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Overseas Crooks Abuse TTY Phone Service

Posted by michael on from the there-are-no-words dept.

Rick Zeman writes "The Arizona Daily Star is reporting on how 419 scammers and credit card thieves are abusing the US' TTY service which enables hearing-impaired citizens to make phone calls with the help of an intermediary operator. 'The callers try to use stolen credit-card numbers to make big purchases of merchandise from American companies. The operators often suspect fraud, but they can't just hang up. Federal rules require them to make the calls and keep the contents strictly confidential.' Yes, Virginia, they have no shame...."

2 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. 419 Scammers ? by FoxMcCloud · · Score: 3, Funny

    419 scammers and credit card thieves are abusing the US' TTY service ?
    Mh, I wonder how they counted that there were precisely 419 of them.

    --
    bool Marketoid::IsGood(){return IsDead();}
  2. Re:We've gotten this by John_Sauter · · Score: 3, Funny
    I have gotten many such calls at my little computer shop. Sometimes I get into a sympathetic conversation with the operator, who is perfectly willing to tell me the caller is probably a fraud.

    I don't sell laptops and I don't ship overseas. If the caller asks why, I say that I am a retail store and prefer that my customers pick up their merchandise in person. My final defense, which I haven't had to use yet, is to say that I only sell the Commodore Amiga.
    John Sauter (J_Sauter@Empire.Net)