Post Office Voucher Scam and BT Line Test Scam

[Katherine]

Hi All
DH has just passed this on to me so thought I would pass on the warning.........


POLICE BULLETIN

Received from PC Paul Toseland Corby
Business Anti-Crime network Administrator
Tel: 01536 444564

“We have been informed of the following scam which is targeting females in particular. They receive a phone call from the Post Office asking them to confirm their postcode. When this is given, they are told that they have become eligible for some gift vouchers for their co-operation and are asked to provide their home address and postcode in order to receive the vouchers. So far, 90% of women who have provided this information have been burgled, as it is assumed that their homes are empty during office working hours. The police are aware of this scam and the Post Office have confirmed that they are NOT conducting any postcode surveys.

Also, it has been reported that if you receive a telephone call from an individual who identifies him/herself as being a BT Service Technician who is conducting a test on that line, or if anyone else asks you to do the following, DON’T. They will state that to complete the test the recipient should dial nine zero (90) followed by the hash key and then hang up. This will give them full access to your phone line, which allows them to place long distance, international or chat line calls. These are then billed to your account.

The information, which the Police have, suggests that many of these calls are emanating from prisons. The information has been checked out by the Police and is correct. DO NOT PRESS 90 FOR ANYONE.

[SoupDragon]

From hoaxbusters.ciac.org

"90# Warning January 1998

This warning is basically true for some but not all phone systems. Some PBX systems transfer a call to an outside, long distance operator when you type 90# giving the caller an outside line on your dime. It works if your phone system requires you to dial 9 to get an outside line, 0 to get an operator and # to transfer the incoming call to the line you have just dialed. Few home phones require you to dial 9 to get an outside line so dialing 90# will only get you a busy signal. As this is one of thousands of potential scams, sending out a message to everyone you know probably does more damage than the scam being warned about.

'On Saturday, 24 January 1998, Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans' Quarterdeck received a telephone call from an individual
identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician that was running a test on our telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test the
QMOW should touch nine (9), zero (0), pound sign (#) and hang up. Luckily, the QMOW was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company we were informed that by using 90# you end up giving the individual that called you access to your telephone line and allows them to place a long distance telephone call, with the charge appearing on your telephone [bill]. We were further informed that this scam has been originating from many of the local jails/prisons. Please pass the word.'

[Philippat]

we seem to get this hoax coming round and round in our offices. if anyone's worried, it's worth noting 90# only works on SOME office systems (usually US). If you don't have to dial 9 to get an outside line or 0 to get an operator then you are completely safe from this.