Government imposter rip-offs getting more complex

INDIANAPOLIS-- The Federal Trade Commission is sounding the alarm on federal government imposter frauds that are getting more complicated and included.

Instead of a single scam call, some new plans set you up with an initial telephone call, then move you to a second call to finish the task.

Here's how it works, according to the FTC. You get a call from someone who states they're with a company and they're contacting you about a regular issue like suspicious charges on your account, or a virus on your computer system, or some type of account breach. Story goes to the next level. The caller says your name is involved in a serious criminal offense and a court is about to seize cash in your savings account or your retirement savings. At that point, they play the hero and claim they can put you in touch with somebody from "the government" to help you fix the problem.

At that point, if you're still on the line, the caller transfers you to an accomplice who plays the role of "the government." The person will declare to represent some government agency while attempting to trick you into pulling cash out of your bank account or retirement cost savings and provide it to someone.

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Nothing about either of these phone calls is legitimate. Here are some tactics the FTC encourages you to watch for:

• Scammers try to convince you they're with the government to acquire your trust by fabricating the caller ID to make it look like a government company is calling.



• Scammers provide you an employee ID or badge number or use the name of a genuine civil servant.



• Scammers send official-looking letters with seals and make up government agency names that sound real however aren't.

The FTC mentions that a real civil servant will never tell you to take out cash and offer it to someone else. They will not inform you to pay with a present card, wire transfer, payment app, or cryptocurrency. And they will not tell you to transfer money from your accounts to "secure" it.

If someone asks you about it, they also will not ask you to keep your conversation secret or lie. That is a classic fraudster "warning."

Check out How To Avoid Imposter Scams for more suggestions. And to report an imposter fraud to the FTC, go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.