I'm really wary -- heck, cynical! -- about scam warnings and virus alerts. They're usually hoaxes, they often carry viruses or cloaked spammer back-links, and you can always check them out at useful sites like http://www.scambusters.org and http://www.snopes.com.

This alert arrived just this morning (15 June 2006), from a 100% credible source here in Melbourne, and leading talk-back radio host, Neil Mitchell, was personally caught by the scammers. So I've decided to pass it on. As far as I know it only affects mobile phones in Australia, so I've tried to limit distribution of this message to Australian subscribers only. If this gets through to you outside Australia, I apologise. Please just delete it.

Here's the message from Middletons Technology Services in Queen Street:

We received the following message this morning regarding a mobile phone scam. It has also been confirmed by our Telstra provider.

If you get a missed phone call on your mobile from any of the numbers below, DO NOT ANSWER OR RETURN THE CALL!

This is a scam for some competition whereby the caller is charged $100 for the call. Neil Mitchell from 3AW (1278) radio in Melbourne was caught out when he returned the call. Maybe store it in your phone as -- DO NOT ANSWER

Hopefully you get this email before you are caught out.

It's called a premium service. Very similar to the sex lines which charge a premium rate which is charged a certain amount per minute.

However these premium services also have another way of billing such as a one off payment for calling the number (such as $100).

The original idea behind these premium service numbers being introduced was things like being able to ring up for legal advice and get to chat to lawyer for a certain rate per minute however these numbers are now mostly used by sex lines and scams like this.

We can assure you this scam is very real, the warning has been included in a major telecommunication provider's newsletters that are sent out to all it's employees.

Below is a list of numbers which are currently being used. Please let me know of any others you come across and I'll add them.

The list of phone numbers you may be pranked from (*newly added):

NSW (02) 8219 0500 (02) 8303 8320 (02) 8303 8321 (02) 8404 2201 (02) 8404 2203 (02) 8404 2213 (02) 8404 2215 (02) 8404 2235 (02) 8404 2236 (02) 8404 2245 (02) 8404 2296 (02) 8404 2298

VIC/TAS (03) 8102 9565 (03) 8102 9573* (03) 8558 0556 (03) 8558 1441 (03) 8558 1442 (03) 8558 1443 (03) 8558 1444 (03) 8558 1445 (03) 8558 1446 (03) 8558 1447 (03) 9540 2950 (03) 9540 5100 (03) 9540 5101 (03) 9540 5187 (03) 9540 5189 (03) 9855 2913

Updates Sunday 18 June 2006 People are funny. Two people unsubscribed because they didn't like me sending "frivolous" or "irrelevant" messages. (They're "serious" network marketers, they assured me. I'm not sure how you can be a serious network marketer — a business that's ALL about caring about other people — and not want to be part of helping others. It'll be interesting to see their reactions if any of them are scammed.) In the same batch of emails, I received "thank you" notes from more than 60 subscribers who would have fallen victim to this scam if they hadn't read this alert first, and several from people who'd been scammed already, including one from a lady who sent an extra number to add to the list.

I hope this helps to save anyone on this list from becoming a victim!

Sincere regards,   John Counsel Skype: profitclinic

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