Pleasantville Strategic Planning and Revitalization Committee

Fraudulent Inmate Phone Calls / Scams

Feb 15, 2009

Fraudulent Inmate Phone Calls / Scams

If you receive a telephone call originating from the Harris County Jail, from an unknown caller, who requests you call a number for him/her preceded by *72 please hang-up immediately!

While the caller may seem genuine and may even say something to the effect of, ?“Please help, I?’ve been arrested for traffic tickets. I was supposed to pick up my children from school, this was my only phone call and I dialed the wrong number. Please dial *72 xxx-xxx-xxxx for me so I can check on my children.?”

This is a common call forwarding scam. If you follow this procedure, your phone will be ?“call forwarded?” to the number provided by the inmate. All future calls to your telephone number will bypass your phone and ring at the number you entered after dialing *72. The inmate will now continue to dial your number but your phone will not ring. All inmate collect calls, accepted by the person at the other number, will be charged to you.

What You Should Do

1-Immediately dial *73 to cancel ?“Call Forwarding?”
2-Contact your telephone service provider and report the fraud to them.
3-Report the call to 713-961-0147.

If you desire, contact SBC at 1-800-984-8800 to have calls originating from the Harris County Jail blocked.