Phone scam traced to prison

OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Detectives in Oklahoma City say they've traced an expensive cell phone scam to a prison 445 miles away in Houston.

An inmate at the prison, which was not publicly identified, reportedly has been calling residents in Oklahoma asking them to forward their phone numbers to a cell phone, KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, reported Thursday.

A well-spoken, polite, male caller asked residents to dial *-721 before their number, which would forward the number to another line in which calls could be charged to the number at rates as high as $6 per minute, Stephens County Sheriff Wayne McKinney said.

The caller told residents their phone number was needed to keep them informed about a sex offender who was going to be released.

McKinney said he traced the scam to a prison in Houston but had yet to determine who was contacting Oklahoma residents or how the inmate was able to make long-distance calls from the prison.