*72 scam costs marks $50,000
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams
The old *72 scam has surfaced again, thanks to a group of cons in the Cook County Jail in Chicago. Twenty inmates made cold calls from the jail's phones pretending to be police officers, and managed to bilk clueless phone company customers out of $50,000 in free phone calls.
To understand the *72 scam, you must first remember that dialing *72 (1172 on old rotary phones) is how you forward your phone calls to another number. For example, to transfer your calls to the White House, you'd punch in *72-202-456-1414. Once you do, all calls, including collect calls, made to your number are forwarded on, but the charges show up on your bill.
The cons apparently told the person answering the phone, the mark, that they were policemen, calling to tell them that a loved one had been injured in an accident. The con then instructed the person to call the cop on the scene directly by dialing *72, followed by the phone number of the con's accomplice on the outside. The accomplice no doubt answered the mark's frantic call by explaining that they were called by mistake, that all was well.
If the mark doesn't tumble to this fraud, the accomplice is then free to use the phone number to accept collect and third party calls at will, all of which go onto the mark's tab. Only when the mark receives a huge bill will he/she have reason to call the phone company. Since some people don't look at their bills regularly, some phone numbers remain in play for months.
The jail has altered its inmate-accessible phones to tag every call, at the start, with a warning that the call is from an inmate. What mystifies me is why inmates have such liberal phone access in the first place?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
11-30-2008 @ 9:03AM
E-Dude said...
What I can't figure out is if this scam has been going on for years, why does the phone company still allow call transfers in this fashion to continue?
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11-30-2008 @ 9:13AM
annacosmo said...
The easiest answer is that the phone company doesn't give a shit who pays as long as they get their money. Like any other big business.
11-30-2008 @ 1:26PM
warren garrison said...
Well Dude, probably for the same reason we cannot stop telemarketers. I put my call in to the "do not call site" 6 months ago, I ordered the service on Qwest that supposedly makes them dial 1 to get through, still I get 3-5 calls a day. And the one that I'd just love to beat the chit out of is the one that calls and wants you to renew your Warranty on your vehicle. I have an 80 truck you idiots and IF you say anything that is even close to not ordering their service, they hang up on you. I've tried to get it across that my parents are very sick, mother is in the last stages of Alzheimer's and I don't mind so bad being interrupted from the many duties that I have each day to speak to a friend or loved one, but not some jackass wanting to renew the warranty on my 80 truck. I had been waitng thinking, ah ha, I've got 'em. So they called and I pressed the necessary buttons to get through to a live one. I said, "I'll have to send you a check" and he says, "oh I can take the info. over the phone". I said, "no I really don't want to do that and put these numbers out like that", he says, "oh no problem, it's a secured site". I said, "well what I really need to do is find out where", CLICK! he hung up on me. Well anyway, apparently VONAGE, has something going for them that doesn't allow this right now, that's what my other phone is so I just cancelled Qwest because I'm really really tired of the 3-5 calls daily. Now maybe we can live in just a little more peace.
11-30-2008 @ 4:49PM
pa said...
The phone company doesn't care. A BUCK IS A BUCK!! Whether it's legal or not. They have done nothing wrong.
11-30-2008 @ 5:16PM
Cindy H said...
The non-emergency ambulance service I work for needs the *72 service. At midnight, our dispatcher goes home and all calls are then transferred to our night dispatcher's house. So, if someone calls our service, the phone rings at her house and then she dispatches us. I know there are a lot of businesses that use this service. Many small businesses use *72 so they can transfer company phone calls to their cell phone while they are out on the road doing business.
BUT, they should make it so that phones in prisons can not use this feature!
11-30-2008 @ 8:46PM
justpicky said...
good point ....with all this technology , you would thought they could fix this problem .
11-30-2008 @ 9:04AM
Doug said...
An obvious thing would be to have a "code" in case something like this really happens, regardless of ages. Aren't all outgoing jail calls monitored?
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11-30-2008 @ 9:12AM
Enrique said...
All telephones should be banned from all jails period.
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11-30-2008 @ 4:53PM
pa said...
How will our inmates get hold of their drug dealers, or bookies!! Some people just don't get it. Crimes spurns crime, and lawyers are getting richer.
11-30-2008 @ 8:36PM
Van said...
Amen! Why do PRISONERS have so many priviledges? What is the point of being in Prison? It isn't fair to law abiding people.
11-30-2008 @ 10:32AM
banchee said...
talk about a person that CAN NOT get in trouble the convict what are they going to do ? PUT HIM IN JAIL ? HOW STUPID are some people !!!!!! i trust very few people so i would want the direct phone number !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEIR HAS BEEN SO MANY CASES OF PHONE FRAUD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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11-30-2008 @ 9:44AM
Snoop said...
With all the gizmos and tech toys that are available to us---it is very easy for us to be scammed by con-men. Bad people could get your DNA profile from your cigarette butt that you throw away or from the plastic or paper cups that you used for drinking. The government is behind in keeping up with these con-men. I agree--convicts losed their rights when they committed the crime and their priveledges should be restricted.
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11-30-2008 @ 12:01PM
Tim said...
"Losed their rights"???
11-30-2008 @ 9:56AM
Uncledickierc said...
Location says it all...Cook County,ILL. In addition to regular dial phones, they probably also have thier own "cell" phones, lap top computers with on-line access and voice mail recorders.
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11-30-2008 @ 10:56AM
Greg said...
You left off all paid by the tax payers partially made possible by Barrack Obama.
11-30-2008 @ 10:32AM
el said...
Say: It's NOT just "Cook County, IL" as we LIVE in "Crook County". I'm sure other jails have problems like this, too. Seems like the Cons have more rights than the average law abiding citizen. BAN all privledges as they SHOULD'NT be allowed fancy features. Old scams ought to be removed & things must be monitored as they literally get away with murder & only get a slap on the hands. The whole system is flawed. EVERYWHERE.
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11-30-2008 @ 10:30AM
Mary said...
#2's reply hit it on the head, they just want the money and don't care how they get it.
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11-30-2008 @ 10:37AM
Kari said...
It's COOK County, not COOKE
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12-02-2008 @ 8:54PM
Mo said...
It's not Cooke Co., or Cook Co., sounds more like "CROOK" Co., to me. Read the papers and see the crime rate in Chicago. Nothing more to be said.
11-30-2008 @ 10:43AM
maxlxii said...
Doug, I do use call forwarding on occasion. Why should I be denied this feature because someone else has not paid attention to all the features that are available on their land line? The question I have is why do we allow third world countries set up "811" etc numbers that charge the dialer hundreds of dollars a minute?
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