Where do you get your questions from? They are nice.
Three cases, 1 digit, 2 digits, 3 digits:
[Case 1]:
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
So we could use ONLY 9 out of 10 digits to fill the first box. For the second box digits except the one we have chosen to fit the first box. Hence there are 9 digits we can choose. Hence there are 9*9 distinct digits for 2 digit numbers.
[Case 2]:
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
By similar fashion, 9 digits for the first one and second one but only 8 for the third.
[Case 3]:
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Any of these could be used except 0 again since it isn't positive. There are 9 of them.
Summing it up, 9+9*9+9*9*8=738