Beware of Prisoner Phone Scam

Friday, Feb 29, 2008

LITTLE ROCK – Most of us dread the thought of getting a phone call from the police or hospital telling us that a loved one is ill or has been seriously injured. Unfortunately, scam artists prey on such emotions to defraud consumers; thus, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued this consumer alert to warn Arkansans of a recurring phone scam, which appears to have been orchestrated by prison inmates.

While there is no evidence that this scheme has spread to the Arkansas prison system and no Arkansas consumers have reported being taken by the scheme, McDaniel nonetheless issued this warning, as such scams can spread rapidly and are often adopted in copycat fashion.

In the prison phone scam, prisoners make collect calls at random. Once the inmate connects with a person on the other end of the line, he lies to the unsuspecting individual and states that there has been an accident and that this was the listed emergency contact number for the "unidentified victim." The inmate then instructs the person to call his supervisor at *72 and the number to the jail. Once the person calls the number, however, they are not connected to anybody, but rather, they unknowingly provide the inmate with open access to the individual's residential line. Some victims of this scam have been defrauded out of hundreds of dollars in long-distance calls.

"If you get a call like this, it's important to stay calm and stay alert," said McDaniel. "Verify the information through an independent source, such as the police department, phone operator or hospital, which will help prevent you from suffering emotional, and possibly financial, stress."

Here are some tips to help you avoid falling victim to this scam:

- Ask the caller for his or her name, position and contact information;
- Verify your loved one's whereabouts and health by calling them directly;
- Never dial an unknown number at the request of an unsolicited caller;
- Do not always rely on what appears on your caller ID as the actual person or entity calling you; check it out for yourself, especially if you are being asked for personal information;
- Never dial a number you do not know or did not find on your own; and
- Always trust your instinct. If the information you receive over the phone sounds fishy, just hang up.