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| Ark. Inmates May be Involved in Telephone Scam |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/25/2003 |
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Inmates at Miller County Jail in Texarkana, Ark., appear to have found a way to bill long-distance calls to unsuspecting parties in a telephone scam being used in jailhouses throughout the South, officials say. Sheriff H.L. Phillips said some inmates have 'found a way to beat the system' by using third-party telephone calls to charge long distance. Consumer Credit Counseling Service has issued a warning about such scams, and the Texarkana Gazette has received several complaints from its readers about telephone bills from the jail. Inmate Communications Inc., a Texarkana company that installed telephones in the new Miller County Jail pods, tried to cut off the third-party access in June, the sheriff said. The company has assured Phillips that a more recent attempt was more successful. 'It will be taken care of,' Phillips said. 'We've gotten maybe six to eight (complaints) from it, which, in my opinion, is too many. There's probably a bunch out there that haven't called us.' Phillips said that his office will be taking action soon to correct the telephone call-charging problem at the source but that there is no way to identify individual culprits. The counseling service has issued advisories that 'scam artists' are calling residences and identifying themselves as technicians with big-name telephone companies who are conducting 'tests' on telephone lines. Victims are asked to press a code and hang up. The code apparently gives the requesting individual full access to the telephone line, allowing them to charge long distance. |
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