American-based phone company AT&T sent a warning to its Canadian customers yesterday to refrain from returning emails and phone calls originating in the Bahamas, specifically those with 284 and 876 area codes.
According to The Nipaw Journal, this “pay-per-call scheme” tricks victims into returning calls by referring them to a friend or family member that is ill or in some other emergency.
Once the call is returned “they keep you on the line as long as possible…” and charge about $2,400 per minute.
The fraudulent charges cannot be revoked as the scam victim willingly dialed the phone number that imposed the charges.
The article did not specify whether countries outside of Canada were reporting similiar incidents.
Assistant Superintendent Bernard Cartwright, of the Commercial Crimes Division, said he was unaware of the scam and had not been contacted by Canadian officials.
He said it was customary for officials to contact the country in which the scam originated so that investigations might determine an address from the phone numbers in question.
Source: The Tribune
