Some scams leverage the proliferation of newly created telephone area codes. The con artist starts by leaving a phone message or by sending an email claiming that you've won a fabulous prize in a contest, or that your credit card was incorrectly charged, or that one of your relatives is in trouble—anything to prompt you to return the call or respond to the email.
If you call the phone number provided in the message, you may be placed on hold, directed to a long-winded recorded message, or put in touch with someone who speaks broken English. In any event, the person on the other end simply tries to keep you on the phone as long as possible because (surprise!) the phone number is really a pay-per-call service (much like a 1-900 number) that charges you (the caller) astronomical rates, which can amount to as much as $25 per minute.
The area code most commonly used in this scam is 809, which is actually located in the Caribbean. Thus, the scammer can avoid American laws, such as those requiring that he warn you in advance of the charges being incurred and state the per-minute rate involved, or that there must be a provision for terminating the call within a certain time period without being charged. However, because no international code is required to reach the phone number, most people won't even realize that they're making an international call.
Area code scams are extremely hard to prosecute. The victim actually initiates the call, so neither the local phone company nor the long distance carrier is likely to be of any assistance or to cancel the charges.
To avoid this scam, be careful when returning unknown phone calls with unfamiliar area codes. As more people are learning about the 809 scam, con artists have switched to other area codes such as 242 (the Bahamas), 284 (British Virgin Islands), and 787 (Puerto Rico), as well as 500 and 700 prefixes, which are commonly used for pay-per-call adult entertainment services.
If in doubt, check an area code's location first by visiting the LincMad website (www.lincmad.com).