Jailhouse jingles hitting metro area | Unit 2 | CW2 Colorado

UNIT2 CONSUMER ALERT

Jailhouse jingles hitting metro area

Con artists count on victims' sympathy

by Dave Young, News2

February 12, 2008

DENVER (KWGN) — What would you do if someone told you on the phone they needed help in contacting a loved one?

Once again, the FBI and other agencies are warning about phone scams that can cost you a lot of money.

Dave Parvin is a nationally-renowned sculptor who works out of his Denver studio.

He avoided becoming a victim of a long distance scam called "jailhouse jingles," and saved one of the scammer attempts on his answering machine.

"Wednesday 3:49 pm," an operator's voice on the recording says, "With a collect call from the Chase County Detention Center...from Caully....the charge for this call is four dollars 80 cents...for the first minute."

"I got the same call again the next day," said Parvin, "And I just hung up on 'em."

The collect calls usually come from prisoners who may pose as someone else, and ask you to accept charges then convince you to to help them.

"They need you to dial star 72, or star whatever," said R.M. Tracy, "It's different in different areas of the state or country or whatever, and then that gives them access to charge the next calls they make to your phone line."

The star 72 code forwards your incoming calls to another number the inmate knows, where an accomplice can accept endless collect calls that are charged to your number, often running up hundreds even thousands of dollars in charges.

"The voice sounded familiar and maybe they planned it that way," said Parvin, "And I thought maybe somebody I know has gotten in trouble and needs my help."

They may claim to be a phone worker, cop or emergency crew appealing to your sympathy because they're having trouble reaching someone.

"If you run that by enough people, somebody will bite on it," Parvin speculated.

They can also target your cell phone, and most phone companies now warn about the scams on their websites.

Experts say there are variations, all designed to rip you off.

"If anyone contacts you in any way, phone, email.. even in person and you do not know who they are," said Tracy, "There's no reason you have to give them information immediately and in fact you shouldn't."

Experts advise that you should never accept collect calls unless you're absolutely certain who's on the other end. And don't activate that call forwarding unless it's a number you really need to use.