The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio is cautioning northern Ohio residents about a telephone spoofing campaign where the caller is portraying themselves as an attorney, representative or law enforcement officer, and the phone number is showing as the Department of Justice or the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During these calls, scammers may attempt to collect money from victims or threaten arrest or legal action. These calls are bogus and an attempt to use a legitimate law enforcement number to obtain money from victims.
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Scammers use many tactics to sound and appear credible. They sometimes provide information like actual names of federal prosecutors and federal office addresses. They also spoof their phone numbers to appear on caller IDs as if they are calling from a government agency such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reminds the public to be vigilant and never share personal identifying information with a caller who you have not initiated contact with or have not verified as a legitimate business or organization.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will never ask you to purchase a gift card or give out a credit card number to avoid arrest.
To report a call or message from someone portraying to be a representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office or Department of Justice, please contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov.
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Beware of fake scammers posing as law enforcement
