MANATEE COUNTY, Fla — It may look like the IRS or FBI is calling you, but it could be scammers on the other end of the line ready to try to steal thousands of dollars from you, detectives say.
Manatee County Sheriff's detectives are investigating recent reports of scams where people pretend to be with the IRS or FBI. These scammers make random phone calls claiming your social security number is being used in criminal activity and you need to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars in gift cards to make the problem go away.
One person recently scammed paid more than $2,700, and another was scammed out of nearly $4,000, detectives say.
According to law enforcement, if you get a call from someone saying they're with a government or police agency and they ask for personal financial information or demand payment, it's likely a scam.
These scammers will often use caller ID spoofing to make their scam more believable, and it can be next to impossible to tell if the caller ID is real or not, detectives say.
If you get a call like the one described above, treat the call as a scam and report it to law enforcement.
You can call the Manatee County Sheriff's Office at 941-747-3011.
Here are some tips from MCSO to use if you get a scam call like this:
- If you get a strange call from the government, hang up. You can visit the official .gov website of the organization for contact information. Government employees won't call out of the blue to demand money or ask for account information.
- Don't give out -- or confirm -- your personal or financial information to the person calling.
- Don't wire money or send money using a reloadable card. In fact, never pay someone who calls out of the blue, even if the number or name looks legitimate.
- If you feel pressured to act immediately, hang up right away.
- You can also report scam calls to FTC.gov or FCC.gov
- Find more information on the latest scams and frauds that are being used can be found on myfloridalegal.com and freshfromflorida.com
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