90# on you Cell Phone!

[teacel]

I received this info from a friend, and thought I would share it with you all. I did call Verizon Wireless, (my carrier) to verify, and it is true.

Something interesting, see below:
PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service technician who was conducting a test on telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up.
Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give 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 local jails/prisons. I have also verified this information with UCB Telecom, Pacific Bell, MCI, Bell Atlantic and GTE.

Please beware. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW. PLEASE pass this on to everyone YOU know. If you have mailing lists and/or newsletters from organizations you are connected with, I encourage you to pass on this information to them. After checking with Verizon they said it was true, so do not dial (9),zero(0), the pound sign # and hang up for anyone.

PLEASE PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

 

[RobZip]

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/jailcall.htm

Claim: Prisoners (or other scammers) can dupe business customers into making long-distance phone calls for them by posing as phone company employees and asking the called parties to press the 9, 0, and # keys and then hang up.
Status: Sort of.

"Origins: Is this scam possible? Technically, yes. This trick can work with business phone systems or switchboards where pressing '9' is the signal to obtain an outside line, and where there are no restrictions placed on outgoing calls. (As many of us know, our employers' phone systems are often configured to prevent us from making long-distance calls from our desks.) We can't give any more definitive information than to say that this is possible, since there are so many different types of phone systems all throughout the USA and the rest of the world.

Do you, as the average residential or cell phone customer (in the USA, at least), have to worry about this scam? No, not unless your home phone requires you to press '9' to obtain an outside line. Otherwise, the only result you'll obtain from trying this is likely to be a fast busy signal. However, this isn't to say you shouldn't be wary of phone scams at all."