We provide this free financial resource to visitors of the Community Room of SeniorSSuperStoreS in an effort to keep baby boomers, seniors and the elderly informed of matters that can affect their lifestyle.

Don't respond to emails, phone calls, or pages which tell you to call an '809' phone number you don't recognize.

There are lots of different permutations of this scam, but here is how it works: You receive a message, either by email or on your answering machine or pager, which tells you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're told to call varies: it can be your last chance to avoid legal proceedings on a fictitious outstanding balance you owe, to receive information about a family member who has been ill, to notify you someone has been arrested or died, to offer you great work you can do at home, etc. You're 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 US, you will apparently be charged $25 per-minute, or more. Often, 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. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll be shocked!

Here's why it works: The 809 area code is located in the Caribbean. The 809 area code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900 numbers in the US. However, since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by US regulations of 900 numbers. Therefore, there is no requirement that callers be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when they call these "pay-per-call" numbers. There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many U.S. phones have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, 900 number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 area code.

We recommend that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number with an 809 area code that you don't recognize, don't investigate further. Just disregard the message.

It's important to prevent becoming a victim of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards 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.

Things are about to get worse, because that infamous offshore area code (809) is in the process of breaking up into smaller chunks, and you'll soon have to think twice about calling any of the following area codes:
242, 246, 264, 268, 284, 345, 441, 473, 664, 758, 767, 784, 787, 868, 869, 876 as well as 809.

This advice is courtesy of Dr. Audri Lanford, co-editor of Internet ScamBusters. Internet ScamBusters is a free electronic newsletter (zine) that was created to help business owners avoid scams, blatantly wrong information and baseless hype. It is published monthly by Audri and Jim Lanford (WZ.com Inc.), leading experts on Internet scams.

For a free subscription to Internet ScamBusters, simply send an email to scambusters@svr.com that says "subscribe" in the subject field. Or visit the ScamBusters Web site at www.scambusters.org.

Please forward this entire message to your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam.