BVI offshore business related news sources have many times discussed the so-called 809 long distance code scam (BVI), which is usually and mistakenly related to the British Virgin Islands. All the case was about people receiving urgent messages in which they were asked to call a phone number with area code 809 (or some other, but 809 is the most popular one). If they called to this number, which is similar to the 900 numbers in the US, they received much higher charges – sometimes they reached $2,500 per minute.
The story did not finish as in the beginning of this year Federal Trade Commission (FTC) again issued warning that some U.S. residents have been contacted by “809†phone scams originating in the foreign country, in the Caribbean or Canada. The Commission also informed on the steps that the residents can make to minimize the risks of becoming victim to this scam.
The scheme of the fraud is the same as described above. By words of Mike Diekmann, of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, it results in consumers inadvertently receiving extremely high charges for long distance phone calls on their phone bills; and, again, the costs could be several thousands USD. It starts with the consumer getting an e-mail, voicemail or page, where he is asked to call a phone number with a 809, 284, 276 or other three-digit area code, and to receive money prize, or some other kind of attraction. The consumer assumes he is making a domestic long distance call, since the three-digit area codes used appear to be typical three-digit codes for the United States. However, by this number he is actually connected to a phone number outside the US, and is charged correspondingly.
Originally, 809 was the code for the BVI, later on for many other countries of the Caribbean region, but the original calling code might have associations with the BVI territory. Currently, 809 is the area code for the Dominican Republic, 284 is the code for the British Virgin Islands, 876 is for Jamaica.