A new type of fraud

The following is supposedly a true story. To be included, besides being true, the story is most likely strange, weird, surprising, or funny.

New York, NY

Police across the nation are warning people who wear pagers to be on the lookout for the latest scam.

According to police, pagers in several states have been beeped by a number displaying a 212 area code (New York) and the prefix 540. When the victims return the call, they are charged $55 on their phone bill.

The call the respondent makes has been electronically linked into a 900 "pay-per-call" system which allows the charge to be added to the phone bill.

"People will look at the number and say 'Gee, who is calling me from out of state? It must be important,'" said an investigator.