268-762-0014

we just about answered it because we have been on a cruise there but decided not to

received 2  calls from this number in the early morning hours

Called at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. DO NOT PICK UP. Antigua/Barbuda area code is what my phone tells me. No message, and a similar phone call was received 2 or 3 mins later from almost the same exact number (268)762-0137. SCAM

CARIBBEAN ISLAND AREA CODE WARNING -- DO NOT RETURN DIAL ONE RING CALLS RECEIVED FROM CARIBBEAN ISLAND AREA CODES !!!!!!

Here is a warning (which happens to be from Verizon) concerning the Caribbean Island area code scam.  Note particularly the subsections entitled "Pagers" and "E-mail" near the top of the page:
http://www.verizonenterprise.com/solutions/pu ... phone/index.xml

The Verizon web page also references an old Scambusters web page explaining this scam that appears to have first been written around 1999:
http://www.scambusters.org/809Scam.html

In one current variant of this scam, the caller doesn't have any intention of talking to you. All the scammer wants is for you to get upset enough about the late night call that you return the call, never even noticing that it is from a foreign country outside the reach of US or Canadian laws. When you return the call (at international rates), there may also be a big surcharge added to your phone bill that gets passed along to the scammer.  The first wave of these calls came from Grenada (which has a 473 "area code"), but more recently, a large number of reports have been received reporting similar calls from Dominica and several other Caribbean nations.

In what is apparently a second current version of the scam, some reports in 800notes.com assert that people who have been called by some of these numbers have received large charges on their phone bills despite never having called the number back.  To the extent that these reports can be taken at face value, you may have to either block calls FROM any or all of these countries AT YOUR PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER.  If your phone service provider cannot do this to your satisfaction, you may be forced to switch to another phone service provider to avoid this scam.  Software solutions or external hardware that relies upon the delivery of a caller ID number to "hide" the fact that someone is calling (e.g., immediate pick-up and hang-up) are NOT likely to work.  That is because the software on your phone actually connects the call for a very brief period of time when it picks up the call and that is enough for your phone company to notice the connection and to charge you for receiving the call.  (I have no knowledge of whether call blocking by iOS 7 from Apple works this way or not.)  Using silent ringtones may not work, either, if the call lasts long enough to be diverted to voice mail for even a single second.  Call your provider NOW and ask for a solution to reject these calls before they start.

What appears to have been one of the earliest reports of the original version of the scam (unless the original publication date that I gave of the Scambusters report is actually correct) surfaced about 11 years ago in Japan.  There it became known as the "Wangiri scam:"

From Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2002/08/21/n ... r/#.Ur2543-9KSN

See also, from the Economist
http://www.economist.com/node/1367988

A few U.S. news organizations, but not many, have picked up on this latest variant, at least with respect to Grenada area code 473:

KPVI, Pocatello, ID TV report on Grenada phone scam
http://youtu.be/eSp9tY1gBW8

From Toledo News Now
http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/23695832/b ... huge-phone-bill

An older report from WCAX-TV in Burlington, VT describes the scam:
http://www.wcax.com/story/15581487/check-your ... area-code-scams

The biggest news organization to date that I have seen recently running a story on this scam is KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah:
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=28211799&nid=148&titl ... _cid=featured-3

In fact, Salt Lake City has either been specifically target for this aggressive scam, or at least the local law enforcement agencies and phone companies have a heightened awareness of it, as indicated by these two reports from KSTU Fox 13 news in Salt Lake City:
http://fox13now.com/2014/01/02/victim-officia ... targets-utahns/
and
http://fox13now.com/2014/01/02/police-warn-ag ... -473-area-code/

I don't think this problem is limited to or has anything to do with any particular cell phone provider.  The same problem has been reported on other carriers, I believe, but Verizon Wireless appears to be the biggest carrier, so they get the most calls.  Verizon has a discussion board set up with at least one thread concerning "473" calls from Grenada:

https://community.verizonwireless.com/message/1035009

It appears that at least Verizon is devoting some resources to stop these callers or at least refund some or all of the charges for people who call these numbers.  How long that will last is known only to Verizon, and even they may not have decided at this point.  Other carriers may also be doing the same.  They all want to avoid bad publicity that may drive away customers, of course.

At least one early report on 800notes.com, if taken at face value, asserted that a charge of $100.00 was made to a phone bill for calling back for 15 seconds.  Even regular calls to Caribbean Island numbers, for example, are billed at upwards of $1.80 per minute by most cell phone carriers, even on so-called "unlimited" phone plans, unless you have paid extra for an international dialing plan.  It may be that the scammers get a cut of this money for every international call they receive.

That's why either:
(1) you can't return the phone call, because even though you would otherwise be able to dial it like an ordinary long distance number, you phone company has a restriction on your placing international calls (which these are).  At least some pre-paid cell phone services work this way.  If this case applies to you, consider yourself lucky. Or,
(2) when you call back and get through, the operator of the Caribbean phone number tries to keep you on hold for as long as possible to run up your phone bill and their profits.

The scammers don't have to be associated with recent security breaches, such as the recent one at Target stores.  (In fact, many of the victims of this scam say that they either don't shop at Target or did not shop there during the period of the known security breach.)  All the scammers have to do is randomly dial a lot of telephone numbers in already-assigned area codes. And they must be dialing a LOT of them based on the complaints logged to 800notes.

It probably doesn't cost them anything to dial you, either, if the called party (you) doesn't pick up the call before they hang up. It only takes a small percentage of angry and/or curious people calling back for them to make a lot of money. They don't even have to pay for real people to operate a call center -- it's all done by machines, outside the reach of US and Canadian law enforcement.

So do yourself a favor and don't call these scammers back.  And you'll also be doing us all a favor, because they wouldn't call anyone at all if there weren't so many people who fell for this scam.

Last two days two calls from different numbers and countries there sure are busy.

Just got a call from this #. did not pick up my phone. no message left by this #.

Got a call from this number. Did not answer it.

Got a call from them in the early morning, only rang once.. glad I didnt answer it

Just got a call and blocked the entire area code with Mister Number. I need another app like Mister Number that is more forceful, like one that blares a horn before hanging up on spammers, or sends a guy out to beat them to death with a rotary phone. Or blares a horn and then sends the guy to beat them to death. That'd be worth 2.99 at least.

Did not answer

Call from this number, didn't answer. I'm on Verizon in 206 area code

Just got the call on my phone, didn't answer.  Almost called it back.  Wanted to check out the number first, fortunetly found this site.  

Called this morning at 10:46 am. I did not answer and am on the do not call list

Recipient of one of these calls this morning. It rang twice and that was it.  I use the reject or black list option on my smart phone.

Got a call from this number !-268-762-0014. It only rang once..I did not call back...I'm on the do not call list...So much for that system !!!

I got a call from this number but when i went to copy the number i accidentally clicked recall! But i tried to hang up right away before it started ringing. Am i still going to get scammed I'm so afraid i will!

Second time I have been called, this is really the only "marketer" that has my cell somehow, Im very careful about my cell number getting out.  they may dial at random.  blocked now

Received call at 5:45 PM. Did not answer no message left

just got one

Got 2 calls from this number today.