Jane Wheeler can almost recite the familiar e-mail by memory. But it keeps making the rounds and inundating e-mail boxes in Oklahoma and elsewhere.
Wheeler, director of the Consumer Protection Unit at the Oklahoma Attorney General's office, confirmed again last week that the now familiar urban legend e-mail is a hoax.
Well, most of it.
"It's a hoax and it's been going around for years,” Wheeler said. "Part of it is true and part of it is false, but the main premise is false. No one's cell phone is going to get released to the public. That's false.”
What is true is that cell phone numbers can be registered with both the national do-not-call list and the state's own do-not-call list.
"But there is nobody who is going to release cell phones (numbers) in seven days or anything like that,” Wheeler said.
"I saw this two years ago and it said that cell phones were going to be released in seven days. They all kind of recycle sometimes.”
Wheeler was responding to inquiries about the familiar urban legend after a reader called The Oklahoman and claimed she had confirmed the accuracy of the e-mail by calling an AT&T customer service number.
No plans to publish numbers
However, AT&T spokesman Andy Morgan dismissed it as a hoax.
"That's false, completely false,” Morgan said. "We have no plans to publish or list customer numbers, nor have we announced any plans to do so.”
The cell phone hoax was not the only cell phone scam hitting Oklahomans recently.
An 18-year-old student at the University of Central Oklahoma who identified herself only as "Sarah” reported that alleged telemarketers tried to obtain her personal banking information in a cell phone solicitation.
The telemarketers allegedly told the woman that she was to receive a "medical card,” but the firm needed her checking account information first. She didn't fall for it despite receiving repeated calls.
Wheeler said the scam had a familiar flavor to it.
"They try to make it sound legitimate, or like it's a wrong number but we have something good to give you and they try to get people to fork over their (personnel information),” Wheeler said. "There have been a few people who have gotten sucked into that. About two minutes after they hang up they realize there is something wrong.
"So, they have to change their bank account number, because if they don't they won't have anything left.”
Wheeler said that most similar scam calls originate out of the country, although Sarah told The Oklahoman in an e-mail that the calls she received showed a 405 area code.
"We've tried to trace those calls before and have not been able to,” Wheeler said. "I think they are located out of the country, probably in Canada, and probably move around quite a bit.”
About the scam
What does e-mail say?
The spam e-mail that has circulated for at least two years reads:
"Reminder: 11 days from today all cell phone numbers will be released to telemarketing companies, and you will start to receive sales calls. You will be charged for these calls. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone, the do-not-call list. It will take only a minute of your time.”
How can you protect yourself?
•Jane Wheeler, director of the Consumer Protection Unit at the Oklahoma Attorney General's office recommends people check with the urban myth-busting Web site www.snopes .com before forwarding on e-mails that make allegations similar to the cell phone hoax.
• Cell phone numbers can be registered with both the national do-not-call list and the state's own do-not-call list. For more information, go to http://www.oag.state.ok.us.
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