Just found this out.....

**P89** · February 6th, 2008, 05:23 PM

I'm not sure how old this may be but it doesn't surprise me. I just recieved it, thought I should share.

I always look things like this on http://www.snopes.com/ before I even forward them but lo and behold, this one is TRUE!! So be careful!

I dialed '0' and asked the operator who confirmed that this was correct so please pass it on . . (l also checked out Snopes.com ..this is true, and also applies to cell phones!)

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up.
Luckily, I was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number. I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons.

DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.

**soberbyker** · February 6th, 2008, 05:45 PM

http://urbanlegends.about.com/librar...y/aa021898.htm

The 90# Telephone Scam

Netlore Archive: The 90# Telephone Scam - Patrick Crispen of The Internet Tourbus weighs in on a PARTLY true Net rumor

Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: Jan. 1998
Status: Partly true
Analysis: See below

Email example contributed by Joanna W., 22 February 1998:
Subject: Fwd: Phone Scam (fwd)
Hi everyone,

Here's a forwarded message from my friend. Please be aware of the situation and pass on to anyone who you know.

--- Begin Included Message ---

A friend sent me this e-mail today to warn me and anyone else of yet another phone scam. Beware.

I received a telephone call from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician that was running a test on our telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine (9), zero (0), pound sign(#) and hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.

Upon contacting the telephone company we were informed that by pushing 90# you end up giving the individual that called you access to your telephone line and allows them to place a long distance telephone call, with the charge appearing on your telephone bill. We were further informed that this scam has been originating from many of the local jails/prisons.

Please pass the word.

Email example contributed by Patrick C., 22 February 1998:

On Saturday, 24 January 1998, Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans' Quarterdeck received a telephone call from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician that was running a test on our telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test the QMOW should touch nine (9), zero (0), pound sign (#) and hang up. Luckily, the QMOW was suspicious and refused. Upon contacting the telephone company we were informed that by using 90# you end up giving the individual that called you access to your telephone line and allows them to place a long distance telephone call, with the charge appearing on your telephone [bill]. We were further informed that this scam has been originating from many of the local jails/prisons. Please 'pass the word.'

Comments by Patrick Crispen (Reprinted from The Internet TourBus by permission):

Well, your fearless bus driver spent most of Tuesday on the phone with folks from both Force 3 (the company that originally reported this story) and AT&T (the long distance telephone company whose logo looks an awful lot like Darth Vader's Death Star). As shocking as this may sound, the "nine-zero-pound" story is true ... sort of.

What the warning letter floating around the Net doesn't say is that this scam only works on telephones where you have to dial 9 to get an outside line. Unless you have to dial 9 to get an outside line at home, this scam does not affect residential telephone users. Dialing "nine-zero-pound" on a residential phone will only give you a busy signal. That's it.

On some business phones, however, dialing "nine-zero-pound" may transfer a call to an outside operator and give the caller the opportunity to call anywhere in the world and charge it to your business' phone bill ... maybe. It all depends on how your business' telephone system is set up. If your company doesn't require you to dial 9 to get an outside line (for example, if you have a direct outside telephone line on your desk or if your company's phone system requires you to dial a number other than 9 to get an outside line) the "nine-zero-pound" scam does not affect you. Also, if your company's phone system is set up so that you cannot make a long distance call once you have accessed an outside line (a lot of companies now limit all outside lines to local calls only), the "nine-zero-pound" scam does not affect you either.

The "nine-zero-pound" story only affects those businesses that require you to dial 9 to get an outside line and then place no restrictions on who or where you can call once you get that outside line. And, just to be anal-retentive, let me say one more time that, unless you have to dial 9 to get an outside line at home, this scam does not affect residential telephone users. [It also probably doesn't affect non-US telephone users. This is especially true for British telephone users whose telephone system is so complex that NO ONE in the UK knows how to use BT's phones (although I am sure that BT users are currently dealing with some sort of "dial q-seven-pi-cromwell-eleventeen-tomato" scam)].

— Patrick Crispen

**P89** · February 6th, 2008, 05:49 PM

Ahh! Thanks for clearing that up Bill.

Sorry all for jumping the gun.

Now that we have that established some moderator could just do away with this whole thread.

**Tsgtbob** · February 6th, 2008, 06:15 PM

NOw there's a switch!
ASKING for EmptyTHORmag's hammer to be whipped out!

Tsgtsmartassbob

**soberbyker** · February 6th, 2008, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by P89

Ahh! Thanks for clearing that up Bill.

Sorry all for jumping the gun.

Now that we have that established some moderator could just do away with this whole thread.

No problem, I've been on the net since Al Gore thought it up, I've seen many a rumor come and go and come again,

Bill

.

**Tsgtbob** · February 6th, 2008, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by soberbyker

I've seen many a rumor come and go and come again,

Bill

.

Now, that is ONE virile rumor!!! Must be using that blue pill that everyone seems to think my E mail inbox folder is for putting their ads in.

Next thing ya know, Ol Al will be claiming that He invented the E mail rumor.

(Am I beginning to look like a post whore yet?)

**P89** · February 6th, 2008, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by Tsgtbob

(Am I beginning to look like a post whore yet?)

You gotta start posting in the http://www.pafoa.org/forum/lounge-10...sociation.html thread...then it's official.

I give you guys some love but I can't seem to spread it fast enough, it's always the same people.

**str8shooter** · February 6th, 2008, 06:41 PM

The warning cites snopes as proof that it's real, yet if you read the snopes article it confirms it's BS.

The real intent behind this and other alarmist hoaxes is to get people to forward the warning to all their friends. Spammers glean millions of e-mail addresses from Outlook Express and other non-secure e-mail address lists while naive people forward crap like this around the world. They particularly like to target concerned moms with things like the infamous hypodermic needles in the McDonalds ball cage myth or stalker seen in the area (yet the "area" is never identified) scares. The other way is the seemingly innocent inspirational passages or poems that "can brighten someone's day, so pass it on"

The true warning is this; If you get e-mail you think is worthy of passing on to your friends, don't forward it, cut and paste the message into a new e-mail.