Check your phone bill!  I just got off the phone with Verizon because we were charged for an international call when we called back!!

I don't pick up anything to my cell (or home) where I don't know the number. I know no one in Grenada - and have received several calls from different numbers with the caller ID Grenada. And my cell is on the DNC list!

I got the sex call to it was scary and weird and I am worried if they will now be tracking my phone or taped into the camera on my phone.

473 "AREA CODE" WARNING -- DO NOT RETURN DIAL ONE RING CALLS RECEIVED FROM 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.

What appears to have been the original version of the scam surfaced about 11 years ago in Japan and is known as 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

I don't think this problem is limited to or has anything to do with Verizon.  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:

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 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.  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.

Got a call at 7:40, person hung up after one ring. I called back and heard sex sounds and moaning disturbing things. I payed attention to the first 5 seconds and it seems as if its just a recording as it was the same both times. Plus I never heard a "ring" sound when i called it went straight into the moaning. So i am sure it is set up in such a way to just catch you with some dumb recording

received a call from this number on my cell phone and when I returned the call to try to identify who it was who was calling, it was two people having sex on the other end, so I hung up.  This number is from Grenada, and I also received a call from Lithuania shortly thereafter 370-910-91134.  where are these people from other countries getting our phone numbers from?

Got two calls from this number on 12/28. Did not answer.

Last 3 digits of the number were different but got the same Area code, and the moaning. The called several times. Very disturbing.

Got a call on my cell phone, same crap when I returned the call, moaning and groaning. Sick SOBs. but my number is on a no call list, So much for that.

Just happened to me sex happened it was a recording

this is a spam/porn phone number

@ 11:54 Christmas Eve I was w/my family and received the crazy phone call w/two pp having sex- the man only whispered- disturbing things- and the girl sounded really young.  It was creepy and frightening @ the same time..... I don't understand why this can be stopped

They called me around the same time. it wasn't an 800 number so i answered. sex moans. then because i answered i got 4 more calls fromm grenada area codes and one from dominicana. huge scandal. idk what for

These people must have no lives, sad....

this is a horrible offensive caller who needs to be blocked on my phone

Wife and I both got the call on our cell phones a little after midnight.  Didn't answer, or call back, but the wife's phone said that the call was from "Grenada", which upon further research is the right locale for the 473 area code.

I wonder if this is one of those scams where you run up major charges just by calling back ...

Opened my cell phone, and it was ringing, lady answered hello and hung up.  Happened on my wife's phone also.  Answering lady did not really sound happy either.  Wonder how I pick up my phone and it is still ringing?  Both before 7 AM eastern time.

5 min ago didn't answer. Especially at 5:50 am Xmas morning. How rude!

This just happened to me.

Boy this is getting old. Listen, stop calling. Clearly you are not man enough to make her really moan. Might I suggest a little blue pill? Maybe you could just take some thread and strap a toothpick on your tiny little toy? Ahh...what about getting her a real man. Then you could make some form of a realistic tape you tiny D**** MF. Call again and the next sex tape will be you moaning and screaming for your mommy.

Sex crap from some idiots that do not realize it is Christmas. F'n dip s****. The only thing they will find under the tree are dead batteries.

Someone said hello, then hung up.

This phone number rang my phone.  A person appeared to say hello, then hung up.  When I called the number back, there was the sounds of people having sex.

Got the call at 10pm.  Don't  know who is it did not answer.

Who is this?