Call 4 Action reporter Meghan Jones says an old phone scam has been having a rebirth recently. Here's how it works: You get what seems like an urgent message to call a number back, but it's really an international call where scammers conspire to get your long distance money. The messages are sent by e-mail, phone or pager. Though the call-back number is international, you only need an area code to call it. "You don't realize you're calling a foreign country -- really, in the Caribbean," Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski said. "It's outside the jurisdiction of the United States, so they can charge you these exorbitant international call rates." Gierczynski said the charges are about $8 a minute. "When your call is connected, it connects you to some type of automated voice system that's designed to keep you on the line as long as possible to jack up your phone bill," he said. How does your high phone bill help the con artist? When an international call is placed, the phone company in that country gets a termination fee. The scammer splits the fee with that phone company. "The whole point of the scam is to make as many calls to those numbers as possible and generate as many fees as they can, so they can collect more money," Gierczynski said. An e-mail message warning people about the scam has been circulating. Portions of the message are incorrect, but one part is true: The biggest problem any victim faces is the fact that you voluntarily made the call. If you get one of these e-mails, delete it or call your phone company to learn more about the phone number. The most common area codes for this scam are: Anguilla (264) Antigua and Barbuda (268) Bahamas (242) Barbados (246) Bermuda (441) British Virgin Islands (284) Cayman Islands (245) Dominica (767) Grenada (473) Jamaica (876) Montserrat (664) St. Kitts and Nevis (869) St. Lucia (758) St. Vincent/ Grenadines (784) Trinidad and Tobago (868) Dominican Republic (809) If you have fallen victim, report it to your phone company. You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or the Federal Communications Commission at www.fcc.gov. Reprinted from the pittsburghchannel.com