The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is warning the general public of a widespread new scheme that has telephone scammers impersonating DEA agents in an attempt to extort money or steal personal identifiable information. The scheme has many variations on the same theme, such as telling the victim their name has been used to rent a vehicle that was subsequently stopped at the border and was found to contain a large quantity of drugs. The target is then asked to confirm their social security number or they are told their bank account has been compromised. In some cases, scammers threaten arrest for the fictional drug seizure and instruct the victim to send money via gift card or wire transfer to pay a fine or to assist with resetting the bank account. The scammers are brazen and threatening, as evidenced in a recorded conversation between one such individual, a target and an actual DEA agent.
These are sophisticated schemes that often spoof actual DEA phone numbers and transmit photos of what appear to be legitimate law enforcement credentials. The best defense against such theft attempts is awareness and caution. Anyone receiving a call from someone claiming to be from the DEA should report the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at www.ic3.gov. The Federal Trade Commission has provided recovery steps and shares information with more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies from reports submitted to reportfraud.ftc.gov. Learn more about how to protect yourself from identity theft at www.identitytheft.gov.
