809 Area Code Scam That's the Area Code hoax

Scam or friendly spam or we call it “Urban Legend”. I mean this is not an active scam alert. This kind of email die hard. It is an overblown forwarded email since 1996 to warn people not to dial 809, 284 or 876 when requested from telephone, mail or email. Nevertheless, we should be careful before we dial a phone number with “876, 284, 646 or 809″ or any area code that we are not familiar with. Check Area Code by going to : http://kaibo2.com/areacode and check your long distance provider for the rate if you don’t know.

Email example contributed by Paul Huang:

Subject: 809 AREA CODE

We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said “Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you–get back to us quickly. Have something important to tell you.” Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. We didn’t respond.

Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

Subject: DON’T EVER 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 … bla bla bla

It is true that we should not dial an area code without know where it is located and the rate. It is safe to make sure before you dial. You may check the area code by Googling “area code 809).

Here’s AT&T advice:”a phone number with an 809, 284, 649, or 876 area code”

More details can be found at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/809.htmlwhere you can also find help if you are already scammed.

For your info: Area code: 876 – Jamaica , 649 – Turks & Caicos Islands,
809 – Dominican Republic, 284 – British Virgin Islands
900 (what if you dial a wrong phone number with area code 900 in the US or Canada? )

Consumers in the US have specific rights regarding 900 number calls, as laid down by the Federal Trade Commission, such as the right to a disclaimer at the beginning of the call and a subsequent 3 second hang-up grace period, the ability to contest billing errors, a prohibition on marketing to children, and a requirement that telecommunication companies must allow the consumer to block dialing to 900 numbers.