Scammers are spoofing an Office of Attorney General phone number in an attempt to get folks to pay them money. Spoofing is a tactic which allows people to mimic the phone numbers of legitimate businesses on the receiving party’s caller ID.
Some of the scammers are posing as agents from the Office of Attorney General and fraudulently claiming the call recipient owes money. The calls appear to originate from the attorney general’s office, but are actually coming from another phone number.
Other individuals reported scammers are using the “Grandparent Scam” from the same phone number. These callers falsely claim a grandchild of the call recipient is in jail and needs bail, or has been in an accident and needs funds. These scams frequently target senior citizens.
If you have received one of these fraudulent calls, please call the Office of Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection hotline at 1-800-441-2555, email scams@attorneygeneral.gov or click here to file a complaint.
In the meantime, if you know you’re receiving a scam phone call, hang up. Don’t press any buttons and, if you received a voice mail message, don’t call the scammer back. Don’t trust caller ID and never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden name, passwords or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls.
SOURCE: State Rep. Tarah Toohill
