809 Scam: E-mail Regenerating an Old Scam

The 809 scam has been around for a long time and is making its way through the use of email in its attempts to part innocent victims from their money. What is the 809 scam? The 809 scam refers to an innocent recipient receiving a phone, faxed, email or pager message that asks the recipient to telephone the sender of the message immediately using an 809 area code. The reasons that one is required to call back are quite varied and have included:

notification of winning a prize
a requirement to call to avoid litigation over an outstanding account (which the innocent victim has nothing to do with)
a message to call to receive information about a relative who is ill, has died or has been arrested
Once the innocent victim calls the 809 area code number, the victim ends up contacting a person who tries to keep the victim on line or the victim is met with a long recorded message or even a clever recording that responds to the caller's voice. In all cases the scam attempts to keep the victim on the line as long as possible. The reason for this is that some of the numbers in the 809 area code are pay-per-call numbers codes like those in the 900 area code in the US. The result is a large long distance bill. The cost per minute has been recorded as high as $25 per minute.

The 809 number originates in the Caribbean but most people are not aware that they are placing an international call especially since no international codes are required. Since the 809 number originates in the Caribbean, US regulations that require that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged do not apply. In addition, while some phones have 900 number blocking, this 900 number blocking will not prevent calls to the 809 area code.

Once you have been scammed it is quite difficult to dispute the call because you in fact did make the call. You cant complain to your local long distance carrier since they had nothing to do with the scam and are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You then have to dispute the call with an international company which will result in your having to make more long distance calls.

The 809 number is not the only area code in Caribbean anymore and accordingly the scam can be used with other such numbers. The 809 area code refers to the Dominican Republic. We have set out below other area codes in the Caribbean that might be used.

If you receive a message with an 809 area code or with any of the others listed below and you do not recognize the number, then simply dont respond. If you still want to respond, then contact your local long distance carrier and ask for the rates that would apply in making the call.

264 Anguilla
268 Antigua & Barbuda
242 Bahamas
246 Barbados
441 Bermuda (Atlantic)
284 British Virgin Islands
345 Cayman Islands
767 Dominica
809 Dominican Republic
473 Grenada & Carriacou
876 Jamaica
664 Montserrat
787 Puerto Rico
869 St. Kitts & Nevis
758 St. Lucia
784 St. Vincent & the Grenadines
868 Trinidad & Tobago
649 Turks & Caicos Islands
340 U.S. Virgin Islands