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Maia Gabrial
21st October 2015, 19:23
Here is information that may interest you all to know about being careful to not trust someone over the phone even if they sound "official". I received this in an email and thought it should be shared. I trust the person who sent it....



90# on your telephone

I dialed '0' to check this out, and the
operator confirmed that this was correct, so please pass it
on.. (l also checked out snopes.com. This is true, and also applies
to cell phones!)

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

I received a telephone call last evening from an
individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service
Technician (could also be Telus) who was
conducting a test on the 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. DO NOT Press 90#
for ANYONE...

The GTE Security Department requested that I share
this information with EVERYONE I KNOW.

After
checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so do not
dial 90# for anyone!!

drgreig
21st October 2015, 19:59
The Grapevine calls this one a Hoax...fyi :)

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Snopes calls it a mixture ... but residents/cell phone users not to worry...

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/telephone/jailcall.asp

ThePythonicCow
22nd October 2015, 01:15
According to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, this only applies to business phones (one's using a PBX, where you dial '9' to get "outside".) Notice that the first digit in "90#" is that '9'.

See further Don't Fall for the 90# Telephone Scam (fcc.gov) (https://www.fcc.gov/guides/90-telephone-scam).

This does not apply to home phones or cell phones.

conk
22nd October 2015, 17:23
Snopes cannot be trusted. They've been called to account for several errors on their site, which they refuse to correct.