Don’t answer jail calls

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

Kings County Register

Several Kings County residents have recently received scam phone calls from the Cook County Correctional Facility.

According to Cst. Michael Morrison of the Berwick detachment of the RCMP, people have received collect phone calls from the number 1-866-214-9536.

“The caller indicates that a family member has been involved in an accident and that they will have to contact a Sgt. Hill or White to get further details. People are then told to dial *72 1-773-632-8276.”

Morrison said other numbers have been given, but they all appear to start with the 773 area code.

“I have checked and these calls come back to land lines for Chicago Illinois. *72 forwards your phone line to the number that you dial after *72.”

He says he can only assume this feature allows “access to the inmates to your phone line, allowing them to make long distance calls.”

Morrison wants people in the area to be aware of this scam prior to them making the mistake of forwarding their phones to somewhere in the States. One person even had an Australian connection made on their phone line.

Phonebusters can be contacted at 1-888-495-8501 for any further clarification about telephone scams.

WEBLINKS

www.phonebusters.com