Bulletin staff report
Oregon Attorney General Hardy Meyers is encouraging consumers to carefully read their monthly telephone bills and look for unauthorized international long-distance calls that may result from «modem hijacking.»
Some consumers have recently been billed for unauthorized calls to Guinea Bissau, Vanuatu in the Southwest Pacific, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Chad and Madagascar, according to a news release from Meyers’ office.
Justice investigators found that many consumers using the Internet have been enticed into clicking on Web sites, some associated with adult sites, that claim to be free or advertise that no credit card is needed. The Internet user is then asked to download a «viewer» or «dialer» program. Once the program is downloaded to the user’s computer, it disconnects the Internet connection and reconnects to an international long-distance phone number.
Recently, Oregon consumers have complained to Meyers’ office that they have experienced «pop-ups» or «bubbles» on their screens that are impossible to get rid of. Victims are unable to stop the dialing to a pay-per-call number of an Internet adult Web site.
Victims are also enticed via voicemail or pager into calling pay-per-call area codes such as 809, 242, 246, 264, 268, 284, 345, 441, 473, 664, 758, 767, 784, 787, 868, 869 and 876, according to the attorney general’s office.
The ways victims are enticed into calling the area codes varies, according to Meyers. Scenarios include receiving messages about a family member who has been arrested or died, or details about winning a fabulous prize.
«Chances are the consumer or someone in his or her family was misled via voicemail or pager into calling a number with an international pay-per-call area code such as 809,» Meyers said.
«These area codes are connected to fees that are calculated per minute, and can often result in exorbitant bills.»
In fighting the unauthorized charges, customers are getting little help from local phone companies and long-distance carriers, who say they are merely providing a billing service for a foreign company, according to Meyers.
Foreign companies are not accepting any responsibility for the problem, and calls to foreign governments often go unanswered.
Consumers can minimize their chances of being charged for unauthorized international calls by never dialing an unfamiliar area code before checking the phone book or long-distance operator, according to Meyers. Web surfers should be skeptical and read online disclosures carefully.
Oregon consumers may file complaints concerning unauthorized long-distance telephone charges by calling the attorney general’s consumer hotline toll-free at 1–877–877–9392.
State officials are warning Oregonians about telephone and Internet scams that have targeted residents.
The scams often involve misleading a person to call a number with an «international pay-per-call area code,» which often results in steep phone bills, Attorney General Hardy Myers said.
The calls have gone to countries such as Madagascar and Tuvalu.
Internet users also have been targeted, Myers said. Some Web sites claim to offer free adult content so long as the user downloads a «viewer or dialer» program, which then disconnects the Internet line and dials the international long-distance number.
Some Internet users have reported pop-ups that are impossible to close, and they are unable to stop the dialing of a pay-per-call number or adult Web site.
Myers urged Oregonians to be cautious about the Web sites they visit and to never dial an unfamiliar area code without verifying it.Pay-per-call
area codes include the following numbers: 809, 242, 246, 264, 268, 284, 345, 441, 473, 664, 758, 767, 784, 787, 868, 869 and 876.
MIAMI -- Some South Florida residents are being targeted in a stock buying scam.
It starts with a simple phone call -- a message left on your voice mail: «Hey Steph, it’s Wendy. I looked for your old number but couldn’t find it but Brandy says this is your new one…» begins the message.
It sounds like someone got the wrong number -- someone with a great hot stock tip: «There’s this new company that supposedly developed some zillion dollar cancer testing and it’s going to go up big this week.»
This seemingly ’innocent’ message is actually a calculated scam.
«I could see how the potential for someone to fall prey to it because it was very personal,» said Nancy Fountain, who received the message on her cell phone Monday.Nancy found out on Tuesday that two of her co-workers had also received the message on their home answering machines.
Mary Anne Miller was suspicious from the get-go.«It
was curious that in the middle of the message she said she didn’t know what a patent was which made me think ’this can’t be real’ by the end of the message I was just kind of laughing,» Miller said.
It’s no laughing matter to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
They call this a «pump and dump» scam. It can be carried out by individuals or organized groups.
What they do is try to push up the price of a company stock with false information.
Once the stock hits a certain price, these scammers will sell off the shares they own… leaving everyone who bought on their bad information holding the bag.
In this latest scam, the company being pushed is a small bio-tech firm called «Power Three Medical.»
A record of the company’s stock price since June first shows it’s been ’pumped up’ a few times.
The S. E. C. will try to track down the scammers, but finding them isn’t easy because they use calling cards to leave these messages.
The S. E. C. says most important thing is warning the public that these scammers are out there so people don’t get stung by this stock scam.
«Its your money they don’t care it’s your money, they’re just looking to profit off innocent people so public be aware, think about what you’re doing, don’t jump to conclusions,» Fountain said
If you’ve been targeted in a pump-and-dump scheme by phone, email or in an Internet chat room, the S. E. C. wants to hear from you.
Contact them on the web at www.sec.gov, and look for their on line complaint form or call them at (800) SEC-0330.
