Scam. Squatter takes 800 and 888 numbers. if you misdial you get an automated message saying number changed to 1015158000.
Apparently you get a nice charge on your phone bill:
Anyone dumb enough to call a number with an area / country code they don’t recognize deserves what they get.
Ha, that’s fantastic. And this sharp stick that I’m holding right here? You should under no circumstances ever poke yourself in the eye with it.
I suppose this is a bad time to admit I know this from first-hand experience.
I’m just foolin’ with you, wisefool. Just out of curiosity though, how did you find out about this number and why did you call it?
I meant to call an 888-xxx-xxxx for a large company but called 800-xxx-xxxx instead (these new fangled toll-free codes. I grew up thinking rotary dial was a pretty nifty thing.)
The automated message (not calling again!) said something like “This number has been changed to TEN TEN FIFTEEN FIFTEEN EIGHT-HUNDRED.” Pretty easy to remember, so I hang up, and call. I get another automated message saying it’s out of service. Then I look at the paper again and notice I dialed the wrong area code.
It seems to be an exchange in Belarus. if you follow the google link, some guy claims he personally knows the ass who registered these numbers (in Florida) and posts his information. What’s sad is complaints date from 2005 and the FCC hasn’t done a thing.
There are far worse scams in the telephone world. Years back there were some guys selling long distance calling cards in various convenience stores in the New York area. What would happen is these cards would route you through Jamaica (the Jamaican telecoms were part of the scam so they could make money) then back wherever you wanted to go. You’d pay a couple bucks per minute.
Yeah, it got to the point back in the 80s and 90s that some phone companies weren’t letting you call the Caribbean at all without operator intervention, there was so much fraud.
That actually sounds like a long distance carrier code, rather than a phone number with area code and number.
Remember in the early 90s, when long distance companies were actually advertising these things? They never left – you can still force a call through one carrier or another by dialing these codes first. If I recall correctly, the code for AT&T was 102880
Oh shoot, you’re right! 10-10-321!