By Kip Aoki, Star-Bulletin

But the Hickam Air Force Base resident isn't a psychic. That's why he dialed the number.

And Sgrignoli has regretted it ever since.

This isn't a story about a victim being bilked out of big bucks. But it's about something that can happen to anyone who makes toll-free calls.

It's about placing a call that is supposed to be free and getting billed for it. Not once. Not twice. But four times.

Sgrignoli, a computer systems administrator for the Air Force, was watching television late one night last summer when he saw an advertisement for a psychic telephone service. An (800) number flashed on the screen, inviting viewers to call for a "free" reading.

More out of curiousity than anything else, Sgrignoli said he made the call. An automated telemarketing machine answered.

Sgrignoli was wary of getting suckered into something he didn't want but he responded to several basic questions. Name. Address. Birthdate.

Then, he said, he hung up, deciding not to make the second call that the machine said was needed to get the reading.

The following month Sgrignoli's phone bill included a $10.25 charge from Psychic Discovery Network.

Similar charges were included on his September, October and November bills, even though Sgrignoli insists he never authorized any of them. He has challenged the charges, and the November one - billed by a different company - already has been reversed.

Several phone messages left on an answering machine at Psychic Discovery's Boca Raton, Fla., office were not returned. The recording said the company was having "technical difficulties."

Getting unauthorized charges from (800) calls is a big problem nationally, said Allen Hile of the Federal Trade Commission, which has jurisdiction over such matters.

But the volume of complaints has slacked off since another Florida company, American TelNet Inc., was sued by the FTC two years ago for billing customers who called TelNet's (800) numbers, Hile said.

The company reached a $2.5 million out-of-court settlement in the case. The supposedly toll-free numbers were for sex and psychic advice lines.

As the toll-free abuses have subsided, another type of phone scam has emerged. In the latest version, people are enticed into calling (809) or (011) numbers that typically are to foreign countries with high per-minute charges. Calls to some Russian countries, for instance, are billed at $3 per minute.

Consumers often are told they must call an (809) or (011) number to claim a prize. The phone carrier in the foreign country kicks back a portion of the money it receives from the call to the pay-per-service company, Hile said.

"That's the scam de jour," he said.

If an unauthorized charge shows up on a phone bill, consumers can get the charges reversed. Call your local and long-distance phone carriers.

An AT&T spokeswoman said the company can credit such charges but makes decisions on a case-by-case basis, depending on the circumstances.

Consumers victimized by phone scams also can file complaints with the FTC.

When Sgrignoli called the billing company for Psychic Discovery to complain about his bills, he was told the monthly charges were for his network membership, though Sgrignoli said he never joined and never received any paperwork noting a membership.

In October, Sgrignoli said, he was assured that no further charges would be assessed, yet one was posted in November by another billing company for another psychic network he didn't join.

"When I ordered the first (billing company) to stop my charges, they passed my account to another one," he said.

Sgrignoli has made several long-distance phone calls and written several letters to try to clear up the mess, but only the November charge has been reversed thus far, he said.

Sgrignoli's advice to anyone contemplating an (800) call to the psychics: "Don't do it."