Been told there is a scam going round --
Your phone rings and you are informed that you've won a holiday in some exotic place, and to hear further detials to press 9 on your telephone keypad. At which your phone re-connects to a premium site at £20 per minute. Even if you disconnect immediately the call will still go on for 5 minutes, so if you get one of these calls hang up straight away.

As far as I know this applies in the UK but may well spread further...

Peter

Hi,

It's very good of you to mention this but, all members, beware that this 'scam'is not just being run on phones, but also on mobiles & fax machines. Only on Sunday I received a text from 'whoever'. Having worked in both the legal and law enforcement business for some time my immediate respose was to delete the message and change my SIM card over. It causes a bit of hassle having to tell everybody your new number but as I'm deaf I rely on my mobile for text messaging when I'm out and about.

So be warned. We can supply a new SIMM card for about 15-20 GBps, subject to model and network. This has got to be a cheaper option that losing possibly hundreds with this scam. (Note to Bill, I'm not advertising anything here, just stating some facts.)

Michie

Actually, this one is a hoax. It's true that companies are making unsolicited calls to domestic telephone lines with recorded messages inviting the recipient to press a key for more information (I have heard one such message myself), but it is apparently not true that you can be charged £20 per minute.

I still wouldn't press a key for more information... just to be on the safe side.

There is more about this at http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/hoaxes/press9.html

Extract from 'The Register' newsletter :
Phone scam warning exposed as a hoax
An email warning people to beware of a phone scam that could cost them £20 a minute is a hoax.

The email warns people about receiving a recorded message which tells them they've won a prize, and then asks them to press '9' to hear further details.
Warns the email: "If 9 is pressed, this connects you to a premium line that bills in the region of £20 per minute. Once you dial 9 and connect, even if you disconnect immediately, the call will stay connected for a minimum of 5 minutes (£100).
"If you stay connected, after 11 minutes a recorded message asks you to key in your postcode and house number. After a further 2 minutes callers receive the following message:
"'Sorry, you are not one of the lucky winners.'
"After this the line disconnects," the email says.
Not only are phone owners tricked into running up bills of up to £260, the email adds that BT is "relatively powerless to stop the calls".
A spokesman for the UK's dominant fixed line telco, BT, said he'd received a number of calls on the subject.
"It's a hoax, technically impossible, an urban myth," he said.

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Willum