Jail phone scam targets area residents
By BRENDA SOMMER news1@leader-news.com

A scam by Harris County jailbirds could leave unwary residents with sky-high phone bills.

"We have had lots of people calling about it," said El Campo Police Officer Cindy Howell. "The people say they are calling from the Harris County Jail."

The scam, which only works if a person subscribes to a call forwarding service, is a way for prisoners to forward calls via a resident's phone number and bill the charges to that number.

Generally, the customer receives a collect call from the jail. The caller pretends to have dialed the wrong number, then begs the customer to dial a series of numbers which in turn activates the customer's call forwarding (*72) feature and gives the prisoner access to the customer's phone line. Ultimately, the customer is billed for the forwarded calls, which include additional collect or long distance charges.

In the end, the customer will never hear your phone ring, but collect calls will still be billed to them.

Sgt. Raymond Jansky of the Wharton County Sheriff's Office Jail Division said he's heard about the scam before.

"I have heard Harris County has had problems in the past; in fact, my brother even got a phone call from there," Jansky said.He said the correct response to these calls is simply to hang up immediately, and to make sure everyone in a household knows to hang up, including children.

The Texas Attorney General's office re- ports the scam is currently operating in the Dallas area, and a teenager was persuaded to do as the prisoner asked.

"Since then, the family's phone has been tied up with a steady stream of calls by inmates of the local jail to their friends and associates, and the inmates' calls are being charged to the family's phone number," the AG's office said in a press release.

"In talking to one of their officers up there, once a call is accepted, it's open billing from then on out, but that's specific to Harris County as far as I'm aware of," Jansky said.

If you are victimized by this scheme, call your telephone service provider, call police and call the jail from which the prisoner has called to let them know the scam is ongoing.

How the scam works

If you receive a telephone call originating from the Harris County Jail, from an unknown caller, who requests you call a number for him preceded by *72, please hang-up immediately.

While the caller may seem genuine and may even say something to the effect of, "Please help, I've been arrested for traffic tickets. I was supposed to pick up my children from school, this was my only phone call and I dialed the wrong number. Please dial *72 xxx-xxx-xxxx for me so I can check on my children."

This is a common call forwarding scam.

If you follow this procedure, your phone will be "call forwarded" to the number provided by the inmate. All future calls to your telephone number will bypass your phone and ring at the number you entered after dialing *72.

The inmate will now continue to dial your number but your phone will not ring. All inmate collect calls, accepted by the person at the other number, will be charged to you.

If you fall for the scam, you should immediately dial *73 to cancel "Call Forwarding," then call the phone company.

Source: Harris County Sheriff's Department