Toll-Free Number Payphone Scam make 1.2 million

Posted on April 15, 2011 by smsgov

Two Wisconsin men whose pay phone company raked in $1.2 million by auto-dialing toll-free numbers were indicted Wednesday on federal fraud and money laundering charges.

Jeff Frost, 53, of Brookfield, and Colin Nordstrom, 48, of Coon Valley, programmed pay phones to take advantage of a fee that pay phone owners receive when their phones are used to dial toll-free numbers, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Madison.

Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges. Nordstrom faces another possible five years for allegedly lying to federal agents in January and to a grand jury in March.

According to the indictment, FCC regulations require that toll-free number subscribers pay a 49.4-cent per call fee to payphone owners, called “dial around compensation,” each time their pay phones are used to call toll-free numbers.

more >>

Filed under: Information | Tagged: | Leave a comment »

Retire Those Unused 1-800 Numbers!

Posted on July 17, 2009 by smsgov

Last year, there was a call for the owners of unused toll free numbers to retire their dormant 1-800 numbers back to the main database for use by others. Perhaps it is time for another call to action. With an estimated 8,000 numbers registered each day, and more than two-thirds of the supply already taken, there is a real concern about the limited stock of available numbers and the impact on small businesses. The limited availability of new toll free numbers, coupled with the limited turnover of used numbers, have created an intense demand for the remaining toll free numbers. Retire those unused numbers!

Filed under: Information | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »