Consumer Web site mistakenly posts phone-sex number

Talk about getting the wrong number.

A telephone number posted on the state Consumer Protection Board's Web site warning against census scams instead prompted callers to dial a phone-sex chat line.

The board removed the erroneous number from its Web site Monday.

The board, on its Web site and in a news release, mentioned two numbers, the first of which carried the wrong toll-free area code. That number prompted callers to a second number, the phone sex chat line.

"It has come to our attention that some versions of the CPB's recent Census 2010 Alert contained an inadvertent typographical error in the telephone number for consumers to call to verify the status of a census worker," the board's statement said. "The number was listed twice in the Alert, once correctly [1-866-226-2864] and once with an incorrect area code. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused news outlets which may have not verified the phone number."

Newsday published the wrong number Monday. A board spokesman said it had not received complaints about the wrong number.