Strange phone calls to DD

[Magic Mom]

DD (11) has been getting calls from 866 847 1251 on her cell. It is a message asking her to press one to accept the call. :::sigh::: she pressed one. She said nothing happened, and that she got another message saying the number she pressed wasn't recognized.

I looked up the number online and there seems to be a debate about whether this number is some sort of scam, or a collect call from a prison.

I called Sprint, and they said we weren't charged for any calls, but the CS rep had no idea what the number was. She wasn't much help. I'm going to call again tomorrow morning and ask to speak to a supervisor.

In the meantime, does anyone know if this is a scam or a prison call. Either way, I want it blocked, but I'd like to know what I'm dealing with.

 

[badblackpug]

Could be a bill collector. My brother was getting calls from a bill collector for the woman who had the number previous to him.

 

[FredinFL]

I googled the # and this came up:

http://www.everycall.us/phone-number/1-866-847-1251/

It says it's an inmate call.

 

[luvmy3]

Could be a bill collector. My brother was getting calls from a bill collector for the woman who had the number previous to him.

My dd was too. I called the number back and explained to them that the person who now owns the phone is a minor and not the woman they were looking for. They were very apologetic, made a note not to call the number and my dd hasn't recieved a call since.


So, if any of you have bill collectors calling you and you don't want to deal with them, tell them that story

 

[luvmy3]

I googled the # and this came up:

http://www.everycall.us/phone-number/1-866-847-1251/

It says it's an inmate call.

 

[Magic Mom]

That's my reaction! Until I can get that number blocked, I'm keeping the phone. I know it's a wrong number call, and that she wouldn't purposefully accept the call, but I can't take the chance that somehow the call gets through.

 

[southern_redhead]

Interesting. Upon reading comments on the website provided it says something about it being a third party billing company that allows inmates to make calls from prison. Of course, there were other opinions offered, so that may or may not be true. OTOH, if it IS, why would this be allowed? I thought prisoners were allowed x amount of calls, and only at certain times. So are there prisoners using this number to dial random people? Prank calls from prison? I don't even see how the company would be legal. It does provide an email address for someone you can contact to block the number, I would do so.

 

[MM27]

I don't think the prisoners are calling random people for the heck of it. I had heard about something where prisoners could dial a number (any number) and if the person on the receiving end pushed the numbers that they told them to, it would allow them to make collect calls through that person's line. They could then call the person that they really wanted to talk to. I don't know how true it is, but that's the way I've heard it.

 

[Magic Mom]

I don't think the prisoners are calling random people for the heck of it. I had heard about something where prisoners could dial a number (any number) and if the person on the receiving end pushed the numbers that they told them to, it would allow them to make collect calls through that person's line. They could then call the person that they really wanted to talk to. I don't know how true it is, but that's the way I've heard it.

Well, they are either calling dd's number randomly, or they have the wrong number, because dd's only 11....she isn't perfect, but she isn't dating convicts.

 

[Lanshark]

I'm on ATT and know I can go online and block certain numbers from coming through..

 

[Magic Mom]

I just called Sprint again, and this person was much more helpful. He said it was an inmate call, and he blocked the number for me. The first CS rep didn't even offer that and seemed confused when I suggested it.

 

[ems_mom]

Hope it works out for you and your DD. Your last post is a good reminder to all of us to call back again and speak to another CSR; a company is a company, but apparently the individual employee you speak to can make all the difference.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Interesting. Upon reading comments on the website provided it says something about it being a third party billing company that allows inmates to make calls from prison. Of course, there were other opinions offered, so that may or may not be true. OTOH, if it IS, why would this be allowed? I thought prisoners were allowed x amount of calls, and only at certain times. So are there prisoners using this number to dial random people? Prank calls from prison? I don't even see how the company would be legal. It does provide an email address for someone you can contact to block the number, I would do so.

Well I can answer that since my sister's BIL is in prison right now.

Here is the deal, you have to set up a collect call deal thing prior. Not sure how it works 100% but my sister puts money into this account with her phone or something, and then he can call. Basically it has to be prepaid.

