Introduction:
It’s tax season in the United States, and the scammers are out in full force. We were contacted on our business line by scammers pretending to be from the U.S. Department of Justice, (DOJ) and the U.S. social security administration. This is what happened.
What happened:
It was a warm spring afternoon here in Kentucky. I was in the office working when the phone rang. It was a (probably disposable) number from Chaplin, Kentucky. I answered it, and a robotic voice came across the line with the following recorded message: (I’m paraphrasing, as the call itself was not recorded.)
This is the United States Department of Justice. We have a criminal action against you. You need to resolve this issue immediately. Press 1 to speak to a representative, and resolve the situation right away.
I knew that was false, and I knew that the DOJ didn’t “resolve the situation” over the phone when they have a criminal complaint against someone. I was pretty sure this was a scam call. So, of course, I pressed 1 and sat back in my chair thinking “Well. This will be fun”. After exactly 1 ring (apparently, the DOJ has operators standing by to take your call) someone who was not a native English speaker came on the line. Based on the noise in the background, it sounded like he might be sitting in a call center in Bangalore. He said: “Social Security Administration, How may I help you?”
I said “I don’t know. You called me. Why don’t YOU tell ME how you can help me.” He hung up.
Anticlimactic.
This kind of scam is referred to as “vishing” because it happens over the telephone. If it had happened over email, it would be called “phishing”. There will be a quiz on that later (there won’t).
This attempt was somewhat ham-fisted, and I’ve treated it with levity. However, this is not a game. It is tax season, and particularly at this time of year, there are scammers. Some of them are very sophisticated. All of them are working hard to separate you from your personal and banking information. Don’t let them do it!
What you need to know:
- The DOJ typically will “resolve the situation” by sending some form of law enforcement officials to your home with a warrant. They may or may not knock on your door. They will not call you to “resolve the situation” over the phone.
- The Social Security Administration will not call you directly. Neither will the Internal Revenue Service. They will not email you. Typically, they will send you a letter in the mail, delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. You can try to call them but typically hold times are quite long. It’s probably better to call a tax professional or an attorney for advice if you receive such a letter in the mail.
- You should never give out any kind of personal information over the phone, or by email. No reputable business, and certainly no government agency will ask you to do that. You should never give out any of the following information;
- Usernames or passwords
- Contact information such as name, address, phone number, or social security number. This is a shortlist, but any kind of private information should never be given out over the telephone, or by email.
- Financial information such as bank account numbers, or investment account details.
- See our blog post about the three types of information you should protect on social media and social networking sites.
- Consumer fraud is generally handled by the office of the attorney general at the state level. All states have a website that will direct you on how to contact the consumer fraud division for the state. If you think you’ve inadvertently given your personal information or financial information to a scammer, get in touch with the office of the attorney general for your state. You can google for it, or use this USA.gov website to find the contact information for your state.
- If you think you’ve been scammed for financial information, reach out to your bank, credit card company, or investment company immediately. Explain the situation and follow their advice.
- At the federal level, consumer fraud is handled by the Office of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Here’s a link: Office of Consumer Protection. The information found there will guide you on how to file a complaint.
- Register all of your phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, also hosted by the FTC. It may not prevent the scammers from calling you, but once your number has been on the registry for 31 days, if you do get a call, you can report it to the FTC, and the scammer will face additional penalties just for calling you.
Northstarr Recommends:
We believe that there are more good people out there than bad people. Still, there are bad people who will try to scam you, scare you, and steal your money or your identity. We don’t like it when cyber criminals take advantage of hard-working people. That’s part of why we do what we do. If we can ever be of help to you, don’t hesitate to call. Our number is (888) 767-2210. Operators are standing by to take your call. (No, really. They are.). Please share this post on your social media to help raise awareness.
