Scammers targeting classifieds customers

One more message about scamming. Be aware, read below!

Avallon Gregg noticed a suspect $93 debit charge to PCS Inmate Calling Service on her fiancé’s online bank statement Monday and knew something was amiss.

“I was thinking, ‘He doesn’t have any buddies in prison,’” Gregg said.

Scott Wilson, the fiancé, said the only thing he had used the debit card for recently was to help a classified advertising representative who called Sunday to fix some billing problems – or so he thought.

“At first, I didn’t think it was legitimate, because it was a Sunday. But I thought maybe they’re working for the Monday paper. … I just didn’t know what to think,” Wilson said.

The couple pieced together that the caller, who sounded like a young man and identified himself as Malcolm, used the bogus pretense and gleaned a few pieces of information from a classified ad selling Wilson’s truck to scam them. Wilson said his called ID said the number was withheld.

The Juneau Empire’s classifieds desk received four calls from their customers Monday reporting similar suspicious calls and two more Tuesday. So far, only Wilson and Gregg said they’d divulged sensitive information.

They were fortunate in realizing their account had been compromised within 24 hours and after a single fraudulent charge.

“This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to us,” Gregg said.

They froze the account are working through paperwork with their bank, Wells Fargo, to have the fraudulent charge expunged.

“What I should’ve done if a guy calls, said there’s an issue with my account, I should’ve just said, ‘That’s fine, I work right down the road, and I’ll swing by and handle it personally,’” Wilson said.

The inmate phone charge with Los Angeles-based PCS Inc. suggests Wilson’s scammer was from out-of-state or had out-of-state ties. The Alaska Department of Corrections contracts with Dallas-based Securus Technologies for inmate phone services, corrections spokesman Richard Schmitz said.

Are Phone Cards Really A Good Choice?

Read next and write your opinion. Waiting for new comments. Enjoy!

08.20.2009 – The introduction of phone cards has resulted in a sizable reduction in the usage of other types of phone services and this has happened due to a number of reasons. Earlier people used only the standard phone connection for making calls but the arrival of phone cards presented to them an option which not only economized the cost of calling but also offered flexibility in terms of place and the time of making a call.

Phone Cards are preferable to the standard telephone service due to the following reasons:

They are more user-friendly because of which they can be used by everyone to make local as well as international calls. The high comfort level in usage has been achieved after years of experimentation and although the first generation of phone card users faced a number of problems things have been streamlined over a period of time and thus have reached a stage in which a phone card can be easily operated by an uneducated individual as well.
The advancements made in the field of technology has a direct bearing on the system of phone cards and more breakthroughs on the technological front would make the use of phone cards more widespread and comfortable thus gradually overthrowing the channels of standard telephone calling system.
Most of the phone card companies charge a maintenance fee on a monthly or a fortnightly basis which works out to be cheaper in the long run because these fees are not dependent on the number of calls made or the talk time which is utilized.
Different individuals have different requirements as regards the types of calls which they usually make and a standard phone service usually does not cater to the individual needs of the customers. As a result, more often than not customers end up with a phone deal which either falls short of their requirements or has much more scope than what is actually needed. On the other hand, phone cards come under a variety of schemes and the buyer can decide which scheme suits his needs the best and then buy the appropriate card.
Phone cards do not have any expiry dates and can be used even after a very long time like a couple of years. All that is required is the pin number and balance in terms of money and the card can be used from anywhere at any time.
Phone cards save one the trouble as well as the expenditure involved in international calls as these calls if made from the standard phone service can prove to be a big drain on the financial resources. Comparatively the phone card offers a reasonably cheap mode of making international calls without incurring any connectivity problems or the phone bill sky rocketing upwards.

Phone cards are a better option also due to the fact that while traveling it is not always advisable to use credit cards at pay phones every time you wish to communicate. This would not only jeopardize your financial security but also levy exorbitant charges on each of the calls. Using a phone card, on the other hand, would ensure calling at a local rate and without any threat to personal security.

African nations push rural mobile and Internet connectivity

Hey! Some news that may interest you! As for me I enjoyed them a lot. Hope you will like them.

