Premium-rate Telephone Number - Using International-rate Calls As Premium-rate Numbers

Using International-rate Calls As Premium-rate Numbers

As an alternative to official premium-rate numbers, service operators have been known to use kickbacks from high-rate international call tariffs to charge for their services. In these cases, the calls may never leave the country of origin, even though the number has a country calling code (or an NANP area code) specifying a country with high incoming call rates.

A recent practice known as traffic pumping involves service operators partnering with small telephone companies who are allowed to charge high call termination fees for incoming long distance calls, per government regulations which mark the serving area of the small phone company as rural/high cost. Since most if not all long distance in the USA is a single rate regardless of terminating exchange for customers (but not for long distance companies, as each interconnection agreement is different), these services are "free" for the calling customers.

Since these kinds of numbers have confused international jurisdiction, they are also sometimes used for fraud.