BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public of a potential inmate phone scam. The phone scam was recently reported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and involved inmates who operated the scam while in custody.

In the scam, inmates charge collect calls to unsuspecting citizens. Here is how it works. A caller telephones a person and claims they are calling from a public safety agency or hospital. The caller says a relative of the person being called has been hurt in an accident or is in jail, and instructs the recipient to call a number that starts with the prefix *72 for additional information.

The prefix activates the victim’s call forwarding feature (if the victim is a call forwarding subscriber). The victim’s incoming calls are then forwarded to the number provided by the person pulling the scam, usually the number of a friend or relative of the inmate. This allows inmates to make a collect call to the victim’s number, which is then forwarded to the second number. The person receiving the call at the second number accepts the collect call and the charges go to the victim’s phone bill.

The Kern Count Sheriff’s Office has not received any reports of this type of scam occurring in Kern County, but is alerting the public to the potential of this type of scam occurring in our area.

If anyone becomes aware of this type of scam occurring in Kern County, they are asked to report it to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at 661-861-3110 or the Public Utilities Commission at 800-649-7570.

Information Provided By The Kern County Sheriff's Department