Scammers running the phony sweepstakes scheme use a variety of ploys to pick consumers' pockets. Sometimes they steal consumers' identities -- sometimes they just run up their phone bills.
In the so-called "900 scam," the consumer is encouraged, usually through an offer in the mail, to call a 900 number in order to find out how much money he or she has won. The implication is that they have won a large prize -- cash, cars, boats etc.
A brief phone call, the letter says, will confirm which prize the lucky recipient has won.
Of course, those 900 calls aren't cheap. The caller is billed at a rate of around $4.99 per minute, and the automated response is designed to keep callers on the line for seven or eight minutes.
According to the Canadian anti-fraud group PhoneBusters, victims are often charged $35 per call. Their prize is worth about $2, at most.
