Fraudsters pose as FDA to pull off a double con
Photo by: Rodrigo Senna
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uncovered a new scam this week. It is targeted at those who purchase or have purchased medicines and drugs online. The scam is ingenious in that it uses a plan that scams its victims twice over.
It starts off by calling people who had identities stolen when they were purchasing things online. The caller informs them there’s a way they can get prescription drugs at discounted rates. To order, they are asked to wire their payments to locations in the Dominican Republic. Eager buyers would realize they had been taken when weeks pass by and there would be no sign of either their order or the callers.
They would be just recovering from this shock when along comes another caller. This one claims he’s from the FDA and says he came to know about their attempt to purchase drugs online. He would claim this offense could land them in jail or make them liable to legal actions. Then, he offers a way out. The victims are asked to dole out a fine of a few thousand dollars to get rid of the charge. Again, the caller asks for the money to be wired to locations in Dominican Republic.
FDA has launched an investigation against the fraud. Michael Chappell, FDA’s acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs was blunt while speaking of the scam:
“Impersonating an FDA official is a violation of federal law. The public should note that no FDA official will ever contact a consumer by phone demanding money or any other form of payment. FDA officials always present identification in person when conducting official business.”
The fraud seemingly calls from numbers within the US but investigators say this could be a blind. The fraudsters may be using VoIP technology to mask their real locations. Call recipients have described the callers to be speaking with Hispanic accents.
Those wishing to lodge a complaint against the scam are asked to contact the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations at (800) 521-5783.
Source: FDA Press Release
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November 13th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
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November 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
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December 8th, 2008 at 4:53 am
[...] Fraudsters pose as FDA to pull off a double con By admin US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uncovered a new scam this week. It is targeted at those who purchase or have purchased medicines and drugs online. The scam is ingenious in that it uses a plan that scams its victims twice over. … Fraud and Scam News - http://www.419legal.org/blog [...]