And profiting from the fear that a family member is ill or even dead can't be tolerated. As Attorney General, I'm revolted at how people are targeted by these unscrupulous callers. Overseas crooks are avoiding United States laws and 900 number blocking by using international numbers, such as those with an 809 area code. Consumers are often confused about area codes, wrongly believing that calls to area code 809 or numbers in Canada are U.S. rather than international toll calls. And the situation has become more confusing with the creation of new area codes.
Some consumers receive foreign numbers as a message on their pagers.
Other variations of this type of fraud include debt collection notices sent by e-mail. These computer messages inform consumers that they have a past-due account and need to call an 809 number to settle the matter before collection proceedings begin. If they call the number, they get a recorded message that keeps them on the line. These ads claim that consumers will be paid for shopping in their neighborhood stores. To learn more, they're asked to call an 800 number.