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.
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\nAccording 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.
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\nOnce the call is returned “they keep you on the line as long as possible…” and charge about $2,400 per minute.
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\nThe fraudulent charges cannot be revoked as the scam victim willingly dialed the phone number that imposed the charges.
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\nThe article did not specify whether countries outside of Canada were reporting similiar incidents.
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\nAssistant Superintendent Bernard Cartwright, of the Commercial Crimes Division, said he was unaware of the scam and had not been contacted by Canadian officials.
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\nHe 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.
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Source: The Tribune<\/SMALL><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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