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201-459-0000 phone rip off
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Recently (11/2004) calls from the telephone number, as displayed
by the caller ID, 201-459-0000 began to arrive. I have
a friend who has a cellular phone with a number that ends in
four zeros but as this was not that number I was curious and
entered the number into Google. This is not too unusual for me
as I tend to attempt to look up all phone numbers my business
telephone captures that I do not recognize. The google.com results indicated that not only
was this number out of service, which it is, but also that it
may have once been a pay phone in NJ. More interestingly though
I learned that this number represents
a scam. The caller said I had been awarded an $8000.00
(the number seems to vary) grant that would not need to be paid
back. When I then asked why he was calling me from a defunct
pay phone number in New Jersey he continued the pitch saying
I would only have to pay $275.00 for my grant. I then
asked them not to call again. I do not think that what they are
doing is necessarily illegal since it sounds like some who have
fallen for the scam have received grant application papers. But
I am no lawyer.
Please, if you get a call from these people do
not give them any information.
Update: April 14, 2005: It seems the same people are
back at it again. Or at least a very similar sort of group of
people. However this time it seems a bit more unusual. Over the
last two days calls have come in from 200-550-0001, 200-550-0002
and 200-550-0004. The first thing to note is that there
is no 200 area code in use. When I answered one
of these calls I was confronted by a fast speaking man with a
very strong Indian accent. Nearly impossible to understand him
I was eventually able to figure out he was saying something about
wrestling. (Fake wrestling that is, Triple H, Raw and the WWE...sheesh,
anyone who actually knew me would know I have zero interest in
such foolishness.) Anyway, the caller did know my first name.
I began to confront him about the phony telephone number and
he said he was calling from New York city. I said he wasn't because
the caller ID number was clearly forged. He then said he was
calling from India and asked if that was a problem. I said the
only problem was that this was obviously a scam. He then launched
into some sort of pitch, but I really could not understand him
because he spoke too fast. Good English, but way too fast for
such a thick accent. At that point I basically started repeating
"do not ever call this number again" and after about
the fifth time he hung up. I got one more call that I did not
answer the next evening and have gotten no more since. If this
is not the same people it is an equally questionable activity.
Do not respond to these people in any way. While the previous
scam may not have been illegal this one most certainly is since
the caller ID has clearly been manipulated.
Various searches and other pages reveal that many others have
had trouble with these scammers. These pages will open in a new
window.
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