He is able to make several calls daily.

 

[torinsmom]

It was probably a wrong number they punched in. Good thing to have it blocked though.

 

[dakcp2001]

I used to work for a company that investigated fraudulent charges with correctional billing. People who get frequent calls from inmates change their telephone numbers often, because each time they change the tn it gives them a new billing account with correctional billing and an additional 200 bucks of "credit" they can run up before making any payments. Once they run up to 200 they change the tn again, sometimes several times a month. The scammers never pay any of the bills and often use stolen names & ss numbers to set up the billing accounts. They are very difficult to trace back because of all the tn changes. The bills are usually in the thousands before the address gets blocked, then the scammers start using call forwarding and their friends and families address to start the process again.

I would prob suggest changing the tn if this keeps happening, chances are your daughter may be getting other wrong number calls from unsavory types. But since they change tns so often, she might be ok now that it is blocked.

 

[tvguy]

Sounds like you did the right thing having the number blocked.

And no offense, but I'm not sure 11 is old enough for a cell phone for the very situation you cite. My kids had to wait until 16, and had their driver's licenses, to get a cell phone.

 

[seashoreCM]

You should not punch in numbers on your phone in response to a request made by somebody who calls you.

This is generally not a problem for ordinary residential lines but many businesses allow an incoming call to be switched to an outside outgoing line whereby that caller can now make a long distance call of his choice through the company lines.

Another scam, typically coming from prisons, is when the caller asks you to punch in a sequence of numbers (after hanging up and getting a new dial tone). This turns on call forwarding on your phone so the caller gets through to one long distance number of his choice by dialing your number as a local number. Anybody else who calls you also gets forwarded to that number.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Sounds like you did the right thing having the number blocked.

And no offense, but I'm not sure 11 is old enough for a cell phone for the very situation you cite. My kids had to wait until 16, and had their driver's licenses, to get a cell phone.

Well my dd had a firefly phone maybe around 4th 5th grade. The reason for the phone wasn't so she could talk to friends but for emergencies.

Example: When I got off work I had 45 min to pick up dd, plenty of time. Now because I work a few cities away and all freeway there were times there was an accident and living in SO. CA traffic could get backed up usually making me late. If i was going to be late I would call dd and tell her to wait by the office and if they asked why she was still there she could tell them usually 10-15 min late if accident. It would help dd not worry that something happend to me.

Another reason was if she went with her Nana to spend the nite she could call us for any reason or if they went shopping and she happened to get lost. There are many good reasons for kids to have phones . Some people think we give phones so they call call and text but usually at a young age theres different resaons.

My dd is older and she will use it to text some of her friends but she's not addicted to it. After school I park in the same spot to pick her up but if theres traffic then we can communicate that I will be late or if i dont get my regular parking spot i can tell her where i'm parked. Middle school so it not cool to get off and wait for her by the gate-lol!

 

[dakcp2001]

Sounds like you did the right thing having the number blocked.

And no offense, but I'm not sure 11 is old enough for a cell phone for the very situation you cite. My kids had to wait until 16, and had their driver's licenses, to get a cell phone.

I have to agree here, as evidence by the fact that she tried to press 1 to accept these calls. Most people know better. If they had gone through, mom & dad would have been responsible for the charges. "My daughter is 11" is not going to fly if you accept expensive collect calls, since whoever took the phone in their name is responsible for the charges.

Could have been a very expensive lesson, glad it wasn't this time.

 

[Darcy03231]

Sounds like you did the right thing having the number blocked.

And no offense, but I'm not sure 11 is old enough for a cell phone for the very situation you cite. My kids had to wait until 16, and had their driver's licenses, to get a cell phone.

I have to disagree with you. Just because your children not having a cell phone until 16 worked for you, it doesn't work for all families.

There are many instances when children younger than 16 need a cell phone. My children had them at 10 because their dad kept getting his phone disconnected for non-payment. I didn't like the fact that they were there without a working telephone.

Also, many families (including mine) no longer have a landline and all members of the family now have cell phones.