[QCWA] [Fwd: 90# on your telephone ( important notice)]

[William M. Pasternak]

Yes its a scam, but it does not and cannot affect residential 
subscribers.  According to ATT at 
http://web.archive.org/web/20020223071837/http://www.att.com/features/0398/90pound.html:


Find out about the 9-0-# phone scam


The 9-0-# scam has been around for years and is directed at businesses, 
hospitals, government agencies and other organizations that use telephone 
switching equipment called private branch exchanges (PBXs) to handle their 
calls.

This type of fraud involves a perpetrator who calls an office and cons an 
unsuspecting worker into transferring him or her to an outside line. The 
perpetrator then starts dialing calls that are charged to the owner of the 
PBX. In this latest version, the caller claims to be an AT&T service 
technician "repairing" the phone lines and convinces the recipient of the 
call to help out by transferring him to an outside line and then hanging up.

Below are some points about this scam worth remembering:

    * This scam doesn't affect residential customers; its target is 
businesses.
    * An AT&T service technician would never call customers and ask them to 
help check phone lines.
    * The scam is generating a lot of interest in the media and over the 
Internet, but our network fraud experts report no increase in the number of 
fraud cases as a result of this notoriety.
    * The best prevention against this type of fraud is for business 
managers to make their office staffs aware of it and to review what to do 
if it happens.
    * If someone receives such a call, he or she should ask the 
"technician" for a call-back number or for the name and number of the 
caller's supervisor. Then hang up.
To report this or any other phone scams AT&T business customers should call 
their account representatives. You also can call the AT&T Business Customer 
Care Center at 1-800-222-0400 or report the scam to your local law 
enforcement agency.





At 12:20 AM 6/8/2010 -0400, George/Frances wrote:
>---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
>Subject: 90# on your telephone ( important notice)
>From:    "Ed Morgan VE3GX" <edmorgan at rogers.com>
>Date:    Mon, June 7, 2010 12:34 pm
>To:      Undisclosed-Recipient:;@smtp108.rog.mail.re2.yahoo.com;;
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>This may be different in the US but it does work this way in Canada !
>
>George-VE3BNO
>
>                 You may want to pass this on to family or friends
>
>                 Re: 90# on your telephone.
>
>                 I dialed '0' and asked the operator to confirm if this was
>correct, so please pass it on.
>
>
>                 I received a telephone call last evening from an
>individual identifying himself as a Telus Serviceman, who
>was conducting a test on the telephone-lines.
>
>
>         He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine (9) and
>then zero (0), followed by the pound sign (#), and then to hang
>up.
>
>         Luckily, I was suspicious, and I refused.
>
>         Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by
>pushing 90#, you are giving the requesting individual full access
>to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance
>calls billed to your home phone number.
>
>
>         I was further informed that this scam has been originating from
>many of B.C.Alta.Ont.NB. local jails and prisons.
>
>         DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE !
>
>         The GTE Security Department requested that I share this
>information with EVERYONE I KNOW.
>
>
>         After checking with Telus, they said it was true, so do not dial
>90# for anyone!
>
>         PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
>
>
>         Vivian Thompson,
>         Crime & Fraud Prevention Coordinator,
>         District 5
>         South Surrey RCMP,
>         British Columbia ..
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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