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Gwen Love - 18 Jan 2006 19:01 GMT

I received a telephone call last
evening from an individual
identifying himself as an AT&T
Service technician who was
conducting a test on telephone
lines. He stated that to complete
the test I should touch nine(9),
zero(0), the pound sign (#), and
then hang up.

Luckily, I was suspicious and
refused.

Upon contacting the telephone
company, I was informed that by
pushing 90#, you give the
requesting individual full access to
your telephone line, which enables
them to place long distance calls
billed to your home phone number.

I was further informed that this
scam has been originating from
many local jails/prisons I have also
verified this information with UCB
Telecom,Pacific Bell, MCI, Bell
Atlantic and GTE. Please beware.

DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.

The GTE Security Department
requested that I share this
information with EVERYONE I
KNOW.

PLEASE pass this on to everyone
YOU know.

If you have mailing lists and/or
newsletters from organizations you
are connected with, I encourage
you to pass on this information to
them.

After checking with Verizon they
said it was true, so do not dial
(9),zero(0), the pound sign # and
hang up for anyone.

PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD
BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO
EVERYONE YOU KNOW

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Carole - 18 Jan 2006 19:12 GMT

From snopes.com:

Origins: Is this scam possible? Technically, yes. This trick can work
on businesses, hospitals, government agencies, and other organizations
that use telephone private branch exchanges (PBXs) to handle their
calls (provided that pressing '9' is the signal to obtain an outside
line, andthere are no restrictions placed on outgoing calls — as many of
us know, some employers configure their phone systems so that employees
cannot make long-distance calls from their desks). We can't give any
more definitive information than to say that this is possible, since
there are so many different types of phone systems all throughout the
USA and the rest of the world.

However, this warning is overblown in that there is practically no
chance that the scam outlined above could affect the average residential
or cell phone customer. Unless you're staying at a hotel or using a
phone in some other setting where you have to press '9' to obtain an
outside line, the only result you'll obtain from trying this is likely
to be a fast busy signal.

> I received a telephone call last
> evening from an individual
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
> BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO
> EVERYONE YOU KNOW

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spodosaurus - 18 Jan 2006 19:24 GMT

<snip>

I wonder what's written about this at snopes.com

http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/jailcall.asp

Signature

spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

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vickie b. - 19 Jan 2006 01:05 GMT

As an old Bell employee I would say better to be safe than sorry. What
bad guys had 10 years ago for businesses could now be reworked for
residences. There is no real reason for an official telephone company
person to make this type of request.

Vickie B.

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Mary Z - 20 Jan 2006 13:49 GMT

>PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD
>BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO
>EVERYONE YOU KNOW

Before you do please read this:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/jailcall.asp

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