CRIME: 'PAY-PER-CALL' SCAM SWEEPING MISSOURI

Some Missourians are racking up costly bills in a telephone scam.

One St. Louis employee was told he won a prize and could find out more by calling a number in the 809 area code. He called from work, and that call cost his employer $2,400. The employee didn't know his call was to the Bahamas.

Another was told to call an 809 number because a relative was seriously injured in an accident. That call cost more than $2,500. Others have been told to call to fix bad credit.

The victims were unaware that some numbers -- including those in the 809 area code -- are international "pay-per-call" numbers, where a portion of the international long distance fee goes to pay for the information or entertainment received on the phone, Southwestern Bell officials say.

Each country sets its own telephone rates, and there's no limit to the per-minute charge. The companies urge you to call, then keep you on the line as long as possible, because they receive a portion of the international long distance charge.

The procedure is not new, according to the Federal Communications Commission. It cropped up in the mid-90s.

It cooled for a while, but it's back.

In most cases, callers have to dial 011 to start a call to a foreign country. But to reach other locations outside the Untied States and Canada -- many of them in the Caribbean -- they simply dial an area code and a number to reach their party.

Telephone users who find a phone bill for a long distance charge they don't recognize should contact the local telephone company and their long distance carrier. The telephone company isn't required to provide a credit. However, the notification will help identify telephone numbers which are the sources of the abuses.

The 809 scam marks the second scam on the Missouri scene within a month.

Reparations scam

Letters and flyers have been mailed to some elderly black people, telling them they may be eligible for $5,000 in reparations for the United States' role in the slave trade or for Social Security reimbursements.

The letters, which include requests for Social Security numbers, are apparently part of a scam aimed at stealing people's identities and running up credit bills under their names, says Scott A. Holste, spokesman for Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.

"What they are really trying to get is personal information from seniors," said Holste.

The slave reparations letter, usually typed in all capital letters on plain white paper, surfaced in North Carolina in September. Since then, the flyers, distributed in black churches and senior citizen communities, has been found in a number of Midwest and Southern states, and more recently, in Missouri.

The letter directs readers that blacks born before 1928 are eligible for $5,000 from the federal government for slave reparations. Those eligible are encouraged to send their personal information, including social security numbers, to a certain address.

"There are no such reparations," said Holste.

He said consumers should guard their personal information and not give it out unless they know what they are dealing with or how it will be used.

Victims of either of the scams are urged to contact the Missouri Attorney Office. They also may call the Federal Communications Commission at 1-888-Call-FCC.