A phone scam that could cost you a lot of money is taking place  across the country including  Campbell County.

The calls originate in West Africa and are known as the Sierra Leone phone scam.  It’s called a “one ring” scam where the objective is for you to not to be able to answer the phone in time enticing you to call the international phone number back.  When a call back is made, it costs the caller very expensive phone charges.

Those being scammed are charged a fee when returning the call.  You are then placed on hold at a high cost per minute.  It’s called cramming when a third party places unauthorized charges on wireless accounts.

If you think you’ve been scammed, you can immediately call your mobile phone provider and report the incident.  In many cases, the scam charges can be removed.

The best bet is to not return the call of an unknown or unidentified number.  Chances are that if you miss a legitimate call, a message will be left.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 05/06/2019-6AM)