809 Area Code
We actually received a call last week from the809 area code. The woman said 'Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you- get back to us quickly. I have something important to tell you.' Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. We did not respond. Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

Do Not 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.

They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has been arrested, died, or 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 U.S. , 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.
WHY IT WORKS:

The 809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic .
The charges afterward 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.

AT&T VERIFIES IT'S TRUE :http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045

SNOPES VERIFIES IT'S TRUE:

Damn, thanks for passing that on.

SSC wrote:809 Area Code
We actually received a call last week from the809 area code. The woman said 'Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you- get back to us quickly. I have something important to tell you.' Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. We did not respond. Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

Do Not 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.

They get you to call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill or to tell you someone has been arrested, died, or 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 U.S. , 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.
WHY IT WORKS:

The 809 area code is located in the Dominican Republic .
The charges afterward 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.

AT&T VERIFIES IT'S TRUE :http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=6045

SNOPES VERIFIES IT'S TRUE:

Snopes does not verify this as true. Go back and look it up again. This has also been around for a long time, it's nothing new.

AT&T verified this for us , not posting something I am not sure of.

this is what I have found, also have a lengthy one from snopes

AREA CODE FRAUD

Placing International Calls without Realizing it

It's not always easy to tell if you're dialing an international telephone number. In most cases, you have to dial “011” to begin a call to a foreign country. But there are locations outside the U.S. whose telephone numbers may look like domestic long-distance calls, but are actually international calls where international rates apply. For example, 809, 284 and 876 are area codes in the Caribbean.

There are many scams that deceive consumers into calling international numbers. You may see an ad for a service that directs you to call a specific number, or you may receive a page, an e-mail message or an “urgent” message on your answering machine. All messages direct you to call a number for more information - almost always an international number.

Be cautious about area codes you don't recognize. Check your telephone directory or call the operator to determine where the area code is before making your call.

Control access to your telephone so unauthorized callers do not use your phone to call these services. A block on calls to “900” services will not stop calls to “011” or “809” numbers. If you're sure you won't need to make international calls, call your long-distance carrier and ask them to put an international block on your telephone line.

About the 809 Area Code “Urban Legend”

Fraudsters have been distributing bogus e-mails through the Internet that are purported to come from AT&T. The topic: a phone scam involving the 809 area code. The scam itself is real, however, the e-mail and warning contain erroneous information. AT&T would like to set the record straight and separate fact from fiction.

The 809 area code scam first surfaced five years ago and continues to victimize consumers on occasion, although much less frequently than in the past. And there have been far more inquiries about it than consumers actually being victimized.

How the Scam Works:

In most cases a message is left on an answering machine or pager requesting the recipient call a number immediately for one of several reasons. The most common involves calling for information about a relative who has died, been arrested or injured. When consumers fall prey and call the number, the scam artist attempts to keep the caller on the line for as long as possible to increase the caller's long distance calling charges. The bogus e-mail claims the 809 area code sends calls to the British Virgin Islands, when in fact 809 is the country code for the Dominican Republic. The e-mail also warns consumers that dialing the 809 area code will result in charges of $2,400 per minute. That simply isn't true. The basic rate for a call to the Dominican Republic is less than $3 a minute although some 809 numbers terminate with pay-per-call services that permit the levy of additional fees. Since numbers located offshore are not subject to U.S. laws, there are no legal requirements that consumers be informed in advance of the extra charge.

And lastly, the e-mail purports to originate within AT&T's corporate offices and includes the name and partial telephone number of an imaginary employee.

Again, to avoid falling prey to the scam, AT&T recommends consumers know where they're calling before they dial. When consumers receive such a message from someone they don't know they should simply disregard it.

Consumers should also be mindful that it is usually necessary to dial 011 to reach an international location. However, there are some locations outside the United States, such as the Caribbean and Canada, where telephone numbers resemble domestic long-distance calls, but carry a higher international rate.

If a consumer isn't familiar with a certain area code, they can visit www.consumer.att.com to look up any area code or country code in the world.




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This post has been here for 6 weeks, you just now jumping on the bandwagon. I as in ME called AT&T and verified it so stuff Snopes, they have been way off on several things many times before.

my article is from AT&T..I also have one from snopes who claim much the same thing.

First thing, if my post was inappropriate time wise I do apologize. I don't get here very often and did not realize that there is a time limit for posting. Certainly didn't mean to "jump on the bandwagon".
Now I will say again that Snopes did not verify the 809 email as SSC seems to think. They said very clearly that that email info about "809" is, and I quote, "A mixture of true, false, and outdated information." Gypsy covered the AT&T information so I don't need to get into that. All one needs to do is read her post.

Alma I was not refering to you, I am glad to see you posting again, we need all the activity we can get.
We placed a call to AT&T and was informed of a problem with that area code that is all I know.

Thanks Alma.. I also called . at&t said the e-mail had been around over decade ago..

almajean wrote:First thing, if my post was inappropriate time wise I do apologize. I don't get here very often and did not realize that there is a time limit for posting.

Hi almajean,

Just to clarify to make sure you know, there is no time limit for replying to posts. If such a limit was needed I would simply lock the topic so no one could reply to it. So any topic that has a reply button associated with it is more than welcomed to be replied to. There are rare occasions the forum will automatically "split" a topic because it is too full and create an additional new topic for that subject, a "part 2" if you will, so I will lock the old one. But I do not lock topics because they are out dated, so any topic you see can be replied to, and if its locked you wouldn't see a reply button on it so you don't have to concern yourself about if you can reply to it, if it has a reply button you are welcomed to reply if you like. I'd say about 99% of all the topics on this forum can be replied to. There are only a hand-full that are actually locked.

Its nice to see you posting and if you ever have any questions feel free to ask.

btw, in case you don't know how, if you would like an avatar (image) for your profile just say so and I will add one for you, just tell me what you might like it to be.