Zambia, Rwanda, Kenya and Nigeria are among the countries in Africa that say they are making a determined push for rural mobile-phone and Internet connectivity.

After years of failed promises, African countries now seem poised to heavily invest and ensure that in rural areas more people will be able to use mobile and Internet services.

For more than 10 years, mobile-phone and Internet communication in Africa has been concentrated in urban areas. But because the mobile and Internet markets in towns have become saturated, operators in Africa and governments are moving to rural areas, where millions of people are still not connected to mobile and Internet services.

It is also expected that the rural business community will now be able to get market information on mobile phones and sell products online.

The Zambian government has said it has set aside more than US$10 million for cell phone connectivity throughout the country, while the federal government in Nigeria has directed operators to invest in the National Rural Telephone Project. The government is expected to spend more than $150 million on the program.

Zambian Vice President George Kunda said the Zambian government is now determined to facilitate the existence of a mobile network throughout the country.

Kunda said the Zambian government wants to give priority to cell-phone accessibility in rural areas to allow people to communicate everywhere at anytime. The Zambian government has acknowledged for the first time that many people in rural areas are not able to access mobile-phone services that service providers in the country are offering.

“There is need for people in rural areas to start using mobile phones to access other services, such as the Internet, to enable them to obtain vital information as well as get connected to the rest of the world,” said Zambian Minister of Communications and Transport Geoffrey Lungwangwa on Aug. 12.

The Rwandan government has also said it has secured information and communication technology (ICT) buses for the ongoing e-Rwanda project that is aimed at taking Internet connectivity to people in rural areas. In a more publicized move to take ICT to people in rural areas, the Rwanda Development Board in charge of ICT (RDB/IT) introduced ICT buses with telecenters.

The Rwandan government said the move is aimed at bridging the digital gap between the rural and urban areas and comes into force as one of the backbones of the ongoing e-Rwanda project that will see Internet taken closer to people in rural areas.

The ICT buses are also meant to provide additional ICT services that include printing, photocopying, scanning and basic ICT training for people in rural areas. The Rwandan government said this is a pilot phase, which will last for a year — after which the services will spread to all rural areas throughout the country and provide Internet services to rural schools.

As many rural areas in Africa are not connected to the national grid, the ICT buses have generators to power them. Rwanda’s vision is to become the ICT hub in the East African region. The ICT bus innovation comes as an addition to the introduction of 30 telecenters around the country.

Three-quarters funded by the World Bank, the e-Rwanda project has also seen the country introduce telemedicine and e-treatment.

Amos Manyarara, bank communications officer for Southern Africa mobile communications, said providing mobile connectivity to rural areas will increase the revenue base for mobile service providers.

No Damage or Injuries in Bulgaria from Black Sea Earthquake

Hi people. Today I was just surfing the Internet to find something interesting for you and have found this article. I would like to know your point of view on this situation. What do you think it is necessary to do in this case and what is required to know about this.

There is no damage or injuries currently reported from the relatively strong earthquake that shook Bulgaria Wednesday morning.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the earthquake was of the magnitude of 4,7 on the Richter scale with an epicenter 61 km east of Varna, 24 km east of Kavarna and 20 km southeast of Shabla.

The shocks have been felt the strongest in northern and northeastern Bulgaria as well as in taller buildings in the capital Sofia.

The data about the registered quake is still being processed.

Eyewitnesses reported for Darik radio that some older houses in the Black sea town of Shabla and the hospital in another coastal town- Blachik have been very slightly damaged.

The Civil Defense in the Black Sea capital Varna announced they currently do not have any information about damage in the region. The shock, however, triggered interruptions in the internet, cell and stationary phone services in the city. The same problem has been reported from the city of Razgrad.

The head of the Crisis Headquarters in the Danube city of Ruse also informed that there has not been any registered damage or injuries.

The earthquake did, however, cause moderate panic and made people leave their offices and upper level apartments.

The tremor has been registered in the so-called Shabla epicenter known with some strong earthquakes in the past.

