If you receive a call from area code 876 (Jamaica) – Do not call back (unless you know the caller/number and are expecting the call.)

The 473 area code has been linked to a form of telephone fraud known as the “one ring scam”. The person perpetuating the scam calls the victim via a robodialer or similar means, sometimes at odd hours of the night, then hangs up when the phone is answered with the hope that the victim will be curious enough to call the number back. When the victim does this, an automatic $19.95 international call fee is charged to their account, as well as $9.00/min thereafter. Similar scams have been linked to Grenada (area code 473), Antigua (area code 268), Jamaica (area code 876), the Dominican Republic (area code 809) and the British Virgin Islands (area code 284).

The claims in the warnings are valid. Alerts about the scam have been issued by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Attorney General’s Office in several US states.