Exam 15: Larceny Theft and White-Collar Crime

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The Mexican collect call scam,originated in that country,preys upon Hispanic consumers.The telephone rings and a voice,using the correct names of family members,says this is an emergency collect call,and the caller accepts the charges only to discover a stranger is on the line talking about something entirely different. It is entirely legal for phone companies to bill consumers for certain types of services as part of their regular telephone bill. Cramming is the practice of placing unauthorized,misleading,inaccurate,or deceptive charges on the victims' telephone bills,which may be accidental,but is often intentional.Categories of cramming include voice-mail,long distance service,paging,Internet access,memberships,and pornography. 1-900 AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE NUMBERS Scammers will leave a telephone message or send an e-mail from someone offering to engage in phone sex,telling the recipient they have won a prize (which may end up being only a few dollars),telling them that a family member is sick,or some other bogus message.The return number may be a 1-900 (pay for service calls,some of which may be legitimate),809 (Dominican Republic),284 (British Virgin Islands),876 (Jamaica),or some other three-digit code.The recipients think they are making a domestic long-distance call,but they are actually being connected to a number outside the United States and are billed at international call rates.Return callers often have to wade through automated menus and hear "dentist office" music to keep them on the line.These scams average $35 per call or more,which appears on the victims' telephone bills.