The Federal Bureau of Investigation has made an announcement about the current style of scam used by scammers. According to the Organization, some scammers put fake calls through and pose like FBI agents, using the FBI Headquarters’ phone number 202-324-3000, they give fake name and ID to lure people to believe them. During the call, they tell the victim that their Social Security number has expired and they need to purchase a gift card(s), load money onto their card(s), or call the scammer back and provide the gift card(s) number to have their card(s) reinstated. The FBI, therefore, warned that these calls are intended to scam the public, therefore, they should desist on providing further details or continuing with the calls. People are also advised not to give out personal information, banking information, and Social Security Number over a phone call regardless of who the caller is.
As provided by the Internet Complaint Center (IC3), about 13,873 people have reported being victims to government impersonation scams in 2019 and have lost a combined total of $124 million. The FBI announced that anyone who has been victims of this scam or any other online scam should report to IC3 via their website: www.ic3.gov.
