809 Scam
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An 809 scam is a form of
phone fraud Phone fraud, or more generally communications fraud, is the use of telecommunications products or services with the intention of illegally acquiring money from, or failing to pay, a telecommunication company or its customers. Many operators hav ...
which exploits the tendency of telephone subscribers in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to presume that a number in the familiar
North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...
format of 1- NPA-NXX-XXXX is a domestic call at standard rates because of the absence of the 011- international prefix which normally indicates an overseas call. Points in the former +1- 809 area code are not in mainland North America but in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, distributed among multiple small island nations. Some former 1-809 points are US possessions (such as
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
and USVI), but many are sovereign entities. Adding to the confusion, the 809 code was
split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...
into multiple new area codes in 1997. A call to these points may be just as expensive as any other overseas call. Most numbers in these area codes are legitimate; calls to regular landlines in many of the countries may normally be moderately priced. There is, however, a risk that premium numbers in these area codes will not be properly identified as such; the use of a foreign country allows circumvention of the meagre
consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
s which the US
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
or the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...
(CRTC) apply to domestic 1-900 or 976-XXXX schemes. Often, the claims of high costs are exaggerated to the point of
urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...
after repeated re-telling in e-mail. "I called this number not knowing it was $2425/minute and I received a bill for $24100" is likely a corruption of an original message that a $25/minute call rang up a $100 bill in four minutes; a huge distortion of what may have originally been a valid (but sensationalised) warning. As these are international calls, they are not covered by domestic flat-rate calling plans. These codes may contain caller-pays mobile numbers or individual countries which impose inflated taxes or monopoly pricing on inbound international calls.


Modus operandi

Abuse of 1-809 to disguise premium numbers or numbers which paid a kickback to operators of the schemes has been reported at least as early as 1996. In some cases, the numbers are promoted as
phone sex Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. As a practice between individuals temporarily separated, it is as ...
or other typical premium-price fare; the full cost of the call is often hidden by claiming the numbers to be free with the disclaimer that "international long distance charges may apply". The numbers may appear in unsolicited commercial e-mail. They may be left as messages on
voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows callers to leave a recorded message when the recipient has been unable (or unwilling) to answer the phone. Calls may be directed to voicemail m ...
systems or pocket
pager A pager, also known as a beeper or bleeper, is a Wireless communication, wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays Alphanumericals, alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response p ...
s. They may be accompanied by fraudulent messages that a relative abroad is in trouble and needs assistance, or may be attached to an abusive message from a bogus
collection agency Debt collection or cash collection is the process of pursuing payments of money or other agreed-upon value owed to a creditor. The debtors may be individuals or businesses. An organization that specializes in debt collection is known as a coll ...
. The motive is to trick the victim into calling the international number, and keep them on the line to run up long-distance charges. A more recent variant uses
caller ID spoofing Caller ID spoofing is a spoofing attack which causes the telephone network's Caller ID to indicate to the receiver of a call that the originator of the call is a station other than the true originating station. This can lead to a display showin ...
to make the victim's handset ring once - just long enough to display the number. If the curious (or annoyed) victim calls back, the number is on their bill; a variant of the Wangiri "one ring" scams originally observed in Japan.


References

{{reflist Fraud in the United States