Phones shut down at Illinois jail

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Madison County sheriff has shut down the jail's phone system until he can find a way to stop inmates from making random calls.

Prisoners, who only can make collect calls, have been dialing numbers at random, trying to convince people who answer to then make costly third-party calls to the prisoners' friends or relatives.

"It's like a big telemarketing scam," said Sheriff Robert Hertz.

Hertz, who shut down the phone system on Wednesday, has arranged a meeting Monday with a representative from the Texas company that operates the phone system. Hertz said he hopes the company can find a way to determine the cell block or cell blocks where the calls originate.