The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General is witnessing a significant rise in the number of Raleigh and Wake Forest-area residents reportedly receiving calls from scammers claiming to be from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
These scammers often state they are from the “Department of Legal Affairs,” offer grant money in exchange for wiring a small payment, or threaten to arrest individuals within a short period of time unless payment is rendered. In an attempt to add legitimacy to their crime, the callers sometimes provide a fake badge/employee number, claim that formal documents have already been mailed to the individual, and/or transfer calls to “supervisors” who are also involved in the scam.
Technology also allows these scammers to “spoof” telephone numbers, so calls appear to originate from the Washington, DC area and/or display as a government agency on caller ID’s.
Individuals should never provide personal information or payment to these callers and are advised to hang up the phone and, if possible, block future calls. Area residents can verify their tax status directly with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by calling 800-829-1040.
To avoid becoming a victim, consumers are advised to:
- Never give out sensitive personal or financial information over the phone, especially on an unsolicited telephone call from a stranger.
- Never wire money or purchase green dot-type prepaid cash cards in response to a telephone appeal.
- Never give out sensitive information to anyone on the phone unless you initiated the call to a company or agency you are certain is legitimate.
Anyone receiving a call from a person claiming to be a Department of the Treasury employee should report the call online at www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/ig/Pages/OigOnlineHotlineForm.aspx or via email to OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov with a description of the communication and the date, time, and time zone that the call was received.
If the call contained claims related to the IRS or taxes, it should instead be reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at www.treasury.gov/tigta/contact_report_scam.shtml or 1-800-366-4484.
These scammers’ actions are crimes under Titles 18 and 31 of the United States Code, and the Treasury Office of Inspector General is working to stop them.
“Unfortunately, these callers often trace to foreign countries outside U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction,” said Patrick Parsons, Attorney-Advisor with the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Nevertheless, we are doing our best to slow and impede them by terminating service to the numbers they are using.”
To date, Parsons says hundreds of telephone numbers making the fraudulent calls have been reported to the Office of Inspector General, and by working with telecommunications carriers to investigate the reports, service to approximately 75% of the reported numbers has been suspended or terminated.
