My parents fell for a scam!

[Peter Paltridge]

This is the conversation I had with my mom earlier today:

"You know, I got the funniest phone call yesterday!"
"Really...who was it from?"
"It was from prison!"
"Prison, huh?"
"Yes! I had to punch in a sequence of numbers to approve the call, and when it finally connected, the guy on the other end hung up!"
"He hung up? Wait....was this a collect call?"
"Yes, what difference does that make?"
"DANGIT MOM, YOU SHOULD HAVE HUNG UP THE MINUTE THEY ASKED FOR THE CHARGES!"
"Why?"
"Because there's a phone scam going around this area. You get a collect call, you accept, and you punch some numbers, and then the guy immediately hangs up once the connection is solid. Then, you get a $35,000 phone bill a month later."
"But he didn't even talk to me! He hung up!"
"HE DIDN'T HAVE TO! THAT'S HOW THE SCAM WORKS! I thought you heard of it!"
"But he hung up, so I shouldn't be charged anything!"

Yeah, my mom's got a thick head. I finally convinced her to do something about it, but all she did was send an Email to the phone company, which I doubt is going to do much.

Mom is still unemployed, and she can't afford this scam. I don't know what to do. I never found out if the charges are fightable.

[One Radical Dude]

$35K? Ugh....that's enough to buy a Chrysler 300 or a Dodge Magnum. Hopefully, your mother can avoid paying that fee.