Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 36310 2003-08-05 23:28:00 Phone Scam: Do not press 90# agent (30) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
165689 2003-08-06 02:29:00 Well if Agent did phone Telecom and got confirmation from someone there that it is genuine and not a hoax then what does that say about Telecom??

Their frontline staff should all be as informed as the one Iris dealt with.
Susan B (19)
165690 2003-08-06 02:41:00 This problem may affect older PABXs. Ours is not. Even if we dial 10#. I suspect that it is true for older PABXs as there control sofware may be unpatched for this error.

As a lot of PABXs are made or designed in the US, it wont hurt to actually test your own PABX. Simply direct-dial a collegue with your cellphone or outside line and ask them to press 90# or 10# and if you go nowhere you are safe. No need to hassle Telecom.
KiwiTT (4082)
165691 2003-08-06 02:55:00 *cough* This hoax was thoroughly debunked in the newspapers some time over the last 14 days so give Godfather and Telecom a break by not perpetuating it in this thread.

Must be a slow posts day :D

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
165692 2003-08-06 03:45:00 Telecom's Manager of Fraud services has said this is a HOAX and will not work in NZ or 10# or 90# KiwiTT (4082)
165693 2003-08-06 05:35:00 My brother in law works at Telecom, and he also says it is a hoax. caffy (2665)
165694 2003-08-06 11:39:00 How come everyone knows someone who works in Telecom? vk_dre (195)
165695 2003-08-07 07:02:00 Maybe coz it's a big company? caffy (2665)
165696 2003-08-08 10:18:00 OK, Ok here's the low down, I've been in Telecommunications since 1979, the last ten years in PABX's. Here's what happens, If some one told you to dial 90# or even 10# then all they would hear in their ears is 3 DTMF beeps. The trick is whether or not they have asked you to press the transfer key on your keyphone first if you were connected to a PABX. Now most PABX operators know full well that this will initiate a call transfer, when they dial 1 or 9 this transfer will send the incoming caller back out on an outgoing line, the 0 initiates a call to the toll network but the hash or # would simply be an incorrect digit, which would be rejected by the toll network and no such number tone would be returned to the caller. Bottom line, it really is a hoax. sinndisco (4059)
165697 2003-08-09 02:42:00 Good question - what does this say about Telecom ?

I was extremely cynical about this one and also rang Telecom . The chap there assured me it was true - and I believed him! How embarrassing!

Jay
j.harper (2905)
165698 2003-08-09 05:45:00 Perhaps the representative that j.harper and I spoke to thought we were asking if it was a hoax. I don't know about Mr Harper, but I was asking if the 90# thing was real - if it would work.

In any case, I don't like Telecom - they pretty much have a monopoly as a provider, and my current knowledge is that they have a monopoly on telephone lines - does TelstraClear still rent access to the lines, or do they use their own now?
agent (30)
1 2