Conference moira::parenting

    Since this was a collect call, the phone company should have the number
    that it came from.  Chances are this was a phone booth, but you never
    can tell, some scam artists are not real bright.  I don't know about
    the laws in Kentucky, but here we have one on robbing from the elderly,
    and it is possible the state the call came from has the same sort of
    laws.  
    
    meg

Pontiac, Illinois, eh?  That's where the state penitentiary is (maximum
security prison).

And, to relate this to parenting, I visited that prison with my father when
I was junoir high age (dad was on the prison pardon and parole board) - what a
depressing place!

			cheryl

    Have your dad contact he local police department and/or the local
    newspaper.  Sadly, these kinds of scam operations seem to happen 
    every spring.  Must be the warm weather bringing all the creeps out
    of the woodwork.

    Might be nice to send a letter to the editors of the AARP magazine,
    warning others about the scam.  Publicity does a heck of a lot more
    than reporting to an official agency.  I would think that the phone
    company would care quite a bit, since it's using their equipment for
    the possible commission of a crime, and if they are gracious enough to
    remove the collect charges they could be losing $$$!
    

    For the future, if you're nervous, set up a password with your
    parents.  We've done this for other reasons.  It may be a good way
    to separate the scams from the real emergencies.
    
    Diana

    Why not call up the postmaster in Pontiac Illinois and report it?  When
    people rent a PO box they have to show proof of address when filling
    out the registration card, and this goes on the card.  This is a
    federal matter that the Post Office SHOULD be concerned about, but you
    probably will not get much concern from the average clerk at the
    counter.
    
    Tony

    
    
    	The phone companies will not have the # the call was made from.
    Especially if it was a collect call. If the phone companies had all
    that info. , people would never prank call, etc...
    	In order to have a call traced, you have to call the phone company,
    and the police station must also be involved. The phone company has to
    call the police and advise them that they are installing a tracer on
    the telephone line. You have to request this.
    	The only #'s that the phone company can provide you with, is what's
    on your phone bill. Collect calls(atleast on my bill) show up as my
    phone#, and  any #'s I call from my phone.
    
    
    				$.02   KT

    
    Did this guy know your first name? I'd be interested in how he 
    got that info. For future use isn't there a service through the
    phone company that tells you the number that called you? I thought
    it was called caller id or something. 
    
    The reason I ask if he knew your name is because that would be rather
    hard to get other than thru a personal knowledge of the family.
    
                       Barbara
                                

    re: .8
    
    "The reason I ask if he knew your name is because that would be rather
    hard to get other than thru a personal knowledge of the family."
    
    or the phone book, or by buying a mailing list...
    
    Irene
    

    Re: .9 Actually if there was a name change through marriage, then it
    would be difficult to derive the familial relationship through the
    phone book or via a mailing list.
    
    Nancy

    
    I was wondering how someone would get the children's first names
    actually. That's not info you'd get from a phone book. I wouldn't
    think this would work to well unless they knew at least a little of the
    family's history. But who knows, I bet they can be pretty clever at
    extracting info from unsuspecting elders.
    
                         Barbara
    

    
    Wouldn't your parent know your voice? 
    

    Older parents can be quite deaf, at least mine is, and she has crossed
    me up with one of her friends on more than one occaision.  
    
    I hate to say this, but with older parents, sometimes it might not be a
    bad idea to have a "password," just as I have for my daughter if
    someone she doesn't know is to pick her up in an emergency.  
    
    

    
    Thanks for the input.
    
    Re: .2
    Very interesting that you mentioned that there is a prison in Pontiac
    Ilinois.  Perhaps the call was made from inside the slammer from a
    person with too much time on his hands?
    
    Re: .7
    You could be right about the number not showing up on the phone bill
    but my father got the impression from the phone company that his bill
    would indicate a collect call was made.  Whether the number from which
    the call was made will be on the bill is yet to be seen.  A quick call
    to NYNEX indicated that the number will appear on the bill (sooner or
    later), even though it might take up to 2 months for it to appear.
    I would guess that it would be similar with Cincinnati Bell.
    
    Re. .8
    This person did not know my first name and I am not even sure he
    knew my family name.  He simply acted as if he were me.  The operator
    said that there was a collect call from "your son" and my dad took it. 
    When the person started talking, the person was mumbling at which point
    my dad said something like "Is that you, Phil?", feeding him enough
    information to continue the scam.  It is still a mystery where this
    person got my dad's phone number, or if it was simply a lucky guess.
    
    
    I found out the following since I posted .0
    
    Since this fellow did not use the mail to scam, the postal service has
    no jurisdiction.  They can only deal with mail fraud and the like.
    
    The FBI wouldn't get involved because the total amount for the scam is
    too little (only a few hundred dollars).  According to the FBI, the
    Attorney General of each State would be the one to contact, but as my
    father has seen, the AG in Kentucky doesn't seem too interested.
    
    In the meantime, I found an organization that is interested.  It is the
    National Fraud Information Line at (800)876-7060.  They claim to
    distribute information on these types of scams to the correct
    organizations who can then follow up on it.
    
    
    Phil