Published: September 05, 2008 03:02 pm            

Oklahoma Highway Patrol warns of scam

Oklahoma City — Oklahoma Highway Patrol Captain Chris West is warning residents of a telephone scam.

He said the OHP has received numerous telephone calls from alarmed residents who have received messages stating thatthere has been a serious, sometimes fatal accident on a highway, and that their phone number was listed on a cell phone found inside the vehicle involved in the crash.

Victimes are then instructed to dial an exact sequence of numbers beginning with *72. According to AT&T, *72 is a custom feature for call forwarding.

“When a customer dials *72 followed by a telephone number, the call forwarding feature is activated, causing all of the customer’s incoming calls to ring to another number,” West said.

“These calls can be forwarded to a land line or pay phone, and even override the inability of cell phones to accept collect calls.

“A third party will accept the charges for these calls, and they will be billed back to you, because your telephone number is where the forwarded calls originated. You may not even realize what has happened for several days.”

West said this latest scam is occurring in other states as well. He warned residents who receive one of these calls not to call the number given.

People receiving these calls are urged to report them to local law enforcement.

When someone is killed in a car crash, troopers notify next of kin in person.

“We do our own death notices,” West said. “We don't call.”

If someone is injured, West said they do not call anyone. The person goes to the hospital and next of kin is notified from there.

        

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