Consumer Alert
Recognize business and government imposters who want your money
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Scammers pretending to be from the government tell convincing stories to steal your money or personal information. But now they’re taking a new, layered approach — and here are some clues to spot it.
The scammers first say they’re with a company and contact you about a routine problem, like suspicious charges on your Amazon account, a virus on your computer, or an account breach.
The story quickly escalates: They lie and say your name is involved in serious crimes and claim the court is about to seize the money in your bank account or retirement savings. (Also a lie.)
Next, they switch from being the bearer of bad news to acting like the hero. How? By (supposedly) connecting you to someone with the government to “help” you fix the problem.
But the person they transfer you to doesn’t work for the government. And they don’t help. They want to trick you into taking cash out of your bank or retirement account and giving it to someone.
Here’s what to know about how scammers try to deceive you:
- Scammers try to convince you they’re with the government to gain your trust by faking the caller ID to make it look like a government agency is calling.
- Scammers give you an employee ID or badge number or use the name of a real government employee.
- Scammers send official-looking letters with seals and make up government agency names that sound real but aren’t.
Someone who works for the government won’t tell you to get cash or gold and give it to someone. They won’t tell you to pay with a gift card, wire transfer, payment app, or cryptocurrency. They won’t tell you to keep your conversation a secret or to lie to anyone. They won’t tell you to transfer money from your accounts to “protect” it or for any reason. Only scammers do those things.
Check out How To Avoid Imposter Scams for more advice. And to report an imposter scam to the FTC, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
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June 14, 2024
Very nice ☺️
June 14, 2024
They almost got me but thank GOD, HE intercepted their entire plan of wicked deceit.
June 17, 2024
In reply to They almost got me but thank… by Tangie
Amen to that
June 14, 2024
Thank you very much for this information. It’s just a few days late, but I was aware enough to drop the call and send do a block delete of the number. My gosh, this is ridiculous.
June 14, 2024
I am so glad for this Company! Your information is allowing me to be alert at all times with your personal information and money. Unfortunately, I would have appreciated contacting your company years ago! I had no idea concerning all this valuable information needed for everyone.
Thank you ! Keep up the good job informing us about these tricky scams and fraudulent people in this world.
June 14, 2024
Thank you for the updates.
June 14, 2024
Please give information on companies who charge late fees when it only takes 3 days to get to them, and you've paid by mail over a week prior.
June 17, 2024
I had that happen to me but the company that the scammers took over was the one that was supposed to be protecting me. Norton/LifeLock. I have really comprehensive protections in place with Norton - so scary.
June 18, 2024
In reply to I had that happen to me but… by Linda Kent
Norton security took 400$ out of my account twice in one year.
June 17, 2024
Thank you for sharing this important information.
June 17, 2024
I wish I'd seen this before. I've never been a victim of scammers/thief's. I receive emails and texts daily and there have been some that almost had me convinced. Follow your instincts, trust yourself not the scammers.
Thanks for posting this. A PSA Awareness Ad would be a great way to inform so many. God Bless!
June 17, 2024
Thank you for this important advice on how to protect myself from scammers.
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