An Omaha couple may have saved themselves and others from falling prey to a telephone scam. The call in question came from the Douglas County Jail.

The call from a Douglas County Corrections number lasted just seconds but gave Daphne and Max Ulveling weeks of worry. A prisoner inside the jail tried to connect to an unsuspecting third party number for a call forwarding scheme. He was trying to get his calls billed to another number.

An automated voice said the call was coming from jail so Daphne didn't accept it but the retired couple has been checking phone bills.

Daphne says they were, "wondering whether we're in for a scam or whatever."

Prisoners are given PIN numbers that allow them to make collect phone calls. The numbers they call are tracked.

Prisoners in Douglas County Corrections have access to more than 130 phones but jailers pinpointed the phone in question and they found a frequent dialer.

Jail Director Jeff Newton says, "He attempted to make 570 phone calls since he's been in my custody two weeks. He's had his phone privileges removed. He's in segregation until we have a disciplinary hearing."

Prisoners make approximately 4,500 collect calls a day from the Douglas County jail -- usually to friends or family. Approximately one third of those calls are not accepted.

Douglas County jail officials say if you receive an unexpected collect call from behind bars don't accept the charges. Hang up and call that correctional facility right away so the phone number and prisoner can be traced.