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Back in the 1980s local telephone carriers across the country set aside the telephone prefix, 976, so that companies and individuals could set up premium phone services where they could charge a high per-minute or per-call rate to anyone calling into these numbers.  

These 976 numbers are exactly like 1-900 numbers except they are generally limited to the local calling area.  So unlike 1-900 numbers which are national these 976 numbers only work within the same area code.  

However these 976 numbers have a big advantage over 1-900 numbers.  The 976 numbers are one easier to dial than 1-900 numbers (both intentionally and accidentally), less people know about 976 numbers and thus don’t realize that they will be charged when they call these numbers, and these 976 numbers appear no different than normal residential or business phone numbers.

So get a 976 number and NOT a 1-900 number, this scam won’t work well with a 1-900 number, but it works great with a 976 number.

Only Still Available in Certain Areas

In some areas 976 numbers are no longer available and have been completely replaced by 1-900 numbers, however these 976 numbers are still available in many local areas.

On the west coast, the 976 service is operated by SBC/Pacific Bell/AT&T Telephone and is known as a ‘local 900 service’.  This service is only offered within the state of California and to California callers.  There is a similar 976 service available in Nevada through Nevada Bell/AT&T Telephone.

In the mid-west, SBC (formerly Ameritech) offers 976 services in Chicago and Detroit.

On the east coast, Verizon operates ‘976′ in a variety of markets. In New York city, Verizon quit the market and ‘976′ transport and billing are operated by smaller private companies in New York Cities.

In the Mid-Atlantic area , Verizon has received permission for the Public Services Commission to cease taking new customers after October 18, 2004. Verizon plans to close 976 operations in Washington, DC and baltimore, MD in June 2005, and in Philadelphia, PA and Pittsburgh, PA in 2006.

Setup the 976 Service

You will need to contact one of the phone companies above and request a 976 number from them.  Setting up this service is no different from setting up a second telephone line.  There is no special equipment required.  It’s normal have a one-time setup fee of around $59-79 depending on your local company and a monthly fee of around $49 which will also give you unlimited local calls.  The charges don’t stop there, they generally also charge you one-third of any of the money that you make from the incoming calls.

Setting up the Per-Call Fees

I prefer charging my callers a per-call fee rather than a per-minute charge.  You need to keep the per-call fee lower than $2 per call.   This is important, don’t be greedy. 

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) requires all 1-900 numbers and 976 numbers which charge more than $2 per-call to provide a free 20-second message at the beginning of the call describing the service, the name of the company providing the service, and the cost of the call. It also must state that anyone under age 18 needs parental permission to complete the call.  You cannot start charging until 3 seconds after this message has been completed, which would bot call your bluff and give them plenty of opportunity to hang up.

But if you charge under $2 per call you are NOT required to provide this message and can immediately charge them as soon as the connection is made.  I would charge them $1.99 per-call to keep it just under $2 to be safe.  Also people are not likely to dispute or even notice a small charge of $1.99 on their phone bill because it is so small. 

Since you are only charging $1.99 per call you will need a high volume of callers to make it worth your wild.

Getting Tons of Callers

There are three easy ways to get callers.

1) Call up people and hang up or make a prank call.  Most people nowadays have caller id so make sure that your number is not blocked and many of these people will return the call without even thinking about it to see who just called them.  Each of them will be charged $1.99 per-call.

2) Get the yellow pages and call businesses such as doctors offices, dentists, and other businesses after business hours.  You will reach their voicemail, answering machines, or answering services.  Leave them a voice message asking them to return your call and give them your 976 number.  You will be surprised how many of them actually do return your call without even thinking about it.

3) Page or text people and ask them to call you at this number.  Some websites offer text spoofing so you can make it seem like the text messages are being sent from this 976 number causing them to assume that it’s just a cell phone number.

Provide a Service

To meet FTC regulations you must provide some sort of service.  You don’t have to go into details about it or the charges since you are charging less than $2 a call, but you must provide something to them.  I would suggest setting up a simple recorded message on an answering machine giving them useless information or either their daily horoscope, any local auto auctions, or on local real estate.  It can be anything, but you need to provide them with something to stay within FTC guidelines - even though most people will just immediately hang up.

How Much Can You Make

For example if you get 1000 callers in a month, you will get a revenue of $1990 and then the phone company will charge you $670 (one-third of your billings) for the service and a $49 monthly fee.  So you will make a profit of $1271 per thousand callers.  Not bad at all!

So 2000 callers will make you a profit of $2542 and 5000 callers will make you $6355.  So you can make quite a bit from this if you get enough callers.  The cool thing is that you leave voice messages for people to call this 976 number from any phone and it doesn’t have to be from the actual 976 number.

This scheme works really well and it can make great money for you if you pull it off correctly.