The Wednesday earthquake in northern Bulgaria brought memories of March 4, 1977 when a strong earthquake caused mass destruction in northern Bulgaria.

The epicenter was in Romania’s mountainous area of Vrancea, home to a major fault line that has seen dozens of quakes in recent years.

The 1977 7.6-magnitude quake killed more than 1,000 people in the Vrancea area when dozens of buildings collapsed.

In Bulgaria, the Danube town of Svishtov suffered the most damage when two apartment buildings collapsed, killing 120 people. Buildings in may other northern cities and towns also suffered significant damage.

The mobile phone tragedy

Found some info. And I wanted to ask you what do you think of it?

Our sympathies go out to the family of the Colombo school girl who committed suicide recently.

Some TV news forums are blaming the school authorities for allowing the use of mobile phones inside the school. Although phones are banned in schools, some students smuggle their phones into the class rooms and keep them on silent mode. I can remember how we used to smuggle in Comics, Westerns and other such items which were banned in our College. If we did this in 1950s why can’t the students of 2009 do it successfully now? When we got caught we were punished/caned – but we brushed it off with a hearty laugh.

This is a Buddhist school with high standards of discipline – the envy of other schools around Colombo. Some elements may be taking advantage of this sad incident to discredit the school. In this case the parents are to be blamed for giving the child a camera phone. A camera is not an essential basic requirement for a child.

Parents should not give their children expensive camera phones, with all the extra services under the sun. A mobile phone is an essential tool of our times now, as both parents are at work while children are in school or in a tuition class. If a school child is given a phone by the parents, they have the option of blocking unwanted services that can receive or exchange material, which will be embarrassing to the child as well as to the school/family. This is what happened I think in this instance. Telecom service providers now have child lock systems for most of the gadgets they sell including the internet. There will be a good market for exclusive non-camera basic children’s phones. The TRC should come in at this stage for control children’s mobile phone services.

By all means, be contactable with your children at all times. Give a simple phone to your child but have it limited to family numbers, for out-going and incoming calls, 10 numbers each way – a blocking service is available with the service providers.

RingCentral Office Revolutionizes the Business Phone System with Cloud-Based Multi-Extension System, Unlimited Calling, Toll-Free Service and a Low Fi RingCentral Office Revolutionizes the Business Phone System with Cloud-Based Multi-Extension System, Unlimited Calling, Toll-Free Service and a Low Fi

One more message about RingCentral. Hope, that everybody who reads it will enjoy it!

SAN MATEO, Calif., Jul 20, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) —-RingCentral today introduced RingCentral Office, the industry’s first complete, cloud computing based business phone system with one low, flat, fixed monthly fee, no contracts and zero setup costs. RingCentral Office combines a hosted multi-extension business phone system with advanced voice and fax functionality, always-on service, unlimited calling and full-featured phones that arrive pre-configured and ready for use. Small businesses can begin using the RingCentral Office phone system within minutes with the click of a mouse at http://www.ringcentral.com.

Traditional business phone systems cost thousands of dollars to set up and maintain. By eliminating the need for complex hardware, lengthy installation and technical expertise, small businesses get the functionality and flexibility to easily connect with customers at a fraction of the cost of a traditional PBX phone system. RingCentral Office includes four key components:

– Complete hosted phone and fax system- multiple extensions, multiple voice mail boxes, call management and call routing for real-time call control, internet fax and more

– Unlimited long distance and toll-free service – anywhere within the US and Canada

– Pre-configured phones – Linksys IP phones delivered ready-to-dial

– Simple pricing model – all-inclusive, low, simple, flat and fixed monthly bill

RingCentral is the industry’s first provider to deliver an online, self-service solution to buy, provision and set up an instantly activated business telecommunications system. Small businesses can now utilize a world class business phone system that for many, until now, was unaffordable due to buying complexity and dealing with multiple vendors.

