US Customs and Border Protection reiterates its warning about a phone scam “targeting residents across the country to obtain personal information that would bypass financial security protocols.”
The agency said in an announcement to X on Sunday that they are scammers posing as CBP officers and Border Patrol agents as they promise money for information or threaten that law enforcement is on the way.
The social media post aimed at a previous warning in November that followed a “surge of phone calls from concerned citizens about scammers.”
“If CBP suspects illegal activity, we will not call the suspect or victim asking for money or Social Security numbers,” CBP Houston Acting Director of Field Operations Rod Hudson said in a statement.
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US Customs and Border Protection says fraudsters are asking for bank information by posing as agents. (US Customs and Border Protection)
“To be clear, CBP will not make phone calls threatening citizens that police are on their way or promising money for information. Anyone who receives a call from U.S. Customs and Border Protection about shipments of drugs or money should have recognized that it was a scam regardless of how authentic the caller sounded,” the statement continued.
Scammers have even gone so far as to provide the victim with the name and phone number of an actual CBP employee that is available online for the victim to identify, the agency says. Some went so far as to give their targets fake case numbers and badges, according to CBP.
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U.S. CBP says fraudsters pose as employees over the phone to obtain the 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 it’s been intercepted”, before asking the target to press 1 and be connected to a live person.
Residents on the receiving end of a call known as a phishing attempt should not provide any information to the caller.
The type of phone fraud CBP is referring to is known as identity theft. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Phone scams can be reported Federal Trade Commission here.
The four main points CBP reminds people are:
- CBP will not call out of the blue with promises of money or threats.
- CBP never uses gift cards, cryptocurrencies or wire transfers.
- Don’t trust caller ID.
- Check with CBP if you’re not sure if the call or email is real by typing the agency’s name into the search bar and clicking on its website to find contact information.
