The Federal Trade Commission is warning of a phone scam that tricks people into making expensive calls.
It’s being called the “one ring” area code phone scam. In the scam, scammers will call your cell phone but let it ring just once so that it leaves the appearance that you may have a missed call, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s warning.
Once the customer calls back the missed number, they are hit with a per-minute charge at an international rate. The calls are from phone numbers that look as if they are regular domestic digits from an area code within the U.S., but really they are premium international lines, according to the FTC.
Calls made to such numbers can cost more than $20 for just the first minute, Inc. reports.
There are common nine area codes that users should be on the lookout for, the FTC says, including: 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829 and 876.
Experts suggest that if you miss a call, and don't recognize the number, do not call the number back.
