Current Phone Scams Involving Collect Calls

Consumers report that they have been deceived into accepting a collect call from a particular family member when, in fact, the call is from a stranger. The consumer is then fraudulently billed a large amount for a call that lasts a few minutes or less - or for a nonexistent call.

This scam seems to be prevalent in Spanish-speaking communities in California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois. 

Here's How it Works

An operator calls the consumer's residential telephone number and tells the consumer he/she has a collect call from a family member who has an emergency or an important message. The operator has all the relevant information - the family's last name, husband's name, wife's name, etc. The operator provides the consumer with the "calling family member's" name. The consumer accepts the operator-assisted call, assuming there is a real emergency or message. Upon accepting the call, the consumer is then connected to a complete stranger who gives information that is not related to the consumer's family. Realizing the call is one of the current phone scams involving collect calls, the consumer immediately hangs up, but is still billed for the call.

In some cases, the consumer is not even allowed to respond "yes" or "no" in accepting the call; the operator automatically puts the call through without waiting for an affirmative response. Other times, the consumer actually declines the call and is still charged a very high rate for a collect call that was never accepted.

Here's How to Avoid This Scam

You should use voice recognition as a tool for identifying the person placing the collect call. Specifically, you should ask the operator to have the person placing the collect call speak his name, instead of allowing the operator to say the name of the person placing the collect call. Also, you should carefully examine your monthly telephone bills for accuracy, and report errors to the company billing for the erroneous charges.