Some telephone fraud scams once revolved around the 809 area code; it was being used since it has a higher than normal rate. The victim receives a message on their answering machine to call a number with an 809 area code. Since there were many new area codes being introduced in the US, the victim thinks nothing of it and dials the 809 number. The number dialed is set up as a premium rate with an exorbitant per-minute charge. The victim is then put on hold indefinitely, and billed for each minute they are on hold. This is actually perfectly legal, because the telephone regulations in the Dominican Republic don't require premium rate numbers to be declared.
Around 1996, an email from Scambusters.org appeared, warning about the 809 and other Caribbean area codes scams, and this (legitimate) warning began to make the rounds of forwarded emails. As usual with such forwards, people have modified it from its original form to make it appear more urgent. Untruths and exaggerations in the resulting hoax email warning now include the following:
The hoax email warns against ever dialing this area code, when in truth, most phone numbers in the 809 area code are not scams, and it's perfectly all right to call someone you know who lives in this area code. The original recommendation was not to return calls from people you don't know who claim that you have won something, or have some trouble with a credit card that needs to be cleared up "immediately", or who claim that a family member of yours has been taken ill, or who offer you a job, etc.
The hoax email asks you to forward it to every friend and family member you know, thus making a chain letter. Scambusters, the originator of the warning email, does not ask people to forward their emails.
The hoax email warns of outrageous sums that might be charged, such as US$2,400 per minute, or sums totalling up to $10,000.00 (the original warning was for charges that were "reportedly as high as $25.00" per minute, and included a surmise that you might be taken for $100.00).
The hoax email claims that the 809 area code is new, though it has been in operation for many years.
The hoax email places the 809 area code in the "British Virgin Islands (the Bahamas)" which is an error copied from the original email.