PRINTER'S NO. 523
No. 24 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, MUSTO, BELL, O'PAKE, SCHWARTZ, STOUT
AND TOMLINSON, MARCH 5, 1999
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, MARCH 5, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Regarding 809 area code telephone fraud.
2 WHEREAS, Many United States consumers have become victims of
3 international telephone number fraud involving the 809 area
4 code; and
5 WHEREAS, Messages are being left on home answering machines
6 or voice mail regarding a matter of urgency such as an illness
7 or death in the family or sweepstakes prize, and consumers
8 receiving the messages are told to return the call to an 809
9 area code telephone number; and
10 WHEREAS, When return calls are placed to the 809 number,
11 callers are delayed by various means to keep them on the line as
12 long as possible so that exorbitant telephone charges accrue;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, The 809 area code looks like a regular domestic area
15 code, but in fact it covers the Dominican Republic, and
16 therefore telephone calls placed from the United States to the
17 809 area code are international long-distance calls; and
1 WHEREAS, Most international telephone numbers require the
2 prefix 011, a country code and a city code, but some
3 international numbers look like ordinary ten-digit domestic
4 numbers; and
5 WHEREAS, Calls to Canada and parts of the Caribbean require
6 only a three-digit area code; and
7 WHEREAS, Unethical companies and individuals are taking
8 advantage of the three-digit international area codes by using
9 these numbers to circumvent regulations; and
10 WHEREAS, Companies are often paid rebates from their foreign
11 telephone companies for these calls; and
12 WHEREAS, In most instances of this type of fraud, the
13 perpetrators involved are not subject to United States law;
14 therefore be it
15 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
16 call upon the Federal Communications Commission and Federal
17 Trade Commission to take all appropriate actions within their
18 jurisdiction to stop the 809 area code telephone scam and others
19 like it; and be it further
20 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
21 urge the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade
22 Commission to explore possible changes or additions to United
23 States law or telephone practices that could alleviate this
24 problem for United States consumers, such as implementing a
25 requirement that all international calls placed from the United
26 States must begin with the prefix 011; and be it further
27 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the
28 Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade
29 Commission.
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