All too often these days people are getting bogus telephone calls that turn into scam calls. One thing they want is your Social Security Number. They'll tell you a Family Member has been injured in an accident and in order to release the information, they need your Social Security Number.
When you ask who they are and any other detailed information they tell you they cannot give out that information until you have given up your Social Security Number.
Once you realize this is a scam, many choose to try to hit *69 to see who was calling but these people are too smart for that, they have their number blocked. So here's what you do.
When you get a bogus call, hang up the phone and IMMEDIATELY dial *57. Remember that Folks, *57! This will lock in that number no matter what they do and as soon as you contact the Police and tell them you've locked in the number by dialing *57, they can and will immediately know who was placing the illegal call.
Start getting used to *57 just like we did *69. *57 will stop these criminals and we can finally fight back. *57 and then call your local Police, it's that simple. Any time you're being scammed and they refuse to give up their information, hang up and dial *57.
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Great advice. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt's not quite as straight forward as that. The service isn't generally available to everyone by default, you actually have to get it setup through the phone company. Also it only works if someone is calling you from within your local calling area.
ReplyDeletehttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081011204415AACrYku
It worked for me through Comcast!
ReplyDeleteThe prompt told me the # had been locked and to call local authorites.
This was an 866 toll free #
If we call our city police I guess we could leave the information on the answering machine?
ReplyDeleteI called the State Police Salisbury Barracks, that's who gave me the *57 tip.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's who I would call to track the scam call.
Most of us would pick up on this scam without a doubt, however it's the elderly they prey on, thinking there may be a family emergency some may easily fall for this, be part of the solution.
You need to know if you dial *57 it costs you a $1 each time...AND that service is really in place for life threatening issues, you MUST be willing to file a police report and go to court.
ReplyDeleteAll *57 does is track the number called, and sometimes it cannot, and send it to a specialized location within the phone company for the police to retrieve for prosecution.
Phone scams of this kind are not handled by your local police department but by the Atty General's office for consumer affairs. You would contact them.
Just thought you might need more information about *57 usage and that it will cost you to use it. And this only works on POTS lines, regular phone company lines, not VOIP or other digital phone lines.