Beware Of The One-Ring Scam

I was sitting at my desk the other day and saw a number I didn't know come up on my phone.  The caller ID said Antigua/Barbuda.  Sure, I was curious but couldn't answer it in time to find out who/what the call was because it only rang once and hung up.  Apparently, that's the signature hook of a group of scammers to steal your money...

According to the Better Business Bureau, the scammers are expecting you to be curious and call the number back.  Well, if you do that you're one of the unlucky ones that just got swindled out of $19.95 for calling back an unwanted adult entertainment service over seas.  That's just for calling them back.  In many cases they'll also charge $9 a minute to your bill if you stay on the phone with them.  The area codes these calls are coming from include: 268, 809, 876, 284 and 473.

To protect yourself the BBB suggests ignoring incoming or missed calls from out-of-state phone numbers that they don't recognize, and carefully check cell phone bills.