“The fact that RingCentral offers a unique self-service capability with an all inclusive pricing model and no contracts is, frankly, quite revolutionary in the business phone systems market,” said David Lemelin, senior analyst at market research firm In-Stat. “In addition, this system delivers more business class telecommunication services and functions than many office phone systems designed for small businesses, yet remains affordable. With small businesses cutting costs due to the economic downturn, RingCentral Office is an attractive phone service, particularly due to its low and predictable monthly fixed cost.”

“RingCentral Office gives us everything we need for our office phone system and saves thousands of dollars over a traditional phone system. More importantly, we now have a more efficient solution for managing one of the most critical part of our business–client and staff communications,” said Chris Coard, manager of Buyers Capital Stamford, a full service real estate company. “With RingCentral, we can easily connect our multiple offices under one complete phone system and seamlessly integrate with agents working from home or on the road.”

RingCentral Office Features and Pricing

RingCentral Office makes business communication easy, affordable and accessible from home, office, satellite locations or the road.

$99.99/month for 4 line business phone system includes:

– Four unlimited phone lines with local numbers

– Unlimited virtual extensions and voicemail boxes

– Auto-receptionist and dial-by-name directory

– Integrated Internet fax with a dedicated fax number

– Unlimited inbound/outbound calling and faxing

– Add additional unlimited lines for only $24.99/month

“RingCentral Office changes the rules of the office phone system. Small businesses are not doing business the same way they were five years or even one year ago, yet they have been saddled with conventional phone systems that are not only expensive to deploy and maintain, but also incur expensive and unpredictable monthly charges,” said Vlad Shmunis, CEO of RingCentral. “Small businesses should expect more from their business phone system and RingCentral Office delivers–making business communications easy, affordable and accessible for today’s business world.”

Woman accused in Nassau County jail phone scam

One more interesting note. Hope you will like it!

Nassau prosecutors said a Brooklyn woman helped inmates at the Nassau County jail make telephone calls through accounts registered to bogus companies, racking up big bills that went unpaid while lining the woman’s pockets with fees collected from inmates.

Amanda Coates, 25, of 676 Cleveland St. in the East New York section, was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead Thursday on two counts of first-degree identity theft, first-degree scheme to defraud, three counts of first-degree falsifying business records and three counts of theft of services. She was held on $15,000 cash or bond and is due back in court Monday. She was represented by the Legal Aid Society.

Coates faces up to seven years in prison if convicted in what prosecutors called a lucrative scheme she conducted for up to three years, serving inmates in state prisons including Bare Hill, Franklin, Riverview, Collins and Auburn correctional facilities, as well as at the Nassau jail.

Nassau inmates can make only collect calls. An inmate using Coates’ services could call the phony business, and Coates would have the call forwarded to the number the inmate really desired.
The receiver of the call could accept the charges, but the fake business would be billed. Prosecutors said the receiver of the call could be an associate who could serve as a conduit for more crime, such as setting up drug deals or intimidating witnesses.

Prosecutors said Coates charged up to $195 a month for her services, which allowed prisoners to call phone numbers the jail’s surveillance apparatus could not detect because the calls were forwarded to an unknown number.

“The danger in this crime is that these inmates could be talking to anybody about anything, and investigators going through call logs would have no idea,” Nassau District Attorney said.

Prosecutors said Coates probably had dozens of clients and had set up many accounts. They seized from her home detailed ledgers with information about clients and accounts, some of which were set up in the names of real businesses or individuals and some that were fake.

She dropped inmates’ accounts if they didn’t pay their bills, prosecutors said.

But the cost of the phone services that were not paid for – could reach into hundreds of thousands of dollars, officials said.

Phone scams among inmates are not new.

Some inmates have devised strategies in which they make a collect call, then convince the receiver to forward the call to another number by dialing *72, making that person serve as a middleman and also sticking him or her with the bill.

In Ohio, inmates used text telephone yoke devices for the hearing impaired to commit credit card fraud, terrorize victims, coordinate drug transactions and import weapons.

Some states recently asked the Federal Communications Commission to jam signals from cell phones inmates smuggle into prison.

BB in phone voting scandal

Hey! I would like to ask you, if you are interested in reality-shows. Do you watch them at all? Because I have found some information about one of them, and I believe you will enjoy it.

