1-900 phone numbers are expensive and often offer little assistance, with some being scams. They exist to offer jokes, adult chats, psychic readings, and weather forecasts. California allowed customers to block these calls after a child ran up $17,000 in debt. The heyday of 1-900 numbers was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but they have become less common as consumers have become more wary.
There are many reasons why you shouldn’t dial a 1-900 phone number. The biggest of these tends to be the expense involved, because most of these calls offer you little in the way of assistance or help, but will certainly add costs to your phone bill. You usually end up paying several dollars per minute of usage, and sometimes you may find yourself in worse circumstances. Occasionally, such numbers are scams designed to take your money and give you nothing in return.
In general, 900 numbers exist to offer you jokes, adult chats, psychic readings, weather forecasts and other things that you can certainly get without making a phone call. They can work in two ways. You may be charged for making the call, which will appear on your phone bill, or alternatively you may be asked to provide your credit card details. Many 976 numbers that you may be encouraged to call promising “free” travel or lottery wins will collect your personal information and function primarily as scams. To claim rewards, you’ll need to pay business charges to call the number and possibly also make direct payments. Additionally, you are providing your personal information to an unknown source who is very unlikely to have your best interests at heart.
When you dial a 1-900 phone number that only charges your phone bill, you may still have drastic surprises waiting for you when you get your bill. In fact, in the 1980s, the California state government authorized people to block 1-900 calls from phone lines due to the amount of charges that can add up very quickly. This decision was made after a child ran up a staggering $17,000 US Dollars (USD) in debt to the telephone company through use of the 1-900 number. California’s decision to allow customers to block 1-900 calls paved the way for the US Federal Trade Commission to also work to protect consumers from the potentially massive debt involved in using these numbers.
The heyday of the 1-900 number was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many celebrities have offered special messages if you dial one of these numbers, and many have been marketed specifically to children, offering jokes and puzzles. These numbers have become less common as consumers have become increasingly wary of them. Some have been replaced by cell phone text messages for jokes, weather forecasts or the like, which can also have special tolls. There are still many people who consider using 1-900 phone numbers, but most experts agree that these commercial services are not worth your time or money.
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