*77 Scam

forgive me if this has already been addressed, as I did perform a forum search regarding *77

An email is going around with the claim that *77 will connect you to a state trooper in case you want to find out if the unmarked car flashing a red light for you to pull is being driven by someone other than a cop (presumably a rapist)

another urban legend?

I did a google search on *77 and came up empty handed.

thanks ahead of time for a response

ps - if anyone is interested, i can forward the exact wording of the email that my husband forwarded to me (I already told him it's a scam)

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There is actually a great site that attempts to address as many urban legends as possible, and they have covered this topic as well. Pretty interesting, thanks for bringing it up! Oh, I've never tried to type an asterisk into a google search, but some search engines ignore certain symbols.

Claim: College student who by dialing #77 on her cell phone evades a rapist pretending to be a police officer.

Status: Multiple — see below.


Co-ed named Lauren evades rapist who had been masquerading as a police officer:
Undetermined.

Rapists and murderers have been known to pass themselves off as police officers:
True.

Dialing #77 on your cell phone will connect you with the highway patrol:
True in some states, False in others.

See the rest of the story: Snopes.com: #77 to Reach Highway Patrol

In Florida, it's either *FHP or #FHP (347) (not sure which) to connect to state police.

Edit: I went back and googled #77 and found another interesting article.

great response!
now, the big question - which states use which number = *77? #77?
i'm from california (probably one of those states more inclined towards road terror) - my guess is that 911 is still the best number to try first.

now that you posted those links, it will be fun reading about those urban legends

thanks again

^^^ I hope I got my edit in before you replied or you might have missed the extra info.

i did see you edit, but, it didn't address which states use which numbers.
but it prompted me to do a bit more google searching (eliminating the asterisk) - and found this

Mobile Emergency Numbers

so, now I know that I should use 911 while is california and I have an option to use *647 when i travel to nevada
(hope I never have to use either number for that matter)

*47 will connect you to the state troopers office in alabama. Its on the sides of all of our ASAP trucks.