i got a call from this number and also from 268 762 0137. its a scam and they try to get you to call back so they can charge a small fortune. i called verizon and had those 2 numbers blocked so hopefully that helps.

I too received this call but fortunately did not hear it ring. Was a missed call but did not return call because I did not recognize the number.  Figured if it was important they would call back or leave a message. Neither happened so I googled the number and found this info out.

I got a call from 473-405-0173, but I did not answer because I did not recognize the area code.

called my cellphone,same thing as everyone is reporting. I never used to get these scammer calls on my cell, until recently.( have Tracphone !) Whats going on? Are we being " sold-out " by our own phone service providers, or do these scumbags just robo-call random numbers? & can't anyone track down the mach.or computer, or place these originate at?  Jeez, This is out of control!!!!!

Thanks for the warning.  I've taken to punching in strange numbers into the almighty Google box before I call back.  So glad I did on this one.

Got one from this number this morning one ring before my phone was able to sync with my Explorer it changed to missed call.  Came to this site to after I looked up where the area code was.  Glad I Did Thanks For All The info.  BMW mine is not Verizon but AT&T.

Received this call with three rings then stopping.      Extremely annoying

Sigh ... once again,

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 the 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.  Many of these calls come from Grenada, but more recently, a large number of reports have been received reporting similar calls from Dominica.

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 473 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.

Unwanted calls from this number

What were u billed?

Did this #call u and did u return the call?  If so what were u billed?  Anyway to stop getting billed?

Billed

called me twice didnt answer no message

4734050173

My cell phone rang once and then the call disconnected.  Glad I don't return calls to unknown numbers, especially from another country!

Rang once, hung up, says Grenada under #.

Just got a call a few minutes from this number, rang once, no message.  I'm glad I checked this site.  I would rrrrrrrrrrreally be angry if I called back and was charged some unrageous fee!!

Evidently the number is tied into some scam.  The phone rang once

You better check your phone bill.   ANY answers or callbacks end up with charges in the $1000s.

>>> Made the mistake of dialing back before checking this site. Why does Verizon allow this? <<<

Because Verizon isn't your Big Brother.  I am aware of no phone company that presently requires you to access this web site before being allowed to call someone.

Follow the advice given in the Fox 13, Salt Lake City, TV reports that I have collected and referenced elsewhere.  Apparently Verizon **does** help people in cases such as yours.  But it isn't their fault that someone completely outside of the country found a profitable scam or that you didn't know any better than to deliberately consummate the scam by calling them back.  

The upshot is this: Learn to use common sense when returning calls from unknown numbers and places.  If it wasn't worth leaving an intelligible message, the call probably isn't worth returning.

Made the mistake of dialing back before checking this site. Why does Verizon allow this?

This is a scam originating from Grenada (area code 473), Dominica (area code 767), Jamaica (area code 876), and probably several other Caribbean islands.

Please read ANonieMouse's post in the Forum for more information about this scam:
"WARNING: DO NOT RETURN ONE-RING CALLS FROM ANY CARIBBEAN ISLAND AREA CODE"

http://800notes.com/forum/ta-92b032348a92026/ ... sland-area-code

Same as Lee.  Phone rang only once, long enough to register a missed call. Sounds fishy!!

Phone rang once, then a hang up. tried to call back, line restricted. Are they trying to get hack smartphones?

Same, called and left no message.  I didn't know about this site until I tried looking up the area code.