just found out, Do not answer any calls from area code 473 or call back, Grenada Scam, automatic charge of 19.95.

I received a call from this number at 2:20 AM.  Caller ID said Grenada.  There was an article written in our local paper confirming that unknown calls from the 473 area code are a scam, and if you return the call you will likely rack up a hefty phone bill. DO NOT ANSWER. DO NOT CALL BACK.

Please read this article from my local newspaper:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=28211799&nid=148&titl ... _cid=featured-4

SALT LAKE CITY ? Calling back this unknown number may lead to unwanted cell phone charges.

Officials from the Utah Valley Dispatch Special Service District warn against picking up calls from 473-520-9734. The number is from a Grenada and apparently from a caller who claims to be in distress.

Those who call back are charged by the minute. Spanish Fork police and Utah Valley Dispatch reached out to their communities via Facebook and Twitter to warn people to not pick up the phone.

The scam doesn't appear to be new. News reports as far back as 2002 say answering or returning the call can lead to thousands of dollars in cellphone fees.

Just missed the call at 3:25 am. Only rang twice & no voice mail. I'm glad I checked online before calling back

Got call on Dec 28th...9:56 pm...phone never r,rang - no message.  JERKS!!!

If you called that number back, you have likely *already* been scammed, with a portion of your phone charges to an international number (the island nation of Grenada's area code "473") going to the scammer who called you.

I called  back. I thought it was a work number. Boo me. Am I going to get scammed now?

473 "AREA CODE" WARNING -- DO NOT RETURN DIAL ONE RING CALLS TO AREA CODE 473 !!!!!!

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.

It is a variant of a scam that surfaced 11 years ago in Japan and called the "Wangiri scam:"

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

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:

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  

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 473 numbers 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.

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. All they 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, 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.

I got a call from this number at 4:21am this morning. I think it rung twice, I was half sleep. I called it back this morning and the message said please hold for an operator, I held on for about a minute and no one answered.

I got a missed call from this number at 3:45 a.m. My pone didn't ring and they didn't leave a message.

received a call at 6:15am, it wasn't even a full ring. I looked up the area code and it said Granada!!! I put a block on the phone number.

>>> I am on the so-called "DO NOT CALL LIST" so how in the world does this happen?!? <<<

See the first post in this forum thread for the explanation of how it happens:

http://800notes.com/forum/ta-91e20993bc3aa22/ ... m-473-area-code

The upshot is that the callers are criminals and the call is probably coming from outside the United States.  The people who make these calls are outside the jurisdiction of US law enforcement and don't give a flying fig about the Do Not Call List.

I am on the so-called "DO NOT CALL LIST" so how in the world does this happen?!?

Got this call today, no message left.  I won't give them a call back, it smell fishy :)

I received a call from this number to my cellular phone, don't know how they got my number. The strange thing is the call came in at 3:41 am Dec 29th 2013, so I thought it was either a wrong number or a foreign county where it was probably a normal time there. If they want their calls to seem legitimate, they can't call people in the middle of the night, which is illegal here for telemarketers, but they are obviously not intelligent enough to figure that out.

Received a call at 9:04 am missed the call don't know anything about it.

Fishing scam

I just got this call in Missouri on my TracPhone.  27dec13 @ 1533.. matched all of the numbers except the first part.

+24735209771 is what showed on caller id....

Called Mobile phone and hung up before the forest ring was completed. 12/27/13 @ 3:40p. My phone is registered out of Atlanta.

Just got a call from 473-520-9771 at 1:35 PM Friday afternoon, 12/27/13.  They hung up before I got a chance to answer.  Almost called back, but then thought of checking "Reverse Phone Number Info".  Sure enough, scammers are still at it.  Boy, am I glad I didn't call back!  

473 is Grenada the country. It is not an area code in Canada, or the USA. DO NOT call these types of numbers back! That's the purpose of this growing scam. You pay - big- as it is an international call with a portion of the profits going to the number that called you.

Got a call from same # at 3:46 AM Christmas morning.  Only rang twice and hung up.   Caller ID noted "Grenada".  Also tried to look up # - notes no such area code.

Called on christmass. I called got woman's voice say please wait for operator and the played techno.

got call at 4 in the morning.. ring twice hang yo...

Got a call at 6:14 from this number.  No voicemail left.  I'm definitely blocking them.

Got a call from this number(473) 520-9771
Grenada on Christmas

Really? On Christmas day?

Got call 1148 Christmas morning, called back... Stupid me, but it was an impersonation of a "we're sorry, but your call cannot be completed at this time" msg. Womans voice, automated.

Got 3:45 am call on Christmas morning!!!!

Called on 12-25-2013 at 6:54am. Have a "home" voip so I called back - "Number is no longer in service" Likely an offshore hacker on a fishing mission. SCUM