Fraudsters go Hi-Tech, Pose as Govt Officials
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The Federal Trade Commission has revealed that fraudsters posing as government officials are now taking advantage of the latest technology and using it to deliver a con. FTC warns they are now playing new tricks to confuse their victims and lend more credibility to their offers.
It has come to the agency’s notice that scammers are hiding their scams by presenting it as coming from a government agency or official. Through an email or a phone call, they inform recipients they have won a sweepstake and can take the winnings after submitting payment to cover sundry expenses like taxes, shipping, handling, insurance, and any other heads their imagination can summon.
Importantly, they insist on receiving these payments only through wire transfer. Money sent by wire is as good as gone as there will be no way later, of ever getting it back.
New technological advances are further assisting them in their roguish endeavors. They can now hide and make it appear as if they are calling from a certain number while they are physically calling from another. This means, the number displayed in your caller-id when they call, may show as FTC, IRS or any other government-agency-local-to-your-area calling, while the real number is hidden from view.
If you are visited upon by the fraudsters, please make a note of the date/time of the call and the name of the govt. official or the agency they say they are representing. Officials at FTC will be eager and glad to hear of these from you.
Source: Baltimoresun.com
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