One Ring Phone Scam

As a public service, I thought I'd provide some commentary on this "one ring phone scam" that's resurfaced in Minnesota (and apparantly other places) in the last several weeks. It's a simple plan really; your phone (usually cell phone) rings only once and the caller hangs up before you can answer. You see the number with an odd area code, like 649 for Turks & Caicos (we all want that area code, be honest), and your curiosity prompts you to do a quick little call back. After all, you think, you have national long distance, so anything without the little +11 or +44 must be a free in-network call, so what problem could this possibly cause. The problem is that on your next phone bill you'll have a little not-so-nice surprise in the form of a big single charge for that call.

When I switched cell phone numbers in the past I would often receive phone calls for the person who had the number before I got it. Usually the callers were bill collectors (I became familiar with the phrase 'we are attempting to collect a debt' and I was glad I wasn't the target) but sometimes they were friends of this mysterious person who was popular enough to get more calls than I did on my new number but not so close a friend as to have told his friends that he changed numbers. One time I was able to get one of these friends to tell me the person's new phone number and I freely gave it out to any 'wrong number' that called me. During this period I would have been susceptible to the 'one ring' scam because I was indeed calling back missed calls. As I was early in my real estate career it could have been a buyer or seller and I was eager to follow up with everyone.

When I started working the Ann Arbor market, I switched numbers to a new local number and again had to deal with the many wrong numbers. One particular caller was a bit chatty, and it turns out lived in my neighborhood. This commonality was enough to keep the conversation going and before long I had befriended this 'wrong number', met their family in person, and sure enough, sold them an investment property. Now that's a wrong number phone call I don't mind getting.