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This was sent to me from a member (brasso9) of this website and of course a Vietnam Vet. I thought it was a good idea so I posted it here for all to read.

We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said "Hey, this is Karen Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly. Have something important to tell you." Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. "We didn't respond".

Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

Subject: DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284 AND 876

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T.
DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809

This one is being distributed all over the US. This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on to all your friends and family so they don't get scammed!

MAJOR SCAM:
Don't respond to Emails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call an "809" area Phone Number.

This is a very important issue of Scam Busters because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading *extremely* quickly, can easily cost you $2400 or more, and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it.

We'd like to thank Verizon for bringing this scam to our attention.
This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center and is costing victims a lots of money.

There are lots of different permutations of this scam.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

You will receive a message on your answering machine or your pager, which asks you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're asked to call varies. It can be to receive information about a family member who has been ill, to tell you someone has been arrested, died, to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute. Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24,100.00.

WHY IT WORKS:

The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas). The 809 area code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900 numbers in the US. Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by U.S. regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call a pay-per-call" number.

There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many U.S. homes that have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, do not work in preventing calls to the 809 area code.

We recommend that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number with an 809 area code that you don't recognize, just disregard the message.

Be wary of e-mail, or calls, asking you to call an 809 area code number. It's important to prevent becoming a victim of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call. If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam

Sandi Van Handel
AT&T Field Service Manager
(920)687-904

I just received this e-mail from Heather Bartol who is the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran. She is looking for help in advertising the new scholarship fund on the Internet and I was more then happy to help her with her request.

Please read the e-mail she sent and if you can help to get this information on the Internet or if you know people that may be interested in this scholarship please feel free to copy it and paste it into your website or e-mail it to contacts that you think may benefit from this information.
Quote:

Due to a few technical problems that we had this week on the website some of the areas scheduled to be completed today will be delayed 2-3 days. While repairing the database that runs the website some data was corrupted and lost. I have been working double time all week to get the problems resolved and am now in the process of getting the lost data back into the system. I also had to make some design adjustments to accommodate the amount information that the site will hold. I will continue to work on it through the weekend and should be back on schedule by Monday, May 2, 2005.

I apologize for the delay and would like to thank you for visiting The Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial online. Please look around and feel free to tell us what you think. Our discussion forums are open to members and non-members and we would love to hear from you.

Thank you,

Rich Tenalio
RK Web Designs
admin@rk-web.net
215-820-0191