Big Brother bosses face a public backlash after they put up the SAME telephone number for Kris and Marcus on the BB website. The pair are up for eviction this Friday alongside Freddie, Charlie and Sophie.

Confused fans thought they were voting for Kris, but instead voted for Marcus.

Fans voiced their anger on internet chat forums. Many called for a full refund for all those who had voted. Others have reported the error to Phonepay Plus, the phone services regulator.

One fan wrote, “This is a disgrace. People have been wasting their money on the wrong person.”

A spokesman for the reality TV show said the mix-up – which was only on the show’s website – had lasted for one hour and there were not a high number of calls during that time.

She added refunds would be issued if customers contacted Channel 4 and all incorrect votes brought to their attention would be subtracted from Friday’s eviction night total.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this error,” she added.

Automated phone services press the wrong buttons

Hey! I found a very interesting note for everyone who is fed up of wrong phone services. Read next!

Telephone users are fed up with talking to machines, voice recognition that doesn’t work and long queues for an operator, the telecommunications regulator says.

An annual survey of customer satisfaction by the Australian Communications Authority found widespread unhappiness with directory information services. Almost a third of callers (27 per cent) were dissatisfied – and the biggest reason was interactive voice response systems that did not work.

Consumers said they did not like “talking to a computer”, while small business callers complained of “rude, discourteous or unhelpful operators”.

Most calls to a call centre, meanwhile, met a keypad menu system. Thirty-seven per cent of household callers said it took too long to be put through to an operator, and too often they got the wrong person.

A Telstra spokesman said the telco’s voice-recognition directory assistance system only recognised 2500 names. “Some people interpret it not recognising names as not working,” he said.

The executive manager of the ACA’s telecommunications analysis group, John Neil, said its report showed “consumers do have concerns about the quality of information they are getting from phone companies about services and options”.

There was confusion about “bundling” offers of different services made to households. Mr Neil said phone companies should be particularly concerned at the low levels of satisfaction among small businesses.

The survey found 67 per cent of households believed fixed-line rentals were too high – and that was before Telstra’s April announcement that it would be increasing fixed-line rental costs.

Most people using directory assistance numbers were also charged for the service.

Telstra is required to provide a free directory assistance number, but has recently focused its marketing weight on premium-charged information numbers.

“There could be a question of whether consumers are aware of their options,” Mr Neil said.

Not just another missing dog story

Hi! Found a very touching story!

The 5-year-old dog’s microchip suggests that he came from Saudi Arabia and had a military connection. But nobody has offered a sure answer since Rejuvenezer was found wandering in Valley Center last week, so county animal officials turned to the public for help some time ago.

“We’ve made some phone calls, we’ve sent some e-mails,” said Lt. Dan DeSousa of the animal services department. “We haven’t been able to turn up who (the owner) is.”

Rejuvenezer, from a Middle Eastern dog breed called Saluki, was spotted June 15 on rural Guejito Road. A resident picked him up and brought him to an animal shelter in Escondido, and then he was brought to the county’s Department of Animal Services in Carlsbad.

When county officials analyzed the microchip implanted under Rejuvenezer’s skin, they found that it was sold to the U.S. Military Training Mission, an 800-member command that has been coaching Saudi Arabian military forces since the 1940s.

The chip included the dog’s name, which means “rejuvenate” in Spanish, but not the owner’s.

Rejuvenezer has never belonged to the military, said Nancy Ori, inventory manager for the Department of Defense’s military working dog program in San Antonio. Ori oversees a database with information about dogs used by all service branches.

A posting about Rejuvenezer on an online bulletin board for Saluki enthusiasts hasn’t turned up any clues to the owner’s identity, either.

Wassenaar said Salukis are kept mostly as show dogs, rather than as pets. They are thin and resemble greyhounds but with tufted ears.

Evidence points toward a service member or civilian who adopted Rejuvenezer while serving on a military base in the Middle East.

“Obviously, somebody’s been caring for this dog,” DeSousa said. “He’s a real sweetheart.”