I thought this was important to pass on!

Our sources inside the Los Angeles and Orange County Jails have confirmed and elaborated on the reports that inmates are at it once again with the " *72 telephone scam." The ruse starts when the victim receives a land line telephone call from somebody claiming to be a Deputy Sheriff. The imposter then explains to the victim that one of the victim's family members has been jailed and is in custody or been involved in an accident. The bad guy then tells the victim to call a number that begins with the asterisk or "star" symbol, followed by 72, and then by a 10 digit telephone number (for example: *726263054100) to gain information about the victim's family member's incident.

Once the victim dials the *72 and 10 digit telephone number their telephone line is then forwarded to the telephone number given by the imposter. That allows the imposter, or any other 3rd party, to accept collect calls or to further forward calls to overseas phone numbers, at the expense of the victim.

The billing of these forwarded calls goes on until the victim becomes aware that they have been scammed and turns off the call forwarding function using " *73."

Oftentimes inmates that have phone access will perpetrate this scam for their own use or as barter/tender for the jails black market economy, or other criminal endeavors.

excerpt from Chris Loomis - Private Investigator Newsletter 02/12