Be Warned

Roland · January 30, 2008

*TELEPHONE WARNING - 90# ON YOUR TELEPHONE*

I dialed '0' and asked the operator who confirmed that this was correct, so please pass it on... (l also checked out Snopes.com <http://snopes.com/> this is true, and also applies to cell phones!)*

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus or BT) who was conducting a test on the 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. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.

The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERY ONE I KNOW. After checking with Verizon, they also said it was true, so do not dial 90# for anyone !!!!

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

Geraint Parry · January 30, 2008

Source http://www.imakenews.com/spiritlink/e_article000674457.cfm?x=b11,0,w

Re: 90# on your telephone warning messages

Internet hoax? real threat? or e-mail mania?

Has anyone else got this spam message below? It's called, Re: 90# on your telephone and is a warning about using the 90# on your home line (read it below).

I got this e-mail message warning four times last week to put in RedWAY BC News. I appreciate everyone trying to inform me and therefore our readers, but I also get frustrated if sources aren't checked and if there isn't a clear answer to tell people. So, here's what I did to find out the truth to report to you, and the lessons I learned along the way: I always suggest to readers to check for validity, find a clear answer, identify a source, then share it with our readers.

1. Check to see if story is valid.

First I called the "author", in this case it was a real lady from the RCMP, who is no longer there. Her replacement is dealing with 20 to 30 calls a day giving them the same message…"Yes, I've heard of the #90 warning. No, I'm not sure if that is true or not. Can you please call your telephone company to find out from them? I can't get a clear answer?" When I asked if she was frustrated by the surge in calls again, she said, yes, and shared with me that Vivian wishes she had never sent the warning out as it has taken so much time dealing with the calls.

2. Find a clear answer and a source

So I called Telus directly. After navigating through their annoying voice mail operator,, then FOUR transfers and ONE lost call (after waiting for over two minutes in the elevator music hellroom, ironically), I finally connected to a wonderful woman named Melissa F. She didn't think it would work, but instead of leaving the answer uncertain, she picked up the ball and contacted her "Floor Coach", Stephanie. Between the two of them, they spoke with technicians and gave us this DEFINITIVE answer.

Now as for the source of future questions and source of info, the service rep at Telus, Melissa, suggested that she'll forward our e-zine response to HER supervisors so THEY can educate all of their staff and save themselves time and resources, too. Yay, Melissa!

3. Share it in the e-zine so it can be searched easily by people on-line.

Here's a summary of what I learned: 90# does not work for residential lines, it may work for business lines, and we've all got to wisen up around protecting our privacy before we blast everyone we know, and protect your rights as consumers.

Lessons Learned

1. Your residential (home) phone line is not accessible to an outside source by using 90#.

If you want someone to make calls through your home number, you need to apply for a calling card account and give them access that way. Pound 90 does NOT work for home (residential) numbers.

2. Your business phone line is may be accessible to an outside source by using 90#, but there are two key points:

1. It would be the phone company testing certain equipment they just installed

2. You would clearly know about the business lines, the new phone equipment and the fact they are working with you to test it.

Sometimes, a business line may have equipment that they would be testing; so they may make arrangements directly with you, and you'd d know it's happening; you would be aware of it.

3. Get smart about prank calls to protect your privacy.

The biggest suggestion the Telus team gave me is to get smart about prank callers. Take a few minutes to really as the caller questions, because if in fact it is a phone company calling you, they would already have access to your records on hand related to your phone services. For example, they'd know what kind of features you'd have (call waiting? call display? voice mail?) and know how many long distance calls you made last month, and could look up your most frequently called number. Ask them for specifics, because if it's somebody trying to fake it, they couldn't make up that info, and they couldn't trick you then!

4. Get smart before you forward e-mail messages to everyone you know.

Instead of verifying a technical message like this with the RCMP or police or whomever it claims to come from, find a direct source of someone who knows the most about it….in this case, our phone provider. Just because you can type it and email it doesn't make it true!