Authorities Warn: Don’t Answer Calls From These Area Codes

Cell phone scams are nothing new – for years, telemarketers and scammers have found ways to scam people across the world by creating a variety of fake scenarios and situations on the phone. A brand new cell phone scam is currently affecting people across the country, and is one that’s relatively easy to fall for.

The scam, which police are calling the “one-ring scam,” is successfully accomplished not when the hacker calls the person’s number, but when they become curious and call it back. When the scammer calls your number, they only let it ring once before hanging up. If you call back, you’ll be connected to an expensive pay-per-call or a phone line that charges by the minute. 

Although the phone number appears to be domestic, it actually links to an international number and you’re charged no matter if you connect to the number or not, AWM America reported. 

WDAF reported that there are certain area codes to avoid in order to protect yourself from the one-ring scam: 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849 and 876. 

Many readers implored people to avoid answering any unknown caller and rather letting the call ring through.

“Do NOT answer calls from numbers beginning with 268, 809, 284 or 876!! Read this for more information. In fact do NOT answer ANY unfamiliar or unidentified number. Don’t be scammed!” one AWM America reader commented on the site’s Facebook page.

Another scam that is affecting people is the “can you hear me” phone scam. In Virginia, police issued a warning to residents that later prompted other state authorities to do the same. 

In the scam, the hacker asks a caller if they can hear them – and the caller’s affirmative response is then recorded and used to authorize fraudulent charges on a phone or utility bill. 

“You say ‘yes,’ it gets recorded and they say that you have agreed to something,” Consumer Federation of America consumer protection director Susan Grant told CBS News. “I know that people think it’s impolite to hang up, but it’s a good strategy.”

“I was just a victim of this scam.  I said “Yes” and as I said it I remembered the scam.  I had to  call my phone company to put a fraud alert. Now I have to contact police, credit companies etc,” one CBS News reader commented.

“Since the 1980’s my wife and I have used our answering machine to screen our calls.  Our family and friends know to start talking after the beep and we’ll pick up.  Otherwise we ignore the phone.  Most of the callers are telemarketers who use our formal names as opposed to our nicknames so it’s easy to differentiate who really knows us and who doesn’t.  The only pain is having to replay the answering machine to be able to delete the abbreviated telemarketers messages,” another added. 

Sources: WDAF, AWM America, AWM America/Facebook, CBS News / Photo credit: AWM America