Scammed

Today Addyson and I went to the zoo with our friends Tammy and Morgan. Morgan is 15 months old and Tammy was my previous neighbor on Fox Court. We had a great time and the weather is absolutely BEAUTIFUL today! It was a blast!

When I got home, I put Addyson down for a nap and started to eat some lunch. Then the phone rang and caller ID said it was the Tarrant County Jail. I thought, hmm, who could this be. So I picked it up and of course it was collect and for the caller's name it said - "Hey, pick up this is an emergency!" I hung up, because I had just talked to Ryan on the phone and I knew he wasn't in jail :) and so I hung up. 1 minute later the phone rang again. Tarrant County Jail again- I picked it up and they said - "It's me- please pick up". This time, I picked up because they called twice in a row and I thought- hmm, maybe I know this person. When I answered it there was a guy probably about my age with this story that, umm, I believed! He said he was trying to call his aunt because he had just been arrested for a tail light out (hmm, didn't know that was a felony these days) and he had his daughter with him when he was arrested. He had just gotten out of school (hmm, didn't know you could bring 2 year olds to school with you these days either!). He said he really needed to get in touch with his mom and she worked at a Nursing Home (ahh- she must be a really nice lady if she works at a Nursing Home) and he needed her to come and get his daughter. I asked a few questions like- How did you get my number? Why didn't you just call your mom in the first place instead of your aunt if that is who you were ultimately trying to reach? Where does your mom work (he didn't know the name of the Nursing home, just that it was in Arlington.) His answer was that his mom's number at work was really weird and that to get to her desk you had to dial *72 and then the number. I thought- hmm, this sounds weird, but whatever.

So, I told him I would call his mom for him and let her know that her son was in jail. First, I called Ryan and told him the story. I said- He sounded really nice (he was using mamn, sounded so worried about his daughter, said thank you a million times), what is the harm in calling his mom for him? Ryan said he would call the number and deal with it. I said- ok!

So, he called the number and said it didn't work. Right about then Tarrant County Jail started beeping in. I answered it and again accepted the collect call charges (I thought it was like $1 or something). The guy (said his name was Mark) said- did you get in touch with her? Did she answer? I said- No, the number didn't work? He said, Oh, did you dial *72 before the number? I said- No, I thought that was her extension and I would dial it after someone picked up (that is what I had told Ryan to do). He said- No, for some reason with her work number you have to dial *72 before you dial the number. I said- Hmm, that sounds weird and he agreed but said that is the only way she would answer. I called Ryan back and we both agreed that sounded too weird. So, we both got on our computers and googled *72 and it is this big scam that inmates in jail do. They call to see if they can get someone (like me!) to accept their collect calls and then if someone dials *72 and the number they give it forwards all of your calls to that number and they rack up thousands of dollars of collect call charges trying to get themselves out of jail. All the while my number would have been charged for the calls!

Ryan was so mad! He told me to call 911 to report it (non-emergency I know, but the website said to report incidents to police). So, I called them and the sherrif said to call the phone company and have the charges removed- the collect calls are like $7 a pop! He also said to have the number blocked where they could not call anymore. So, I did all of that and just now as I was writing the jail is calling back. Guess the call block didn't work- I need to check on that! The sherrif also said that inmates that have been arrested but not convicted are all just sitting in a room and they have phone access and phone books, etc. They just go down the list and randomly call people and try to get them to answer so they can pull their little scheme. I can't believe I even half-way fell for that.

Just beware- if anyone ever calls from the jail, it is (hopefully!) not a legitimate call!