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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says they are seeing an uptick in reports of people receiving calls from scammers posing as CBP officers or Border Patrol agents.
The agency says the scammers are targeting people nationwide to get banking or financial information.
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According to the agency, people report that the scammers say they need to confirm certain information because CBP intercepted a shipment of drugs with their name and address on it. If the target refuses to cooperate, the scammer may threaten that police will go to their location.
The scammer may even provide an actual CBP employee’s name or phone number found on the internet for the would-be victim to verify, or they might provide fake case and badge numbers, officials say.
In some cases, officials say the scam call may be a pre-recorded message saying that a "shipment of drugs or money with your name on it and has been intercepted." The target is told to press #1 to talk with CBP, and the scammer then tries to confirm their banking information, CPS says.
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"We are seeing a spike of phone calls from concerned citizens about scammers posing as CBP employees seeking information about suspected illegal activity," CBP Houston Director of Field Operations Jud Murdock said in a news release. "If CBP suspects illegal activity, we will not call a suspect or a victim requesting money or social security numbers. To be clear, CBP will not make telephone calls threatening citizens that law enforcement is on the way or promising money for information. Anyone receiving a call from U.S. Customs and Border Protection about a shipment of drugs or money should recognize that it is a scam regardless of how authentic the caller may sound."
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The agency says you should not provide the caller with any information, and the Department of Homeland Security or CBP will not solicit money over the phone. Anyone getting a call from someone claiming to be from CBP and asking for personal information is advised to hang up.
You can report phone scam to the Federal Trade Commission on their website.
Customers and Border Protect has shared additional tips on their website for avoiding a scam. Click here to learn more.