel; +44 115 9514033 Fax: +44 115 9514000
> Email; epxsr@epn1.nott.ac.uk
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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