PLACENTIA

Officials cautioned residents last week against falling into an illegal web of international phone calls after the Police Department learned a costly lesson earlier this month. Matt Reynolds, police spokesmen, told the City Council that a ring of con artists pretending to be phone company workers called police dispatchers Feb. 10 and 11 and said they needed to test repaired phone lines. Dispatchers connected the callers to outside lines, and they placed $4,000 in calls around the world in a 12-hour period.

AT&T; alerted the department about the scam, but Reynolds said one more call slipped through. AT&T; will absorb the costs this time, but Reynolds said the city will have to pay if the scam recurs.

Phone companies never conduct testing directly over the phone, and, should a problem occur with a line, the company will send a technician to the business or residence, Reynolds said.