U.S. Customs and Border Protection is repeating a warning about a phone scam “that targets residents nationwide to obtain personal information that would circumvent financial security protocols.”
The agency said in a message to X on Sunday that there are scammers posing as CBP officers and Border Patrol agents, while promising money for information or threatening that law enforcement is on the way.
The social media post focused on an earlier warning from November that followed a “spike of calls from concerned citizens about scammers.”
“If CBP suspects illegal activity, we will not call a suspect or victim and ask for money or Social Security numbers,” Rod Hudson, acting director of Field Operations for CBP Houston, said in a statement.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, scammers are seeking banking information while posing as agents. (US Customs and Border Protection)
“To be clear, CBP will not make telephone calls that threaten citizens with the arrival of law enforcement or promise money for information. Anyone who gets a call from U.S. Customs and Border Protection about a shipping drugs or money must recognize that it is a scam, no matter how authentic the caller sounds,” the statement continued.
The scammers even went so far as to provide the name and phone number of an actual CBP employee online so the victim could identify them, the agency says. Some even went so far as to give their targets false case and badge numbers, CBP said.
NYPD ARRESTS Migrant who allegedly set woman on fire on subway and watched her burn to death
The U.S. CBP says scammers are posing as employees over the phone to obtain a target’s financial information. (CBP)
The way some scams worked was with a pre-recorded message saying something along the lines of a “shipment of drugs or money with your name on it and has been intercepted”, before asking the target to press 1 and connect. to a living person.
Residents on the receiving end of a call known as a phishing attempt should not provide the caller with any information.
The type of scam CBP is talking about over the phone is known as phishing. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
You can report telephone scams at the reporting point Federal Trade Commission here.
Four important points that the CBP reminds people of are:
- The CBP will not call out of the blue with promises of money or threats.
- CBP never uses gift vouchers, cryptocurrency or bank transfers.
- Don’t trust caller ID.
- If you are unsure whether a phone call or email is genuine, contact CBP by typing the agency’s name into a search bar and clicking on the website to find contact information.
