MIAMI — The unfortunate reality of scams preying on consumers lingers across our country. A new type of telephone scam is targeting residents nationwide attempting to gain banking information from unsuspecting individuals.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and officers nationwide are receiving numerous calls from residents concerned about unsolicited calls from scammers posing as U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Residents are reporting the calls are a pre-recorded message stating, “a box of drugs and money being shipped; has your (callers) name on it and it has been intercepted.” The caller is then instructed to press #1 to speak with a CBP officer/agent, which then attempts to get the callers banking information.
These calls are phone scams/phishing attempts and residents are urged to not provide the caller with any information. The Department of Homeland Security and CBP does not solicit money over the phone. If such calls are received, people should make a note of the number and any other pertinent details about the call and immediately hang up and report the incident if possible.
Phone scams can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission online at reportfraud.ftc.gov/.
“Grateful to the residents in our community who are making the effort to notify us about these scam calls. This is a clear example of if you see or hear something that doesn’t seem quite right, you can say something and make a difference to prevent others from being victims of crime,” said Vernon Foret, Director of Field Operations Florida. “These criminal scam callers are after your money and personal information. We want to remind our families, friends and residents to HANG UP if you get a call stating they are from CBP and asking for money.”
Stay alert, be aware and never give your personal or banking information to an unverified or unsolicited caller.
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